Artist Spotlight - Dylan Earl

Dylan Earl’s Level-Headed Even Smile swaggers (the title track) and sways (“Get in the Truck”) with infinite motion. We recently spoke with the Arkansas resident about songwriting, the seamless new collection and finding old gems in his catalog.

“‘High on Ouachita’ was written within the batch of songs that ended up on (Earl’s 2023 album) I Saw the Arkansas, but ‘Ouachita’ didn’t take shape during back then,” Earl says. “The arrangement is tough so we released I Saw the Arkansas without it.”

Alt-Country Specialty Chart: You revisited ‘Ouachita’ for this album.

Dylan Earl: Yeah, we pulled “High on Ouachita” back up into the sessions for Level-Headed Even Smile. My records always leave one song on the tail end that doesn’t feel right and that gives me a starting point for the next album. I actually had a second leftover for Level-Headed Even Smile: I wrote ‘Broken Parts’ for an older band probably in 2014. I recently rewrote a whole verse and the arrangement sounds completely different than the way I wrote it before.

Do you ever write right before going into the studio?

I typically write a song or two in the week before going into the studio. I’m just like, “Okay, I need another one.” I write well under pressure so I create pressure scenarios for myself in getting those last tunes on for the record. That song on this record was “Get in the Truck.” I wrote that just a couple days before we recorded and the song ended up being one of our singles.

Describe your writing process with the newer songs.

The album took shape over a year of writing. Then I scheduled time in the studio to start this record right as I released I Saw the Arkansas. We got about eighty percent of the songs done then we sat on them for six months before I listened again. I try to really create time and space to sit with the music before rushing something out.

Explain why your creativity ebbs and flows like that.

I think it’s focus. There are so many things in this world vying for our attention that give me the inability to focus for a long time, but I thrive under pressure because I pay for recording sessions out of my own pocket. I have no major backers. So, I’m sitting there thinking, “Okay, I’ve scheduled the studio time which I did on purpose to apply pressure on myself. I can’t waste any time." That pressure provides focus for me.

Does the title Level-Headed Even Smile refer to those things vying for attention?

Yeah, the phrase is about coping. We live in a barbaric, misinformed, totally frustrating, dumb-ass world. I’m sure you feel the same way. We have a game show host telling us that autism is caused by women taking Tylenol. This is the same guy who said, “Let’s inject ourselves with disinfectant.” Oh my god. We need to unplug from the machine that’s dragging my smile away from me. So, I unplug, smoke a joint, talk to some trees, drive around on some back roads and listen to some tapes in my truck. I turn my life analog for a second so I can’t be distracted. I need to not let something on a goddang screen upset me.

What tapes do you listen to when you’re driving around the back roads?

Level-headed even smile is like in Happy Gilmore when they talk about the happy place. Where is your happy place? Mine is driving around on back roads listening to R.L. Burnside. Keep calm and put a smile on your face. No one can take your happiness if you choose not to let them. So, I drive around with R.L. playing and let nature take the wheel.

– Brian T. Atkinson