Every year I like to take a bit of time to look back on everything I’ve accomplished (or not accomplished) because I find no matter what you do or how you spend your time, the year seems to fire through so quickly that you can often be left feeling like you didn’t do much at all. This little exercise really helps bring back some perspective and allows just a little bit of time to celebrate some wins while also acknowledging things that maybe we could’ve done a little better or didn’t get a chance to dive into as planned.
So, let’s start!
I released Acceptance.
This is the biggest win of the year for me. If you missed it, on April 7th 2023 I released the debut Neither Could Dylan album Acceptance. It’s an important record for me (aren’t they all?) because lyrically it moved more appropriately in the direction I hope to continue taking this project and sonically I was able to experiment with new sound textures that I hadn’t given myself the opportunity to explore previously.
It’s a little folk, a little rock and although the subject matter is noticeably dark, the overall message that I hope listeners take away from it is one of hope, resilience and faith in yourself.
It’s available everywhere you stream and for purchase on CD.
I released From a Bedroom Above a Garage.
Pretty hot off the heels of Acceptance I was already writing it’s follow-up and before I dove back into full-band productions on those songs, I gave them a temporary home in a little acoustic album called From a Bedroom Above a Garage – a not so subtle nod to the late great Elliott Smith.
Find out where you can stream it from my Songwhip
FaBAaG was recorded in my bedroom like all my other records, but it’s a free-form recording of just acoustic guitar and vocal which offers a more intimate live experience more similar to what you can expect when I perform solo acoustic sets.
These songs enter a more dramatic and difficult part of the story I tell you about in Acceptance and allowed me the space to confront a lot of experiences that my mind often tries to shoo away. They also make up most of the follow-up record which is already ready for release. On that note…
I recorded the follow-up to Acceptance, and mixed and mastered it. It has a release date.
It still feels too early to unveil its name, but if you were paying attention to my social media platforms over the last couple weeks you may have been one of the lucky few to have already heard the album in full.
I developed a silly game using Instagram stories that sent you on a bit of a Chase, driving you from Threads to Instagram to my website, back to Instagram and if you made it, back to my website where a password-protected page awaited you. If you were able to crack the password, you would have been brought to an exclusive page right here on neithercoulddylan.ca that had every song off the new record, plus its album art and expected release date. I thought this was a really fun, unique way to share the record ahead of its release and I hope you enjoyed it!
This is the first record release that I’ve tried my hand at mastering so it sounds a little different than my previous releases. I still have a lot to learn but I was pretty pleased with what I was able to do with a 10-day trial of Ozone 11. I recommend giving it a go if you’re struggling to keep up with recording costs and are interested in a new skill to add to your arsenal.
Expect the first single from the new album this January.
I learned how to drum.
What are credit cards for if not to finance new instruments to slowly made gradual payments on over the course of 6 months so that you can fulfill your dream of becoming a drummer?
I picked up a Roland TD-02 electronic kit because I trust the Roland name and it was the most affordable option that offered what I was looking for. So far it’s faired really well in allowing me the ability to experiment with drums and other samples – I used this kit on my upcoming album and on a few of the cover songs I released as part of my Death Bus for Blondie and Jaimee Eat World projects.
I recorded and released Asphalt Meadows as performed by Death Bus for Blondie.
This was a ton of fun. I have to admit that re-recording Death Cab for Cutie songs has quickly become one of my favourite casual past times. I absolutely love the Asphalt Meadows record and I couldn’t help but feel like it could benefit from a bit of a pop-punk-angled fix. It ended up being a little more folk-punky (probably because I was still working on Acceptance at the same time) but I am really pleased with how it turned out.
Get it wherever you stream stuff.
I did release some other Death Cab for Cutie covers, like When We Drive and Underneath the Sycamore and there are probably a couple more to come in 2024 if I’m being honest about it, so be sure to keep tabs on my YouTube page.
I recorded and released Make Me, a recreation of The Postal Service’s Give Up album as performed by Canada Post.
It’s been a big year for the Benjamin Gibbard fan club.
I was entirely too excited about securing tickets for the 20th anniversary tour with Death Cab for Cutie/The Postal Service and had to celebrate the only way I know how: by sweating into a microphone turning The Postal Service’s electro-pop into a pop-punk masterpiece. The whole thing is available on YouTube or my Bandcamp page. I might put it up on other streamers in the new year – we’ll see, though, okay?
I made my return to TikTok with my acoustic cover video series.
When I first heard about TikTok I was really apprehensive, mostly because the overwhelming amount of social media platforms is enough to make my head spin like that girl in The Exorcist. But I can’t fight it, so if you follow me over on TikTok you can see me performing some new acoustic covers like this one I did of the Sam Roberts classic Brother Down.
Expect more of these in the new year, they’re just a lot of fun to do.
I played some live shows in front of real audiences.
I’ve mostly played a lot of livestreams since I started this project so I’m always elated when I get the opportunity to perform in-person events, like the day I played The Dakota Tavern as part of their weekly Fourplay series.
It was a last minute gig with the organizer messaging me sometime around 4PM on a Monday with the musicians equivalent of a 3am “hey u up?” text. “We’ve had some bands drop out. Available to play tomorrow night at The Dakota?”.
The Dakota Tavern is by far one of the coolest venues in all of Toronto, so despite feeling entirely unrehearsed and unprepared of course I agreed. This is a bucket list venue to me, thanks very much for letting me get on the stage.
I also got to play an event for Fifehouse.org, an organization that provides secure affordable housing for people living with HIV/AIDS. It was a great experience and I hope I’m able to play more similar events in the future.
If you’re able to and interested, check out the organization’s website and see how you can volunteer or donate.
I released more Jimmy Eat World covers before maybe abandoning the project completely?
I have a sickness and the only cure is more full-band covers of my favourite songs.
I don’t know why but I always get so weird and ominous when I re-record Jimmy Eat World songs.
I feel like the princess of darkness.
Like just listen to this, tell me why it’s so ominous? Who even am I when I record these songs?
I abandoned the Jimmy Eat World cover project at some point. It was making me erratic and weird and stressing me out for some reason.
I can’t guarantee it’s over even though I keep saying it is.
I achieved some non-music goals, too. I ran a marathon.
I’ve always wanted to be able to say I’ve run a marathon. I don’t know why, it’s just been engrained from a young age. This year I did it!
I have lots of other fitness goals in mind but I’m not sure what I’ll be able to tackle in 2024. Mostly I hope to get out to some new hiking trails – that’s my actual favourite thing.
I took a trip.
Sure it was practically forced upon me when I wrongfully assumed that the DCfC/TPS show wouldn’t come to Canada (which it now is in 2024) and it wasn’t exactly the California city at the top of my travel bucket list, but to me traveling anywhere new is one of the best ways to spend your time and money so anytime I’m able to do it, it’s a big win. So, this year I crossed San Fransisco off my list and crossed that fancy red bridge. It’s a lot different than I expected and I learned a lot while I was there – about the city, not the bridge. The bridge is pretty whatever unless you’re like hugely into suspended wires or something. I think I enjoyed my visit to Bernal Heights the most.
I signed off on the release of my upcoming children’s book.
Somewhere in between all that other stuff I was e-mailing back and fourth with my UK-based publishing company getting all the odds and ends sorted out for the release of a book I wrote many years ago. As of writing this blog post, everything has been approved and I’m just waiting on the official release date – once I have that, I’ll be sharing it with you, of course.
Getting a book traditionally published is also a big big goal of young-me; I’ve talked about it quite a bit but really my first true creative love was writing short stories before I turned that passion into music and poetry. I’m excited for it to eventually make its way out into the world.
Okay, it’s totally possible I’m forgetting some stuff but, that’s all I can remember right now so let’s move on to some misses.
Our misses of 2023 become our resolutions for 2024 and things to work on going forward. It’s never too late unless you give up entirely.
So, things I’d wanted to do this year but for whatever reason didn’t come to fruition.
- Play more shows outside of Toronto
- Organize my first mini-tour
- A vinyl run of Acceptance
- Film a music video
- Get a band together to be able to perform NCD songs as a full-band like on the records
- Collaborate with another artist on a song or album
- Compile a chapbook of my best poetry pieces
- Finish writing my novel encompassing the last 4 years
- Complete the multi-artist cover song album I’ve been thinking about all year
- Complete a Treble Charger cover song album and release it
It’s been very tough to manage my time between all of the projects I worked on this year while trying to stay committed to my health and fitness goals as well as working my day-job, so there are a lot of things I just didn’t have enough time for or the energy to make them happen.
In 2024 I really want to work harder to try and get shows outside of Toronto and organize one or a couple small tours. I’m already slowly working towards that with my eyes set first on a visit to Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, but if there’s somewhere you’d like to see me play, please let me know!
I’d love to get a run of Acceptance on vinyl, but that’s a cost problem that I’m not able to resolve at this stage of the game. It’s still in mind, but it might be a while before I can make that happen.
I have loads of ideas for music videos but I’ll need the right partner or team to pull them off. Hopefully this year I can connect with some video people who are interested in the projects. I’ve never filmed a professional music video so this is another bucket list item for me.
There was a good effort made in getting a band together but it ultimately fell through early in the year. I am still hopeful that I’ll be able to find the right members for this project because I really feel like these songs take on such a different life when they’re performed as full arrangements and I’d love to be able to take them to the stage.
I did quite a bit of collaborating in 2022 but 2023 didn’t see the same opportunities although I was one of the background vocalists featured on Mike Five’s City by the Sea on his solo album The Right to Protest. I’ve otherwise got one track in queue to write and perform vocals on that I was sent recently off a new friend from Threads, so this goal is already off to a good start and it’s not even the new year yet.
I suppose if I want to compile a chapbook of my poetry I’ll have to be better about organizing my work and taking the time to write more of them. This is a soft shell goal, I’ll see where I’m at with it by the end of the new year.
I did at least start a new novel but, again, with everything else it’s just sort of sat by the wayside. I’ll probably have to start actually scheduling it into my calendar otherwise it’ll never get finished.
I have a cover song album (or two, actually) that are compilations of a lot of my favourite artists that I’d love to get to work on. Now that I’ve finished the follow-up to Acceptance, I should be able to get this one started and finished over the next few months. But not before I complete the Treble Charger recreation of Wide Awake Bored that I am super super excited about!
Okay, I think that’s enough for now.
One of the problems that’s not really a problem with being me is that there is never really a shortage of work I want to do, only a limit on my time, money and energy required to complete the task.
That said, looking back at this blog post I recognize that I was able to accomplish a ton of stuff this year and things can only get better from here if I keep trying, so that’s what I’m going to do and that’s what I encourage you to try and do as well.
Hope to see you at a show in 2024 and as always, thanks for listening and being here.
One last thing,
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Thanks again and have a very happy holiday and happy new year!
Neither Could Dylan 
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