We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dominic DeLaney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dominic below.

Hi Dominic, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think at a pretty young age, probably 12-13 years old, I knew I wanted to be a musician. Around the same time other kids were having dreams of being professional athletes, or doctors, or what have you, I was content with the idea of standing on a stage, bearing my soul. I had been writing songs in my bedroom (mainly to impress girls, which they never did!) and had fallen in love with the entire process. To create something out of thin air, with just a guitar and my thoughts, was very attractive to me. Slowly, the songs started getting better, and more complex. Then came the real “ah-ha!” moment, where I realized that these songs were a way to express myself in a way I hadn’t been able to socially. A, kind of, public therapy. From that point I kept writing, and going down the rabbit hole of writing more unforgivingly honest lyrics. Some of my favorite songs I’ve written are songs that deal with some serious situations in my life that I might not have been able to deal with without writing them down. Once those songs started coming more and more, there was never a doubt that I had followed the right path for me. I mean, not many of the kids I grew up with are professional athletes- but I AM a musician. And I wear that badge proudly.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started playing guitar around the age of 8. My dad was a big ‘80s metal head, complete with the cream Fender Stratocaster and Marshall half stack amp. I was given a child sized acoustic guitar, and my dad showed me the opening riff for Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”. That, even to this day, was the only guitar lesson I ever had! After that, it was studying tablature sheets and music books, watching old VHS tapes of bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica.

As I grew older I played in various short lived punk bands, mainly playing house shows, as we were too young to play in clubs. Once I finished high school, most of my friends went off to college, while I stayed in Florida.
To be honest, that part of my life was very lonely, in retrospect. I had lost my band members and was now an 18 year old kid with not much other than a crappy guitar and a bag of clothes. I kept writing songs, but didn’t have any means of really putting them together. I started a short career in DJing in the upcoming dubstep/drum and bass scene in south Florida. I got to play a lot of really cool shows – for an 18 year old.

But, soon the thrill of DJing faded for me. I still have a love for certain electronic music, and the craft of DJing, but it wasn’t “scratching the itch” anymore for me. I turned back to my tattered notebook and beat up old guitar.

I still lacked a band, but knew that these songs were worth playing. I started playing live shows and writing new songs, putting out my first collection of songs (the “Chubby EP”) in 2019. I continued to gig, booking my own shows around Florida and as far north as Chicago

I took inspiration from the likes of NOFX, Black Flag, and people like Frank Turner, who embraced the DIY ethos of punk rock. Frank has the great line, that still motivates me today – “if you want to tour, go book one.” I heard that, and did. Multiple times.

In fact, in 2020 at the end of a tour with my friend Sara Scully, we started hearing rumblings about the Coronavirus. I was slated to play a SXSW showcase in Austin, TX (a goal I had set at the beginning of the year), but by March, everything was shut down. That was a huge blow. I felt like everything I had done, the songs I had written, the 100s of shows I’d played, had all been erased.

I don’t want to sound overly dramatic about that time – everyone was going through it too. – but it did take its toll on me.

Sometime in the pandemic, I signed with Innerstate Music Group to put out my first studio album “The Marrow In My Bones”, a full band record of 9 of my songs. After a year of virtual shows and fiddling around the house, the world started to open back up again and some shows were actually possible. I started playing live again, sometimes with the full band, and got back to the road.

The road is where I feel most at home, so I’m glad that it seems we’re heading in the right direction, as far as the end of the pandemic. So, that’s where you’ll find me. Still playing, still writing, still traveling, and most importantly, still learning more about myself through music.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I’ve never thought of it as a “goal” or “mission”, but I guess my goal is to continue to travel and play my music to new people. I mean, I have small goals, kind of like rungs on a ladder, but what’s at the top of that ladder – I have no idea.

One of the smaller goals I have is to play a show in all 50 states (I’m currently only at 9!). I love traveling and seeing new places, so touring is a natural progression.

Of course, I’d always like to continue to grow and learn as a musician. I listen back to songs I wrote years ago and can hear my progression, and that’s a nice feeling. I think I’d get bored of it if I ever plateaued, so to continue to grow is extremely important.

A lot of people’s first question is “do you make a living making music”. The short answer to that question is “yes, thanks very much.” but the longer answer is “yes I do support myself financially through my music, but that’s not the point. I do this for LIFE, not just for a living.” I do this because I have to. My body would probably implode if I tried to stop, and I’m pretty OK with that. I have no intentions of stopping or slowing down anytime soon.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Connection.

Connection, connection, connection.

The songs I write are who I am. They are brutally honest, sometimes self deprecating, introspective, and personal. When someone connects with one of my songs, I’d like to think it’s because it struck a nerve with them. Something I said, they related to, and that connection is one of the most rewarding aspects of this life.

The example that comes to mind is my song “Sad Songs” that is about my friend Hodgman who took his own life when we were in our early 20’s, and my friend Carly, who as since passed away as the result of addiction. It’s a very heavy song for me to play, but I feel I have to play it, because it is how I coped with those situations, and it’s how I remember my friends. I always think of them when I play it. When someone comes up after a show, and specifically starts talking about that song, I know it’s because they have had some situation in their life that they’ve put that song to. It is a very heavy topic, and has sometimes led to people coming up to me crying and telling me their personal story, that connection is so real and so tangible that it’s beautiful.

Contact Info:

• Website: Dominicdelaney.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/dominicdelaney
• Facebook: Facebook.com/dominicdelaneymusic
• Twitter: Twitter.com/DeLaneyDominic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/dominicdelaney
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3kvfMtzBWaSdljMek09OkO?si=UKDPRN0rQiC-_c8ClUlx3w