When the world began to take notice of Way Dynamic, the only people not surprised were the ones who’d already been paying close attention.
asserted
who → begin → attention
Over the past decade, Dylan Young, the artist behind the project, has earned a reputation as a musician’s musician.
asserted
Young → earn → musician
If you were to run a conspiracist’s red string between the names of a dozen or more artists from Melbourne’s jangle scene pinned to a board on the wall, Young and his collaborators intersect an endless number of them.
asserted
Young → run → them
“For quite a long time, people wanted him in their bands because he’s an amazing player,” says Stefan Blair from the duo Good Morning.
asserted
Blair → want → duo
Blair has produced and engineered all three Way Dynamic albums, beginning with 2022’s So Familiar, and can often be found behind the drums when they perform live.
asserted
they → produce → drums
“That was the reputation for such a long time: put him in a band and he will elevate it, purely through his playing.
asserted
he → put → playing
He’s a good person to have on stage.
asserted
He → ’ → stage
He will make your band better.
asserted
band → make → ?
And he’s just worked away and done that for many years,” Blair says.
asserted
Blair → work → years
With Way Dynamic’s 2025 release Massive Shoe, though, something shifted.
asserted
something → shift → release
The scope expanded.
asserted
scope → expand → ?
The recognition came not just for his artful, sentimental playing but for his songwriting and tender vocals.
asserted
recognition → come → songwriting
And it flowed in from listeners, from the industry at large, and from high-profile celebrity co-signs including artists Young admires like Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, and Nate Amos of This Is Lorelei.
asserted
This → flow → Is
Now signed to the international record label Jagjaguwar, Way Dynamic has re-
asserted
Dynamic → sign → label
Witnessing the attention on the project this past year has felt almost novel, a relic from the distant past.
asserted
Witnessing → witness → past
It’s a music industry success story that’s occurred while everyone was looking the other way, obsessing over streaming numbers, viral campaigns, on-stage celebrity cameos and controversial clip-farming strategies.
asserted
everyone → ’ → stage
In the midst of it all, a working musician from Melbourne has broken through on the strength of imaginative songwriting and sun-drenched arrangements.
asserted
musician → work → songwriting
I’m meeting 30-year-old Young in the crunchy organic cafe inside CERES, the community farm in Brunswick, days before he heads off to tour the UK, where he’ll play at Green Man and End of the Road festivals alongside a string of headline dates.
asserted
he → meet → dates
He’s wearing a camo hat and a T-shirt from Snowy Band, the Melbourne indie band he plays in.
asserted
he → wear → Band
It’s led by Liam Halliwell who also tours live with Way Dynamic and played on his record.
asserted
who → lead → record
“We certainly are an incestuous bunch,” he laughs, describing the interconnected networks of artists in his orbit.
asserted
he → laugh → orbit
‘I would probably be embarrassed to see a headline like: Elton John’s favourite artist ...’
asserted
I → see → artist
Young grew up in Ballarat before moving to Melbourne to study, lured by the lore of vanguards in the 2010s indie scene like Dick Diver, Twerps and Scott and Charlene’s Wedding.
asserted
Young → grow → Diver
New to the city, it took him a while to “find [his] people”.
asserted
it → take → people
He and Blair first met after a gig, where they locked into a long conversation about Carole King.
asserted
they → meet → King
Since the beginning of Way Dynamic, Blair says, “Dylan definitely [drew] from that school of Brill Building songwriting.
asserted
Dylan → say → songwriting
She’s still an inspiration for many of the things that we’ve made together.
asserted
we → ’ → that
When they stepped into the studio to track Massive Shoe, Young was coming off a break-up and felt his guards had been brought down, which allowed him to be more reflective and do away with any vagueness that might have infiltrated in the past.
uncertain
that → step → past
“I was happy being vulnerable – more vulnerable than I had been,” he says.
asserted
he → say → ?
He also surrendered his impulse to be, for lack of a better word, a control freak.
asserted
He → surrender → word
When Halliwell showed up one day with a double bass – “unprompted,” Young clarifies – he succumbed to the spontaneity.
asserted
he → show → spontaneity
The instrument featured on Miffed It, a standout track on a record full of them – one Crutchfield declared her “favourite song in a very long time”.
asserted
Crutchfield → feature → time
Another day, Young’s brother, a journalist, popped into the studio to visit and ended up being handed a triangle to ding on album closer Evening Star.
asserted
brother → pop → Star
“I could tell that the playing slightly irked Dylan, and he kept talking about needing to get rid of it,” Blair remembers.
uncertain
Blair → tell → it
“I was like, ‘Lean into it.
asserted
I → lean → it
I think it’s charming and it’s nice that your brother’s on this track now’.
asserted
brother → think → track
It took a bit of work for him personally, I’m sure.
asserted
I → take → him
“I’d have pretty strong ideas and I had the opinion that I was the only one that could play them – or, at least, it was quicker and easier,” Young says of his despotic instincts.
uncertain
Young → have → instincts
“But I think that leaves you in danger of the recordings feeling a little contrived.”
asserted
recordings → think → danger
After its original release, headlines were written about the celebrities who’d announced themselves as Way Dynamic fans.
asserted
who → write → fans
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
