It’s been a huge couple of years for Way Dynamic, the Melbourne multi-instrumentalist whose real name is Dylan Young. His 2025 album Massive Shoe is about to be re-released internationally after Young signed with the indie giant Jagjaguwar. The likes of Elton John, Djo, Zane Lowe and Elijah Wood have sung his praises.
Last year he opened for Black Country New Road, Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman on their Australian tours. With a warm analogue crackle and subtle yet lush layers, gentle vocals and pensive lyricism, Way Dynamic’s thoughtful, sunny folk is both contemporary and timeless. It is not hard to understand his success.
The 30-year-old has been on the road for much of the last year, with Way Dynamic playing their first headline shows in the US and Europe, many of which sold out. When we meet at a cafe in inner-north Melbourne on a midweek morning, Young is briefly back in town before jetting off again for another European run, including summer festivals. Has all this attention and traction been gradual or has it all happened at once?
Born and raised in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat, Young began learning guitar at the age of eight. Influenced by music he discovered via Rage, he started playing in bands as a teenager. In 2014 his high school band, Bel Air, won a regional competition to perform at Laneway festival.
At 18, Young moved to Melbourne and began to make connections in the local scene. Over the years he’s played in bands including Good Morning, Snowy Band and Cool Sounds, and has been a live and session drummer for the likes of Darren Hanlon and Kankawa Nagarra. Way Dynamic’s live setup features members from many of these bands.
Young’s melting harmonies recall the Beach Boys and the Beatles, and his soft vocals and contemplative lyrics draw comparisons to Nick Drake, though he admits he doesn’t know much of Drake’s music. It’s the intimacy of the past, rather than any particular aural aesthetic, that Young is chasing. But Young’s lyrics are also often cryptic, lending an air of mystery: “I’m starting to find how it is I like to communicate music, which is to be very specific, but also vague and broad enough at the same time that people can project what they want onto the music as well.” The growth of the project has also been about relinquishing control and embracing unknowns.
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