_
Dylan Connor
According to legend: In late August of 2004, a strange light tore through the northwestern sky and hit ground in the Nevada desert with a vengeance. The light - an asteroid, known as B-3 – had fallen smack-dab into the middle of a long-held human ritual, known as Burning Man. This astronomical event unleashed a wild spirit into the midst of the annual festival, and would forever change the fate of one man...
The next day, Dylan Connor, a Latin teacher and musician from Berkeley, CA, was standing among his good friends of the Breakaway Republic - the name of their camp at the festival that year. As the story goes, the spirit fell upon Connor’s own, and suddenly he felt compelled to enter the annual “strip contest”, taking it all off to Prince’s Sexy MF, in front of hundreds of onlookers (…. he won first prize...). From this moment on, guided by a new purpose and zeal, Connor spent the rest of his time at Burning Man wandering the exotic streets with a guitar and singing songs for anyone who needed the gift of music. And thus was the transformation into Connor’s musical fate, and subsequently his forthcoming album (appropriately) entitled, “Breakaway Republic.”
Rewind>> At age seven, Connor started knocking out Elvis-style songs on a plastic Dukes of Hazard guitar. Age twelve: Connor's parents bought him a Tascam Porta One 4-track and a Peavey Bandit 75 solid-state amp. It was these tools that facilitated a catalogue of (self-proclaimed) Kiss rip-off tracks. When he came upon fifteen, Connor’s band won the Battle of The Bands by playing all Spinal Tap songs and one original.
Fast forward>>> In 2004 Connor returned to the East Coast after 7 years of heavy rocking with San Francisco's M.Headphone. It was then that famed producer Bryce Goggin (Spacehog, Pavement, Nada Surf, Lemonheads, Phish, Apples In Stereo, too many to name…), invited Connor to Trout Recording in Brooklyn after hearing some of his signature 4-track demos. Stripped of the heavy instrumentation and bed of distortion, only himself to harmonize with…Connor and Goggin emerged with the debut solo effort “Plug in.” The songs, naked except for splashes of Bryce’s keyboards, percussion, and effects, received an overwhelming response from the public at large and diehard M.Headphone fans alike. He supported “Plug In” by touring with Mike Viola, Milton, and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. The song "Love's an Infection" was featured in the March/April issue of American Songwriter Magazine for its lyrical craftsmanship. “Plug In” has been played on ESPN television broadcasts, and has hit the charts of dozens of college and commercial radio.
Connor continued to plant and grow roots in New York, eventually hooking up with his current band members and further developing his distinct style on the Goggin-produced EP “Breakdowns and Hymns” (think Morrissey and Paul McCartney fronting Nada Surf). This EP saw the coalescing of a band. With one member of M.Headphone, and a couple friends from the distant past, Connor’s live set was becoming a cohesive, dynamic experience. With the current band he has developed the organic moment captured on “Plug In” into a singular electric rock sound; matching the voltage of M.Headphone. The significance of his unique experience at Burning Man years ago (whether or not folklore need apply) is the influence behind Breakaway Republic's motivations and urgency.
