Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Dennis Wayland

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

Cassette tapes playing in my Mom’s early-90’s Honda Civic and listening to classic rock with my Dad on the way to baseball games. That is when I remember music really resonnating in my mind where I would retain melodies and words.

How did your passion for creating music begin?

I used to create music on my parents’ electric keyboard by ear a lot. That started when I was about 8 years old (around 2000). If I was at someone’s house with a keyboard or piano, I’d play it. Fast forward 16 years old (2008), I bought a guitar and amp off of a good friend (thank you, Andrew!) and started teaching myself how to play. Once I had it down, I started composing on guitar. Vocals didn’t come until later when my parents and my girlfriend (now wife) heard a recording of me singing with my guitar for the first time and encouraged me to keep at it. I shared my first (3) songs at an open mic night for the first time in 2012. I am grateful everyday for the encouragement of my wife and parents.

What’s the story behind your current music project?

In the last couple years, I have released (2) singles called “Stuck in My Head” and “Nebula Rover”, which gave a very different feel from my usual songwriting. I am currently working on composing brand new songs that would fit with those to put on an album. I want it to be a ‘spacey’, open atmospheric kind of sound that you could chill to. Radio Flames actually played “Nebula Rover” over the Summer (2025), and for that I am so grateful! Thank you!

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

My typical sound is like southern rock/blues meets indie/alternative rock. It is raw, sincere, sometimes energetic, and sometimes reflective. 

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

When I went to Nashville and recorded my EP “Between Love and Rock N’ Roll” back in 2013, I got to watch professional musicians and engineers build my music before I really knew how to. After that, I started trying to figure out how I could take my multi-instrumental abilities and record all of them to compile tracks into a single song. I am still working on being a better producer in that regard, but I have since been able to release (3) albums where I layered and played all of the instruments you hear on the album.

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

Believe it or not, I use a single loop pedal to record multiple instrumental and vocal tracks to make my music. I then edit my tracks in GarageBand. Archaic, I know, but I work with what I’ve got! 😊 I usually switch between my Taylor 110ce, T5Z Pro, or Epiphone Les Paul guitars, an electronic drum set, congo drum, harmonicas, and synthesizer. I recently started using effects pedals more often for the guitars and synth. I don’t read music and play by ear, so I need to calm and open my mind when I am ready to create brand new tunes. 

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

There are several – Tame Impala, King Gizz, Phantastic Ferniture, Parcels, Summer Salt, Surf Rock is Dead, Homeshake, Mild High Club…..I keep a playlist going of songs I’ve purchased from all of these artists. They are all so underappreciated in the music world and whenever they come out with new music, I feel like I’ve found a gold mine. Surf Rock is Dead keeps me in a summer vibe, so I’ve been listening to them during these cold winter months in Virginia.

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

I think earlier on, my music was highly influenced by the phase of leaving teenage years and experiencing love and loss. As I’ve grown, I’d say it has now progressed into more abstract ideas. The more I’ve attempted to understand things in life, the more it comes out in my songwriting, whether it be from work, experiencing stagnation, or chasing my own dreams. I don’t usually write a song immediately from an experience. I need to reflect on it for at least a couple of months first before it creeps from my ‘processing-brain’ to my ‘music-brain’. Even then, it isn’t always written out first – it could be born from an completely improvised canvas.  

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

I hope that the underlying drive toward hopes & dreams is felt when listening to my music. That nothing is permanent – including challenging times. And even in challenging times, think about it in a different way than how your brain defaults to thinking about it. “Nebula Rover” is a song about stagnation and feeling that a dream is fading away. However, the character “drifting through the universe” in the song keeps moving toward something. He doesn’t know what it is, but the glimmer of hope still lives as he floats propulsion-less through space. 

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

I have learned to enjoy the process of making the music and letting it come to life naturally rather than strive for more plays and mainstream success. Getting into an algorithm where people will listen to your music regularly is extremely difficult, and going mainstream as an indie artist in the US is nearly impossible. Creating music the way I want and then sharing it with an organic following is so enriching. Its like having a small business and all of your customers just jam with you. 😊 I’ve also learned that exploring different sounds, like “Stuck in My Head” could yield a whole new audience of listeners. That song was featured on a playlist right next to Mac DeMarco, which was surreal. 

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

To be honest, I’d love to be able to pack the house at one or two of the breweries or wineries I play at regularly who have supported me from day 1. I’m talking overflow parking, drinks flowing, food trucks, and tons of people singing along and having an awesome time – a local destination type of show. That’d be sick! 

I’d also love a chance to play a show in Europe. I married into a Macedonian family and have been to Macedonia 9-times. I’ve been able to see how much the international community appreciates music, no matter how popular or unpopular it is in the US. If I had a chance to play in the square in Skopje, that’d be a start! 😊  

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

Phantastic Ferniture – I was hooked from the day I heard them. The songwriting from Julia Jacklin is phenomenal and the band’s delivery is right up my alley in terms of style. I think that would be a fun collab. Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) would be a close 2nd – mixing refined psychadelic indie with my more raw, rock style would be wild.

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)

Website – www.DennisWaylandMusic.com

Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZO3QzIMjUUxuckzPbhehJg

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/764dBYopkhRCgp3DaxELmf

Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dennis-wayland/668809710

Amazon Music – https://music.amazon.com.au/artists/B00DRA3JUS/dennis-wayland

Instagram – @dennis_wayland_music

Facebook – Dennis Wayland Music

TikTok – @denniswaylandmusic

Much thanks in advance!

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

I would love for a few more songs to make it onto radio & curator playlists or maybe even become one of those viral songs people use on reels and videos. In the meantime, I will keep playing live shows. I have a tour scheduled for 2026 throughout northern Virginia, USA. I’m really looking forward to continuing this journey!

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

I hope listeners will discover that I’ve been a true indie workhorse this entire time – writing my own stuff, producing multi-instrumental work solo, and maintaining a yearly live performance schedule. I’m also raising a family and working a full-time job in the meantime, so I’m sure there are other aspiring people out there who can relate. I hope that once they hear and like the music, they will have an appreciation for where and who it comes from.

If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂

“Nebula Rover” – as played on Radio Flames – Thank you!!!