A Day In the Life: Dylan Meek
Lead image by Christopher John Keller. Intro by Heather Hawke. Photography and captions by Dylan Meek and Adam Carneol.
A few years ago, after a lifetime’s worth of collaboration with so many legends, Dylan Meek started to focus on writing and performing his own original songs. The result is his first self-produced and engineered all original solo record, All I Need, which was a lifetime in the making.
A seventh generation Texan, Dylan was raised in Wimberley, TX, from a family of glass artists, literature professors, psychologists, and rocket engineers and by the age of six had taught himself to play blues and boogie woogie pian. Becoming a protégé of the Harlem piano master Jimmy Neeley (1926-2014 – who played with Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Etta Jones, Bo Diddley, Lionel Hampton, Little Richard, Big Joe Turner, Dave Brubeck, Willis Gator Jones, etc) at the age of fourteen, Dylan took in nearly a century of wisdom and music that he passed down to him. “Dylan, the young lion, has that gift. I want him to play loose, never the same thing twice. I don’t want him to be like a clock, tick tock, tick tock.” – Jimmy
After moving to Boston to live with his brother Buck Meek (Big Thief) when he was seventeen, he soon took in experiences that provided the first inspiration for him to start singing: playing organ and piano at gospel churches like the Grant AME & Good Shepherd.
In 2012, after living in NYC for seven years to attend the New School for Jazz, he recorded his first solo album, And When, with Greg Hutchinson (Betty Carter, Roy Hargrove, Ray Brown) and Ben Wolfe (Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall). This album comes after frequent New School collaborations with legends such as Johnny O’neal (Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Nancy Wilson), Jackie Williams (Stéphane Grappelli, Doc Cheatham, Illinois Jacquet), Reggie Workman (John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk), Jr. Mance (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young), Lew Soloff (Tito Puente, B,S&T).
Still living in NYC, he played thousands of shows around five boroughs with various artists, including his 17-piece funk band Wet Velvet. He also recorded the album Time for Class with Victor Jones (Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Chaka Khan) & Alex Blake (Sun Ra), whom he played with at a weekly residency at Zinc.
Dylan’s friend and collaborator Ray Angry (the Roots, Alicia Keys, Nas, Lauryn Hill, Dr. Dre) connected him with Om’mas Keith, who he went on to collaborate with on several projects (including co-writing “Invincible” with Keith and Aminé for Spiderman – Into the Spider Verse) which helped kick start his journey into the world of hip hop & production. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2014, he’s played with Post Malone, Quavo, Miguel, Stanaj, collaborated with Mike Judge for Tales from the Tour Bus, and recorded with Questlove.
His debut solo album All I Need is an intriguing, soul-R&B infused collection of stories.
Dylan Meek’s web/socials: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter
This is my view every day when I wake up at home. My bedroom cockpit of the recording/mixing station where my laptop is. I like to wake up and create.
.This is my synth spaceship. Right next to my bed. I like to be surrounded by my musical instruments all the time. I make a lot of music on these instruments.
This is my bedroom balcony with AstroTurf. I stand here multiple times a day to find solace and enjoy the sunshine and wind blowing through the trees. I often do yoga out here, work out, eat snacks or take naps.
This is my living room piano, which I often play first thing when I wake up. At random hours in the day, I will just sit and play, practice, write, or learn. I like to reflect here while playing often as well. And my paintings are on top (I enjoy looking at something that inspires me while I play). Or I will just close my eyes.
Here are a few of my Magic Cards. Magic the Gathering is one of my favorite games to play during a pastime (often in my living room or at my brother’s cabin). I am starting to become a collector as well and am passionate about it.
Table Tennis is one of my favorite sports and I study at a ping pong gym in Korea Town, Los Angeles under a master from Japan (Hiroe) and love to play. This is my paddle. I play as often as I can and will never turn down a challenge.
Chess plays a big part in my life. Speed Chess is my main focus. I play online at least a few games a day. Sometimes 10 (5 min) games. I have played chess my whole life. It is a never-ending learning process. Very mentally stimulating!
These are some foods I eat everyday: Red lettuce (with Scallions though not shown because I ate all of them and need to go to the grocery store and buy more), Peanut butter- usually with apples in the morning (but I am out because I also ate all of my apples), olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, lemons.
I love the beach and I go every chance I get. This is a pic of me living my best life on a street near the beach in Los Angeles. (Captured by my manager Adam Carneol).
This is a pic of one my manager/ best friend (Adam Carneol) on the same street near the beach I was on in the last pic (Captured by me). I hang with this dude all the time: if not on the daily in person, we chat on the phone. Adam has had my back since I moved to LA 6 years ago. In my philosophy- it is very important to be friends with your manager.
This is my van (prince mark the 3rd) parked at a beach parking lot.
If you ask anyone that really knows me, they will tell you I looveee Ice cream. I enjoy eating ice cream as much as possible.
I like to go to the beach all the time. Whether it is hot out, foggy, rainy, or cold. Nature in general is very important to me. And water is extremely important to me.
This is a pic one of my other best friends took: of my shoes while at the beach. These were white vans that got dirty, so I painted them to make them last longer. They have kind of become my primary beach shoes.
Can’t leave my weekly residences out. It is a huge part of my routine to play shows live. I have several residencies a week in Los Angeles that I get to perform music with my band. This pic is from Tuesday’s at Verse (lankershim). Verse every Tuesday, every other Saturday, Bacari Silverlake every Thursday.
