Here’s a scene for you: You’re strolling down Broad Street and all of the sudden the guy walking in front of you spontaneously starts singing. It could be that he’s crazy. Or it could be pop singer-songwriter Dion Roy trying to catch a tune before it flutters out of his mind.
Here’s a scene for you: You’re strolling down Broad Street and all of the sudden the guy walking in front of you spontaneously starts singing. It could be that he’s crazy. Or it could be pop singer-songwriter Dion Roy trying to catch a tune before it flutters out of his mind.
“A few funny looks on the street is totally worth possibly finding a song idea that will be with you for a long time,” says Roy, who once started scripting his song “Of Grey” while attending a barbecue at his parents’ house. “You gotta capture those moments anyway you can, and if you see me at a bar or even at a party, don’t be surprised to hear me singing lyrics to a new song.”
Inspiration strikes often for Roy, perhaps as the result of his many influences enjoyed by the Namibian-born, South African-raised, current resident of New York. But when he really ponders the question, Roy says he’s motivated more by what’s inside him than any perspective from his past homes.
“I suppose having my family all over the world, and travelling quite a bit in the past years I have broadened my perspective quite a bit as a person – but I think that where my songs come from, it comes from a very personal, intricate part of me, which is not really GPS located,” Roy jokes. “Who knows, maybe my African roots inspire me to keep things a bit rhythmic. I suppose that having a strong family connection definitely influences my opinions on situations or my reactions to situations, but to pinpoint it is another story.”
Pinning down his sound is a smidge easier. Roy’s tunes to this point have been pure pop. Laden with ensnaring hooks and shout-it-loud choruses, his sound has earned him multiple placements on TV soundtracks (MTV, E!, Oxygen, Comedy Central) and appearances on morning shows and even Howard Stern.
“[My sound] just came from writing dozens, maybe even a hundred songs at this point. I try so many ideas, but I always come back to the ones that strike me as being good enough to be on an album,” says Roy. “When I wrote ‘The Wave’ [off latest EP The Nearest Light], it started as an idea I was just kicking around — but when I listened to it a week later, I knew that I was onto something. I think that finding your sound is something that every songwriter struggles with, and I feel that most great songwriters are always open and ready to incorporate new ideas into the music that they are writing. It’s a process that doesn’t end, or at least I don’t think it does. Art is always changing and I don’t think that songwriting is any different in that regard.”
The art that currently exists for Roy is a contagious sort of song that grows on your with repeated listening. There’s the driving piano/guitar intro to “You Can’t Take,” the catchy guitar riff that highlights “Wants It” and the raucous chorus of “The Wave.”
“Pure and simple, I want people to connect, relate and walk away just a little bit happier or even relieved to know that another soul has felt the way they did,” Roy says. “Music is about connecting and that is something I put in a lot of effort into, sometimes making lyrics more vague just so that people are able to apply the songs to their own lives.”
D.C.-area listeners to hear how Roy’s songs apply to their lives when he plays Jammin’ Java Nov. 2 with Tyler Hilton. Tickets are $15 and the show starts at 7 p.m.
• For more on Dion Roy, visit www.dionroy.com.
