SYLAS DEAN

He’s bringing “hyperpop” to the world and “grinding for listeners”.

DNA: You’re a proponent of what’s called “hyperpop”. What is that exactly?

Sylas Dean: Hyperpop is a deviant of traditional radio pop mixed with camp culture. It’s aware of itself as a genre and leans wholeheartedly into being over the top. As someone who grew up on pop music, it’s exactly where I feel the most at home as a writer – playing between these lines of caricature and authenticity. That’s hyperpop!

You’ve cited Britney’s main songwriter Max Martin as one of your chief inspirations.

Max Martin is one the greatest songwriters of our time. Wherever you turn through the maze of pop music within the last 20 years, you’re bound to find him behind most corners. I have a personal philosophy that good writing is only as good as its accessibility to the audience, and Max is a master of this. He’s brilliant at hooking you into these melodies and preserving the artistic quality and vocal storytelling. It’s something I wanted to emulate with American Dreeming.

Talk us through your debut EP American Dreeming and why you changed the spelling.

This ties back to my understanding of The American Dream. Creating this music was my own form of escapism and to do so wasn’t perfect even if the final product feels shiny and glossy, and that’s what prompted the imperfect spelling of dreaming. It’s about going after the dream itself while also acknowledging the imperfections of getting there and, rather than smoothing them over, you allow them to coexist with the vibrancy and the beauty of the dream.

We love the track Say My Name, but it’s a very different take to the Destiny’s Child song of the same name.

Very different feels for sure [laughs]! Truth be told, just having my song in the same sentence as Destiny’s Child is all I could’ve asked for!

Are you the gay The Weeknd?

All for that! [Laughs]

Do you see yourself as an LGBTQIA+ artist, or simply as an artist?

I absolutely do. I can’t see a way to divorce myself from something that’s shaped my life in almost every way. Growing up, I was this kid lost in the mix of heteronormative music and I didn’t have artists to turn to or contemporaries that I saw myself in so I was always deviating towards those that came before. I’d obsess over queer icons like Judy Garland, Freddie Mercury and George Michael because they had showmanship and an old kind of glamour that was lacking in the early 2000s.

Then what happened?

Truthfully, I felt incredibly disconnected from music until the era shifted when Gaga came into the industry and camp culture felt like it had a breath of fresh air. Having someone in music or just in the public eye to see yourself in can be vital for a kid from a small town who feels alone.

Who do you look up to in the LGBTQIA+ community as a role model?

I’ve always had an admiration for Freddie Mercury. He was fearless in every single way he took on the world and I’ve only ever wished to live my life as authentically and beautifully as he did.

So, what other jobs have you done besides being a pop star?

I’ve hustled through a lot of jobs over the years. When I first came to Los Angeles, I was sharing a bedroom with a stranger for $800 a month and grinding through two jobs, one cleaning houses and the other waiting tables while I was hunting for managers. I started to work in marketing, which completely shifted my perspective of the industry from a business standpoint.

Are you romantically attached?

At the moment, I’m focused on my music and doing everything I can to hustle this through to a label to make something happen. I’m driven with what I want and I don’t like to pull focus from what I’m going after.

What’s the one thing that might surprise people about you?

I’m obsessed with ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response). It’s a phenomenon I experienced so much growing up, then it finally got put into words, and now I’m completely immersed in that world. Most people are freaked out or think it’s cringe when I tell them about it or show them my hundreds of saved videos.

What causes are closest to your heart?

I’m incredibly close to advocating for queer youth who feel disenfranchised from their communities or are facing homelessness.

What message do you want to get across with your music?

That it doesn’t matter where you came from, you have the power to reinvent yourself in any way you envision. I’m a kid from a small town who decided my story wasn’t over and it wasn’t defined by my past, so I created something beautiful from it. If I can make it out, why can’t someone else?

Are you planning world domination?

I don’t like to dream small scale. I’m willing to take this music as far as it’ll go and keep putting out pop projects and grinding for listeners. [Laughs]

MORE: American Dreeming and new single Agony are now streaming everywhere. Follow Sylas on Spotify and Apple Music.

I’d obsess over queer icons like Judy Garland, Freddie Mercury and George Michael because they had showmanship and an old kind of glamour that was lacking in the early 2000s.