J Dallos is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who writes songs about life.
About music
I make music that is fun to play and that is meaningful to me. One of my
favourite
things about
music is its ability to bring you into the present moment and hold you there with some stability.
I rarely have
a idea in mind of what I plan to write about before writing a song. Ocassionally words just come into my head
while I'm busy doing something
else
but usually I create some music and play it over and over again until the words
appear. I'm sure this is a similar experience for many songwriters- less of a trying to make something and more
allowing it to happen. I feel very grateful to hear the songs when they are done and having this kind of
attitude helps me not take my songs or peoples likes or dislikes about them too seriously.
I'm not great at
placing music in genres and have no strong sense of what genre my music really is, but I enjoy it and I hope you
do too!.
About lyrics
Hmm, I can see why so many songwriters don't like to answer this question. I've really connected with songs
before and
then found out they mean something to the writer completely different to what they mean to me. Luckily I don't
think thats a problem, I think it's kind of magical that 'stuff' can mean different 'things' to different
people.
That said
I'm really interested
in the subjective nature of mind, attention, meditation, technology, addiction, culture, suffering, being and
becoming happy/ peaceful, and the meaning of
life!
All these heavily influence my songwriting.
I write songs that I would like to hear and they are created with
the
intention of cultivating peace in the listener. My songs also serve as kind of reminder of the valuable things
in life and how to best stay grounded in them- without being too opinionated about it!
About you
I grew up in the north of England: Hull, York, Leeds. I started playing
music when I
was 14, my first instrument was a freshman bass- I still have it! Within a few weeks of plucking my first notes
I
wrote a song as an apology for accidently breaking a chair (rock and roll!). Turns out I enjoyed writing lyrics
so I carried on doing it and encourage others to do the same!
I've been lucky enough to play with many incredibly talented musicians over the years who have basically taught
me how to play. They've influenced
my own songwriting and approach to music and we've had some great times along the way- with more to come! For me
one of the most
inspiring things about music is to discover there are so many people who are musicians that it's simply a
privilege to listen to- they're
on every street.
I moved to Finland in 2020 where
I'm currently
enjoying living pretty much in the middle of the forest.
Influences
Aside from all the non-famous folks I've had the pleasure of sharing my
musical journey with? Well there are so so many...
My favourite artist has been John Frusciante for a while now,
not least because listening to his music gave me a greater insight into my own music and music more generally.
That's what I look for in a great song, something that reveals all music- all of life in fact- to be filled with
ever
deepening beauty and poignancy.
There are a lot of influences that I'd do no justice by simply listing here. I really feel there is so
much incredible life-changing music out there, old and new- be open to it. Good times!
