After years of touring, writing songs for some of the biggest names in Nashville, and releasing a handful of singles and EPs, Dylan Schneider is finally ready to unleash his debut full-length album on the world. Puzzled hit streaming platforms and record store shelves today (September 27).
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Ahead of the album’s release, Schneider sat down with American Songwriter to discuss Puzzled, why he waited to release it, and his favorite track on the album.
Dylan Schneider on the Timing of Puzzled
Dylan Schneider has been in Nashville for almost a decade but waited until now to release his first full-length album. The wait, he said, gave him time to grow as an artist and as a person. “In the beginning, it was a lot of really, really fast-paced writing songs here and there, touring a whole lot, and wanting to put out EPs and wanting to introduce myself as an artist overall,” he recalled.
“I was younger when I started, it’s been eight years since I first went to Nashville when I was 16. I’m glad I held off on putting something like this out because I’ve become a better overall writer and a better overall artist,” Schneider said. “I understand a little more what I want to say and who I want to be. I just feel like that has all come together recently and I’ve got a good team around me and I had a lot of time to space out my writing over this year,” he added.
“After the EP that we put together back in April came out and we had that good batch of songs to build from, my main focus was just to get as many great songs together as I could,” he explained. Schneider revealed that he and his team had been looking at releasing the album in September since the beginning of the year.
“This just feels like the right time in my career,” Schneider said. “I’ve got a lot of good momentum going on and I’ve done a lot of growing up and maturing as an artist, songwriter, and person. So, I feel really confident that now is the time to release it and introduce myself as this new chapter begins.”
There Are No Outside Cuts on Puzzled
Dylan Schneider co-wrote every song on Puzzled. To him, that was the only way his debut album would be an accurate representation of who he is as an artist. “Personally, I think with this first one, I was dead set on trying to write everything myself. I wanted to be part of every song,” he explained.
“In my past releases, I’ve always cut outside songs and I always love them. There’s so many great songs and I have so many friends who are songwriters. They’ll send me stuff and I hate turning down great stuff especially if somebody is really excited about it and believes in it for me. But I just wanted to be the one telling the story on this first one especially and show that I can come to play ball as a songwriter and as an artist. I wanted it to be a really special thing for me, proving both sides,” he said.
Dylan Schneider Reveals His Favorite Song on Puzzled
“I feel like it has changed a few times over the last couple of months,” Schneider said of his favorite track on the album. “But the one that I’m really excited about that I really like is “Here Comes the Sun.” It came together in such a unique, cool, quick way. I didn’t expect it to be as cool as it is or for me to like it as much as I do but I’ve been loving it recently.”
Fans can stream “Here Comes the Sun” and the rest of Puzzled on all platforms today.
Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach
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