Thank God for Rock N Roll: Mark Dylan's Love Letter to Early 2000s Guitar Music
By Alec Ilstrup
Mark Dylan embodies the restless energy of New York City's rock scene—a guitarist, bassist, and self-proclaimed "stage jumper" who channels his gratitude for growing up in the emo and punk underground into guitar-driven anthems that make strangers feel like friends. His latest album, "Thank God for Rock N Roll," serves as both a love letter to the early 2000s Warped Tour era and a time capsule of his late twenties spent hustling through NYC's saturated music landscape. Mark has crafted a sound that captures the sweaty basement show energy while building songs that stick with you long after the last chord rings out. As he prepares to leave New York the week after his album release, Mark reflects on what it means to be a rock musician in 2025, why personality trumps technical skill, and how his creative process mirrors going fishing—sometimes you catch something worth keeping, and sometimes you have to throw it back and cast your line again.
Alec: If you could introduce yourself to the people real quick that’d be great.
Mark: My name is Mark Dylan, I am a performing artist, a guitarist, a bassist, a stage jumper… A friend of yours.
*laughter*
Alec: We go way back.
Mark: We go back.
Alec: Let’s start with the new album, what we’re here to talk about. Let’s start with the title “Thank God For Rock N Roll”. What does this phrase mean to you personally and why was it right for this album?
Mark: I was brainstorming a lot about the concept of the album, and what really defined this group of songs that I accumulated over the past year or two that became this album. I was with my producer, Tom Diognardi, in a writing session and we had this shared idea about how grateful we both are that we both grew up on Long Island playing in emo and punk bands… growing up idolizing these artists, being in the height of Warped Tour era music and MySpace and that internet era of rock music. The line I had on my phone at the time was “Thank god for rock and roll” and I said “Dude. This defines it”. And I felt like that defined this whole group of songs. Being guitar driven, having those roots… It's what got me to pick up the guitar [in the first place].
Alec: Definitely. I think it was in your bio you sent me, you said this is like a love letter to the early 2000s rock era. What is it about that era that you wanted to capture and reclaim?
Mark: I remember watching old videos of The Strokes and being like “Oh, that’s New York City rock n roll”. The raw connection to the people and shows and live music. I feel like post-COVID, people crave the raw energy of being in a packed room, being in a basement seeing a show, having loud rock music right in front of you. And just reflecting on how I grew up, that’s such a part of me. Having a guitar in my hand, you know? All these songs are guitar music. They’re guitar songs. And holding on to that I felt like captivated the whole energy of the album. Guitar music, you know?
Alec: Absolutely. Your song Punk Rock Burnout touches on the exhaustion that comes with chasing the dream. Was that song drawn up during a specific time during your life or where did that come from?
Mark: Yeah, that is a funny one because I’ve been dreaming my whole life about doing what I am doing right now. Playing in these amazing bands, playing my own music… sometimes you gotta stop and smell the flowers once in a while. The song is kind of ironic because I love and I am so grateful for what I do, and I will do this for my whole life, you know, make music. But sometimes you gotta stop and smell the flowers and be like “Wow I’m actually gigging”. Even though I’m so exhausted and I had a rehearsal until midnight and then I have to take the subway home and get up early for my day job, and then wake up the next day because I’ve got another show… It's a hustle that no one can teach you except by just doing it, and living the lifestyle of being a rock musician. So that song is kind of like a realization of how lucky I am and how crazy my life is. It’s a double edged sword because when you’re younger you think “I’ll be making so much money from this rock music and I’ll be traveling” but it’s always so much different than what you think. But yeah I keep on writing the story of what it’s like being a rock musician in 2025.
Alec: Yeah totally. Especially being in New York City, it’s so saturated. There’s so much music going on all the time and so many new bands popping up. Especially in this time of rock music, guitar music, making a resurgence after a long pop-centric era. How do you differentiate yourself?
Mark: That’s a good question. I think people gravitate towards personality. Because there’s always gonna be a guitarist that can play faster than me. There’s always gonna be a guitarist that has more jazz chops and can solo over jazz changes better than me. There’s always a blues guitarist that has studied just blues their whole life and is gonna be better than me. But nobody can recreate personality. If you can captivate someone with just how you look playing guitar, your energy on stage… Can you make someone dance by just looking at how you play the instrument? I took Tai Chi lessons and we had a whole lesson on how to open a door. What’s the energy, the Chi of how you’re entering a room? Are you just swinging it open fast? Are you entering it slow? Are you walking in with an assertive presence? Are you entering in a welcoming way? Everything is energy and personality. How you present the music, whether it be with your own or with other bands, that is how you’re going to stand out. It’s personality.
Alec: Is there a track on the album that almost didn’t make it but now you’re glad that it did?
Mark: The last track, “I’ve Been Ready For This My Whole Life”, was the last addition. I had a demo in a different key and just the first half of the song was the whole song. But then when it picks up in the middle with the heavy bass and the “yeah, yeahs”, that was a whole other thought I had when I was walking home from the gym. I took my iPhone out and recorded that part and then extended the song. That song was just the first half, and that moment in the song is one of my favorite moments because it feels like you’re in the “meet me in the bathroom” era of raw New York City music… Rock and roll… Everyone there right in front of you. Everybody is spending their night in just this room to see the same band and you’re all singing the same songs, which I think is so powerful. So that song almost didn’t make it, but I think it’s the perfect closing to the album.
Alec: Definitely. I like that song a lot so I’m glad it made it. What is one lyric on the album you’re especially proud of?
Mark: One lyric I am especially proud of is in Hometown Bar: “Mom and dad grow older and friends move far, but some things don’t change like a hometown bar”. It’s a line that so many people are singing at the shows, even though it wasn’t out yet during these shows, but everyone can relate to that feeling. People move, people change. Family moves around, and your hometown might not look the same when you go back. But sometimes you crave that feeling of walking into your hometown bar, seeing the same signs, the same TVs, and feeling that nothing has changed. It’s the feeling that nothing in the world has changed a bit. It’s a feeling that so many different people and cultures can relate to.
Alec: Let’s talk about your influences and history. You came up in the emo and post-hardcore scenes playing in basements, DIY shows… How does that spirit show up in your music today? How do you keep that alive?
Mark: That whole era there was such an emphasis on going to live shows and supporting local bands. I say the Vans Warped Tour era, but just that whole punk/emo scene. Especially with early MySpace and Facebook, live shows were such a part of that culture. It taught me how to perform. I grew up as a teenager in the era of hardcore bands doing guitar spins, and synchronized head banging. And I love when bands look like that. I love when people can do a flip with a bass. That whole era taught me about what I love most about performing and how to stand out, you know? That whole emo era of live music.
Alec: Looking back at your teenage self flipping guitars in basements, playing shows on the boardwalk… What would teenage Mark think of this album?
Mark: Oh man… These are deep questions. I think I would be proud of myself. I think I would be surprised too because if you asked my teenage self and I had never changed as a person… Dude I would have neck tattoos and I’d have cheesy emo diamonds tatted on me and straightened black hair… I’m so glad I’m not like that anymore, I’m so glad that I've changed. I would be proud of myself but I’d also be surprised that I grew out of some things. I’ve also kept what I loved about that era, you know? Hard guitar parts, high energy performances… I hope that I surprise myself in the next ten years with another album in whatever music genre I’m inspired by. Because I think I’ll feel exactly the same way. When you don’t change as a person you never find the next surprise that life has to offer you. Especially as a creative person, I feel like we find one thing we’re good at and we’re like “Okay this is it and this is what people like me for”. But going back to personality, people love the person. Ninety percent of it is the creative part and ten percent is learning the skill. If you took the time to learn how to produce I feel like I would think “Oh this sounds like Alec”. If I took the time to learn how to make videos you’d be like “Oh this is so Mark Dylan”. I feel like the majority of the soul of a project is the actual soul and the personality, not the skills. The Ramones have three chords [in a song]. Anyone could take the time and learn those three chords, but it’s really about the soul and personality in it. And that’s something that you can’t just watch a YouTube video about. You gotta live it.
Alec: Absolutely. The soul can’t be taught.
Mark: Yeah, you have to learn it by change, through scary moments in your life, through really fun moments in your life. That’s really what builds what people are gravitated towards.
Alec: Speaking of the song writing process, what part of the writing process is the most sacred to you as an artist? Whether it’s the lyrics, the production…
Mark: It depends on the song and the day. How I describe my process of song writing is like I’m going fishing. You have to show up wherever you’re going, you have to get all your tackle, your poles, you have to get in the car and go to that place, and then you fish. Same thing with this studio we’re sitting in now. I’ve set it up so I have everything here. You go there and you have to cast your reel and sometimes you catch a fish, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you catch a fish but you have to throw it back because it’s not good enough. It’s the same thing with songwriting. You’re an antenna for the ideas that exist around you. They might come through you today or tomorrow or never, but you have to always show up. When I was a kid I could just be chilling on summer vacation, no responsibilities, with an unlimited amount of imagination. But as I get older I have to be more disciplined with myself as a creative person to get a good product. Because time is so valuable. But you have to always show up. Most of the songs don’t make it but then you have that one song that makes you feel so emotionally connected to it, or that one melody that makes you feel emotional. And you’re like okay that’s a feeling I have to follow because I might have a big fish on the reel.
Alec: And you can feel it. You know when you have a big one.
Mark: Yeah, you know it right away. It’s that instinct that you have to trust. But sometimes it's a lyric, sometimes it's a guitar riff. Sometimes I steal the tempo of a song I like and I recreate the drums and make a new song by ripping it off. You can’t have all these rules because you could break a rule and have an amazing song.
Alec: Roughly how long did the record take from start to finish?
Mark: Including the time I spent writing I would say the record took about a year and a half. When I first started writing I just set out to write music. Whether it's singles, an EP, or a full length, I just wanted to write something. But once I started writing new music and getting these demos, I started sending them to [my producer] Tom, most of these songs I’m recording just in my apartment but then I send them to Tom. There came a point where so many people were singing these songs at my shows that weren’t even out yet. So when I witnessed this reaction at the live shows I knew that I wanted to present it as an album. I grew up with albums and I still love albums. I feel like it presents a time capsule of the songs really well. It presents an era of a band or an artist that you can always go back to and know what you were doing at that time. I feel like the last year really represents the Thank God For Rock N Roll cycle of my writing.
Alec: We need more albums. Albums are king.
Mark: Yes, forever.
Alec: Was there a moment in the studio that felt like lightning in a bottle? Where something just clicked for you?
Mark: A key moment was Hometown Bar. I was working with Tom but I also had my buddy Ryan Schumer, who’s an incredible audio engineer, come in on the session. That whole day with Tom and Ryan was just so special because this song was on the backburner for so long. We had been playing the song live so much, it was like it was in a closed bottle just ready to pop out. They helped me a lot and Ryan coached me vocally to capture what it was like to walk into a hometown bar. That feeling when you walk in and maybe you see a performer in the corner with an acoustic guitar, you hear the beer bottles clinking together, and you’re immersed in that feeling. That day with Ryan and Tom was an incredible recording day for me where we were all on the same page. We knew the song so well and were just so ready to present it in the best way possible. Shoutout to Ryan Schumer and Tom Diognardi.
Alec: You’re known for your live energy. Mark Dylan shows are super fun. Everybody is everybody’s friend at a Mark Dylan show. How do you think about translating that spirit into a recorded song?
Mark: It goes back to personality again. Capturing that live moment of being in front of the band, you know? It is a hard skill to master because you want that recording to last decades and hundreds of years. That’s a product that could be listened to for who knows how long. Not everyone is gonna be able to see me live. That song will live much longer than the average lifespan of a human. So it’s a crazy thing going into the studio with these songs and thinking about how I’m going to represent this thing as a studio recording for eternity. That’s what goes into your head at that moment as an artist, it's about how am I going to make this live forever? How is it going to be presented? Finding a mix of making it feel like you’re in a “meet me in the bathroom” era basement show and also sounding like a timeless record. It’s about finding that mix.
Alec: For sure. I think you’re very good at that. Capturing that live energy in a recorded song. Not everyone can do that. You know when you go see a band and you’re like “they sound so much different than the album”.
Mark: Yes, that does happen.
Alec: This is your second full length album. What did you want to do differently this time around?
Mark: The whole concept for my first full length album for me was to show what I was capable of as an artist. I can do pop punk, I can do indie pop, I can do heavy stuff… It was this whole concept of showing the versatility of myself as an artist. For this one I wanted cohesiveness of sound. Cohesiveness of guitar rock and what, in this period of time, I was inspired by and what represents this period of Mark Dylan. Like I said, I want to be surprised in ten years from now. Maybe I'll do a country album, or maybe in twenty years I’ll make a jazz fusion album, you know? I’m just making stuff up but this one is about what I’m inspired by at this point in my life.
Alec: Do you feel like this album closes a chapter for you or opens a new one?
Mark: It’s both. It’s so symbolic because so much of this sound comes from living in New York and playing in bands and then I’m moving the week after it comes out. All the emotions hit me, but it’s so beautiful with the timing. This record is a time capsule of living through my late twenties and early thirties as a rock musician in New York City. Writing music, digesting these bands and influences, and putting it all together. The timing is so perfect so I hope other people, when they listen to this music down the line, I hope it brings them back to this New York City rock scene.
Alec: You kind of answered this question already but I’m going to ask it anyway. Finish this sentence: “If this album does one thing for the people who hear it, I hope it does ___”
Mark: I hope that this album captures the energy of this time. I hope it captures the energy of my shows and the other bands I play with, of the producers that I work with, of the fans, of the friends. For example when I listen to Green Day’s American Idiot I remember exactly how old I was when I first listened to it, what the CD case looked like, the t-shirts I was wearing. When I listen back to My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge I remember the exact band shirts I was wearing at that time, what I was inspired by and what musicians I looked up to. I want this album to be like that for other people. Whether it brings them back to one night at a Mark Dylan show, or remembering an Instagram post. It can be so different for so many different people. But albums for me capture a really cohesive style and time period. So that’s what I strive for. I hope that people get that from this album not only now but for forever and ever.
Alec: What’s next for Mark Dylan?
Mark: The party goes on. I’m gonna keep fishing, keep playing shows, and keep being inspired. It’s on to the next shows and grabbing onto whatever inspires me. You gotta grab your fishing pole and show up and see what inspires you. As creatives we just have to show up and receive what the universe has to offer us. And I’ll keep doing some jumps on stage.
*laughter*
Mark: I’ll have to learn some new moves too. Maybe a guitar spin.
Check out Mark Dylan here.
