Mull It Over 020: Houston, We Have A Project
Dylan Robinson aims high with an audio and visual arts project that challenges the very idea of 'the band’.
Dylan Robinson is Radio Houston Project. Or is Radio Houston Project Dylan Robinson? If you speak to the man himself - the man behind the masquerade ball mask, blurring the lines between the two is kind of the whole point.
It’s not hard to see how the confines of playing ‘alternative rock’ was leaving Robinson feeling trapped. Once upon a time R.E.M. was the alternative. Now, if you pick up a guitar it can feel jurassic in the face of the electronic revolution that has taken over underground music for decades. Becoming the new Oasis isn’t an alternative to anything, clicks and beats in Kreuzberg is the new revolution. Radio Houston Project has figured this out.
After a couple of false starts under the alias Radiant Silvergun, Robinson was rapidly expanding his musical horizons at the same time. Electronic and more avant-garde work was appearing from the periphery; it made him adjust his entire outlook on why and how he began making music in the first place.
“I felt constrained within the typical guitar, drums and bass format once my songwriting had became more ambitious. My end goal for Radio Houston Project is to turn my setlist into a sci-fi stage production to fully immerse my audience into the cosmic realm, where I am mentally singing from.” - Dylan Robinson / Radio Houston Project
That is not to say, however, that Dylan’s rock guitar-focused DNA has not seeped through. Initially causing him to feel ‘deep insecurities’ as he tried to move his sound somewhere more left field, the alt-rock anthems he grew up on persevered in his final product; he has since learned to embrace it and so Radio Houston Project was born. From Justice, to Daft Punk and Nine Inch Nails, rock elements can work wonderfully in an electronic landscape - when done correctly. More close to home, one only has to look at what Chalk are doing with Chris Ryan to illustrate that point perfectly.
It’s not all about the music though. Like David Bowie (who also made some of his most vital, alternative sounding work in Berlin) image and the visual arts experience is of equal importance in Radio Houston Project. Donning a NASA boiler suit and masquerade ball mask, RHP is showing us on first glance that this is a mash up of different worlds.
Dylan tells me - “Radio Houston Project has always been sonically inspired by the universe and this idea of reaching out to brand new worlds. My end goal for RHP is to turn my setlist into a sci-fi stage production to fully immerse my audience into the cosmic realm where I am mentally singing from.”
It is refreshing to hear Robinson speak of his ‘band’, as it were, purely in terms of the live experience. At the time of writing, there is nowhere, bar a couple of live recordings on SoundCloud where you can listen to Radio Houston Project. There is no debut single that he is pushing and no interminable instagram album teasers. For now, it is clear to see the energy is focused on creating this world, and providing us with enough mystique and intrigue to make us want to come along and see a Radio Houston Project show for ourselves.
Like DJ and podcast host Jason Stewart mentioned recently on his own Substack, I am attracted to people who subvert the established route-to-market in 2024. Whether it is Cindy Lee releasing her fantastic new album exclusively through a pre-millennium looking GeoCities website with a YouTube link or Radio Houston Project, currently an artist with no music (yet) - it keeps you on your toes. It is also, I suspect, a clever throwback to an age when bands and artists used to play shows and tour up and down the country, building an audience before they released anything. Otherwise, and I know from first hand experience, it can go down like a fart in a wetsuit. Or space suit, in this case. I do not think Radio Houston Project will have that problem. Armed with his guitar and a pair of Roland grooveboxes, he’s daring you to come and see for yourself.
Nobody worth their salt ever started a revolution, or a band, without a badge. Radio Houston Project is harnessing the simple and effective impact of the lapel.
So, how I came across Radio Houston Project was not through Spotify or Bandcamp, or even a live show. It was through Robinson’s deft utilisation of modern social media for a very old fashioned marketing strategy: get people wearing your merchandise and promote it. I noticed the below photo on Instagram and the high fashion-style campaign of the image pulled me in immediately. Nobody worth their salt ever started a revolution, or a band, without a badge. Radio Houston Project is harnessing the simple and effective impact of the lapel. Take a look for yourself.
The ‘project’, as it were, is still very much in its infancy. After a successful debut performance at The Sunflower Pub in Belfast back in October 2023 things are starting to ramp up. In fact, just today Radio Houston Project has announced a headline show at Bennigan’s Bar in Derry with support from RÚARY. Tickets are available here.
You can follow Radio Houston Project on Instagram. While you’re at it, grab a ticket to the next show and wear the badge. It beats sitting in the office listening to Spotify.
And on that note - you can listen to the official Mull It Over Spotify Playlist below. I recommend listening when in the office.
Thanks for checking in for issue 20 of the newsletter. Last week I promised an announcement, and it is coming - albeit slightly delayed. I hope it will be worth the wait. Keep your ears peeled for that one. As always, thanks for reading, thanks for subscribing and thanks for listening. Have a fabulous weekend. Join the movement.