Then we hear a whistle like a bos’n’s pipeAnd the carnival immediately beginsGradually mixing rain – Jim Morrison, ‘Babylon Fading’
On society’s edge, you’d invariably find Dmitry Wild, Eastern European outlier: quirky as his accent, his demeanour just as distinctive. He’s a puzzle piece that never quite fit – but oh, how it colours his creative canvas. With a spirited grin, he welcomes the rich tapestry of American roots music, courting the elusive American Dream by donning a bowler hat, whimsically catapulting himself into the vibrant era of 1880. His recent masterwork, “Why Be Normal?” is a vibrant reflection of Wild’s unique audacity; his appetite for the avant-garde.
Dmitry Wild stands out as an intriguing deviation from the norm, an artist defying genres as effortlessly as he plucks his guitar strings. Besides that proverbial bowler, he wears many hats – a musician, a rocker, a poet, a wordsmith, and an actor – but it’s his unswerving musical alter ego that leads him on peculiar, possibly life-altering, and fascinating odysseys.
A late-night band practice, a seemingly insignificant delay, became his lifeline on the fateful morning of 9/11, when he missed his train to the World Trade Center. Years later, he would once again dance with destiny as he slipped away from the clutch of the pandemic, finding refuge in Hudson, NY, a city he had charmed and been charmed by during a brief tour date.
Wild is the pulse of his work, the pivotal writer, composer, guitarist, and performer of all his material. Yet, his live shows morph into something quite different – they become theatrical, sometimes transcendent voyages into the unknown, a spectacle heightened by the symphony of fellow musicians accompanying him.
Concurrently, his new offering, “New York Stones,” is a stirring ode to the vibrant mélange that is the Big Apple, the crucible of immigrant dreams and daring spirits…and its heartbreaking transience. “New York Stones” is Dmitry Wild’s personal ode to the New York City of his youth – and its fleeting memories that Jim Morrison referenced in his poetry. While other artists are trying to praise the feel good, Dmitry allows himself to dwell in the bittersweet realm of nostalgia for a lost youth, and a lost New York City, where the only constant is change.
“The city that we grew up in and made us who we are today is a different city today,” he reflects. “Most places closed or became something else that we no longer have a connection to.”
The monochromatic video, directed by Marco Charpentier, captures Dmitry meandering through the arteries of the East Village and Lower East Side – places that once throbbed with the pulse of neon nightclubs, disheveled dive bars, and scrumptious budget-friendly late-night eateries. Now, however, they stand desolate, their vibrancy replaced by vacant storefronts and locked iron gates….or worse, banks and corporate chain stores.
Watch the video below:
Yet from this quietude, a symphony arises; the video swells into a potent bridge, a tribute to the enduring tenacity of New York, echoing through the generations. It’s a melody set to haunting minor chords, yet it roars with the strength of thunderous drums, mimicking the ceaseless heartbeat of the city.
“From the gangs of New York to immigrant sons, from the fall of the twins, to the pandemic toll, it’s still standing,” Wild says. “The moral of this story is, even though its outer shell is changing and the skyline is transforming, it continues to live inside of each and every one of us.”
Dmitry Wild, who has shared stages with Jungle Jim from the Cramps, has remained extremely prolific: in early 2022 finally released his long-awaited full-length solo album entitled, “Electric Souls”, and the same year he followed up with a spoken word collaboration with an electronic producer, under the moniker Dmitry Wild + Houses-in-Motion. In addition, he managed to record a rock opera on the sidelines, called The Hamletson.
Order New York Stones here.
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