ARTIST SPOTLIGHT ~ DONNY DYKOWSKY OF MIRRORS ON THE MOON

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Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our listeners to some deserving up and coming artists/ bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass and we hope you do too! Today, we’d like to shine the spotlight on music Mirrors On The Moon. The songs on their upcoming EP try to find a balance between psych-rock and Americana with themes exploring existentialism, love, and mysticism. That’s something that we can sink our teeth into here at the magazine!

We gain perspective through music. It scrapbooks different seasons of our lives and recalls our most formative moments with the crucial benefit of hindsight. You can trace the unbelievable journey of singer, songwriter and producer Donny Dykowsky via his successive sonic identities. After surviving cancer, weathering toxic relationships, and becoming a father, Dykowsky has arrived on the other side with a vulnerable, yet vital and vibrant voice with his new band Mirrors On The Moon.

Growing up in the suburbs of New York, the lifelong musician cut his teeth by gigging at the age of fifteen. By the time he was 20 and touring regularly with jam bands, he kept finding himself lethargic and unable to breathe. After a year in the thrall of uncertainty, he received an accurate diagnosis—Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. An—at the time—rare stem cell transplant would be the only way out. “It was basically a coin flip whether or not I would survive,” he sighs. “On September 11, 2001, I climbed a local mountain with some bandmates and we watched the Twin Towers burn. The next day, I was in a hospital bed.” That hospital served as home for the next year between severe chemotherapy treatments, the removal of a “grapefruit-sized tumor” from his chest, and inevitably a stem cell transplant.

The moment he could walk again, he feverishly performed countless gigs anywhere with a stage, singing his heart out at bars and coffee houses across not only New York, but Boston and Philadelphia.At the same time, Donny was developing a sterling reputation behind-the-scenes. Signing to Pulse Music, he penned music for artists as diverse as Naughty By Nature and kicked off a career in custom music for TV and commercials.

Dykowsky really takes flight with his latest project, Mirrors On The Moon. Joined by bassist Freddy Pastore as well as drummer John Hummel [Lady Gaga] and keyboardist Dave Archer [UNI and the Urchins], they recorded the self-titled EP (out later this summer) at Ski Team Studios with Dykowsky behind the board as producer in addition to vocals, guitars, and a host of other instruments.

MOTM features songs balanced on the edge of psych-rock and 3-part-harmony Americana. It’s reminiscent of influences like the Beatles and Zeppelin with themes waning between existentialism, love, and mysticism.

“There are mirrors on the moon,” he says. “We shoot lasers at those mirrors to calculate how the moon drifts from the Earth. And the moon itself is like a mirror reflecting light; there’s something magical about it. The name is three-dimensional for me, because I think of where I’ve been and what’s to come.”

In the end, Donny’s story of perseverance is an inspiring one. His music isn’t for the faint of heart, and the honesty in his journey is what resonates so deeply with the listener.

“I just try to find the truth and set it to music,” he leaves off. “And my truth is different now than from a hospital bed or a toxic relationship. At the same time, I have a 30,000-foot perspective on where I’ve been and I can find peace in the journey. These songs have a certain weight to them, and hopefully the performance is sincere enough where you can find truth in them as well. Because we are not alone – we’re in this together.”

We sat down for a short, but fun Q&A with Donny Dykowsky of Mirrors On The Moon!

Every superhero and villain have an origin and a band is not different. Well, minus the radioactive spiders and secret government experiment. What’s the origin of Mirrors On The Moon?

Donny Dykowsky/Mirrors On The Moon: Ha – I suppose you’re right. The light needs the darkness, and I was sitting on new songs that didn’t quite fit with my last band.

What’s in a name? Sometimes a band’s name has a story behind it and sometimes it’s something that sounds cool. What about Mirrors On The Moon?

I write and produce music professionally for TV/film and brands. I was working on a film called Broken Star and had written a cue called Mirrors on the Moon. I always loved that title because it seemed so dimensional. Plus, there are mirrors on the moon used for calculating how far the moon drifts from earth.

Some artists cite when they heard a specific album or saw a band live as when they knew music was going to be their life. When were you bitten by the music bug?

Early. As a kid, my mother was a singer and my uncle played guitar and proselytized Zeppelin as gospel. I got my first guitar at 6 years old.

We’ve lost quite too many music icons over the last few years. If you could pick one or two to jam with, who would you pick?

David Bowie, for sure. Not sure if I’d like to jam, though. I might just opt for having tea.

You book a tour that you’re on and you can bring along any 4 bands (even if they are no longer with us or have just broken up). Who would you choose?

Right on. I can play this game all day: My Morning Jacket, Claypool Lennon Delirium, Spoon, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

Do you have a favorite tour, show or studio story you can share?

It would have to be our first gig, which was at the Red Gables festival. The stage was on the banks of a river surrounded by wildflowers and open fire pits. We closed night three of the festival with our set and had a liquid light show projected behind us. Also, we covered Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which I have to say was a highlight for me.

If the songs on Mirrors On The Moon’s upcoming EP were a cocktail what would be in it?

Well – the EP drops with the single Whiskey and Wine, so I’d have to say those are the ingredients.