Dalton Mauldin
Photo Credit:Nelson Holliman
Dalton Mauldin creates meaningful music. The artist only began music during his high school years. Before that, his life revolved and still revolves around baseball. He currently plays the sport in college and still manages to put out his feel-good songs. 2018’s “Nights Without You”put the artist on the map, earning over six million Spotify plays. Since he put out the country-pop hit, Dalton has pursued a different direction, introducing a new, indie-pop sound in 2019. This was a change that came naturally for the artist. “I have so many influences that have impacted me and my sound over the years but the ones that stuck with me are the indie-pop vibe”, he said. “The music that I am making now just makes me happy and I have so much fun doing it!” This style not only brings out Dalton’s flexibility as an artist but his vocal talent, songs like “Blinded” and “mine” being just two examples of this. He currently boasts nearly 100k monthly listeners and growing fanbase. We recently spoke to the artist about all of this and more!
You write in your Spotify bio that you're pursuing music while being a college athlete. What role did both activities play in your life growing up?
From the time I could walk to even now, all I've done was play baseball. It was my first love and I've been dedicated to the game since I was able to throw a ball. Ever since I started playing baseball seriously in travel leagues, my goal was to play college baseball. Now that I've been here in college living out my dream as a college athlete, it's starting to come to an end. This is my senior season and after this year, I'll be done forever. Music didn't become a thing in my life until late in my highschool years. I always loved to sing, but never showed anyone EVER. One night, I was over at a friend's house and saw a guitar sitting in the corner of his room. I asked. if he ever played it and he said "no, i've never touched that thing." Long story short, I convinced him to let me take it home and I immediately began watching youtube videos on how to play guitar. This is what started it all for me. The only lesson I've ever taken was from YouTube videos. I believe that baseball has really helped me become a better musician because I've developed these characteristics such as hard work, dedication, and commitment through playing baseball and now I can transfer these into writing songs and making music.
Over the past year or so, you've taken more of an indie-pop direction with your music. What made you decide to take this route?
I believe that the direction of my music has changed because of learning who I am as a person and growing as I've continued to write songs. I grew up listening to country music and slowly drifted into the R&B lane when I reached highschool. Then towards the end of highschool, I began to switch to listen to more of a rock/alt vibe. When I got to college I began listening to indie-pop music and that's when I really found my love for music. I have so many influences that have impacted me and my sound over the years but the ones that stuck with me are the indie-pop vibe. The music that I am making now just makes me happy and I have so much fun doing it!
How has moving to Nashville changed your ability to make music?
Moving to Nashville has changed my ability to make music because I feel as though I am more myself here. I believe that when you're in a position where you're happy somewhere, good things come out of it. I am surrounded by friends who support me and people who care about my well being. Now that I've been in Nashville for a while, I've been able to create relationships that allow me to progress as an artist by having places to record and be surrounded by people that look out for me if I need anything.
Has this process changed during the pandemic?
To be completely honest with you, the pandemic has helped me in regards to my music. It has given me a lot of time to write songs, dedicate time in the studio, and focus more on playing guitar. I know that everyone has been bored sitting at home, but that's why I tell everyone to learn an instrument because I haven't been bored yet haha! Also I would have been really busy with baseball if the pandemic never hit so I've been taking advantage of the time I've been given to work on anything involving music.
Love "closure". What was the inspiration for the song?
“closure” was written about a time that I figured out that the relationship I was in wasn’t going to work out anymore. The night that I figured it out, instead of being upset about the situation while I was with her, I took it with a grain of salt and just enjoyed being in the moment and accepted it for what it was, the closure. “This is the closure, so can you come closer.”
What is the perfect occasion to listen to a Dalton Mauldin song?
I think the perfect occasion to listen to one of my songs is anywhere or anyplace with your friends. I think my songs have a type of vibe where you shouldn't be listening by yourself, but be with some friends and singing the lyrics as loud as you can! I'll never be upset if anyone listens by themselves, but I'll always encourage someone to go get some friends and blast "mine" with the windows and let loose :)
Who are you choosing to work with in a dream collaboration?
Okay, so I have 5 favorite artists right now. My DREAM collaboration would be with any of these. LANY, Lauv, Jeremy Zucker, Chelsea Cutler, or Zachary Knowles. If I had to choose only one though I would choose LANY because they're my absolute favorite. Side note: my favorite by them is "thick and thin"
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just beginning to release music?
Advice to anyone who is just beginning to release music.. I would say to factor out all other artists and compare them to your music. When I first started I would see how many streams or listeners all of these artists had and would become discouraged because my numbers were so low. I would basically feel as though I'm "behind" in a sense. However, now I understand that the only reason I thought I was behind was because I was comparing myself to them. My advice would be to focus on your own music, and work on slowly progressing as an artist. Keep in mind that you're on your own time and don't compare yourself to anyone else.
Another thing is to always show love and gratitude to fans. My fans are solely the reason that I can do this. You'll eventually come to realize that some of your fans care about you more than people you've known forever. Treat them with love and gratitude always. I always try to answer direct messages and keep in contact because now my "fans" are people who mean the world to me and I'm beyond thankful for them.
Any future projects for fans to get excited about?
Heck yes. I'm focusing on releasing a few more singles here in the near future, while at the same time working on my next EP.
