JAC DILLINGER
Singer songwriter and guitarist Jac Dillinger revives an old school sound for the new era. With organic bluesy guitar tones and dynamic vocal range, Jac Dillinger's mission sets out to revitalise honesty in storytelling. Bringing with him youthful raw lyrics about life as a young man and the trials and tribulations of adulthood.
As a young person Jac Dillinger was exposed to a plethora of music from his parents, listening to everything from Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Bill Withers, Pink Floyd, Queen and Stevie Ray Vaughan to name a few.
Dillinger’s debut album draws inspiration from conversations of his parents making mixtapes back in the 1980s with various bootleg recordings of songs from radio broadcasts and copied cassette tapes.
Jac Dillinger took this idea and produced an album around the premise of a mixtape, with different genres, mixes and stories for each song, creating a personal musical catalogue.
Raised on the West Coast of Taranaki, Jac Dillinger was constantly surrounded by music from a young age. Parties were a regular occurrence for the family with a constant flow of dancing and music. This greatly influenced the young Dillinger into a world of creativity and first took the form of a plastic toy guitar for his 3rd birthday. From that point, Dillinger's journey with music was set in motion.
At 9 years old, Dillinger began to develop his skills as a singer. Having been trained classically, DiIlinger competed in competitions around the North Island, reciting pieces from Chopin, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Handel. However his first success ironically was receiving 1st place in the pop section for a cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Ben’.
By 12 years old, the guitar was to become a mainstay within his musical life. The catalyst was watching a YouTube video of Stevie Ray Vaughan performing at Austin City Limits in 1989.
Dillinger recounts, “When I was first getting into Blues music, I was drawn into the stories and the emotive style of playing. The guitar sounded like it was talking. To me Stevie had a flow and feel with his playing that sounded effortless. I knew then that I wanted to be as good as him.”
During his high school years, Dillinger played in the school jazz band and other jam bands. While at high school, Dillinger was introduced to New Zealand Post-Punk pioneer Peter Jefferies (formerly of Nocturnal Projections and This Kind of Punishment) where Jefferies taught Dillinger the basics of song writing.
Dillinger explains, “At the time I thought I needed to fit in at school and sometimes felt like an outcast for being different than everyone else. Peter helped me to channel those feelings into lyrics and songs.”
In 2016, Dillinger competed in the Smoke Free Rock Quest with his band Tight Rope. The band was placed Second overall and also won “Best Song” “Best Lyrics” and the Mainz Musicianship Award.
Dillinger went on to study a Bachelor of Musical Arts at Music Audio Institute New Zealand (Mainz). It was here that Dillinger learnt about songwriting, musical craft, collaboration and the music business. During this time Dillinger began to branch out into the Auckland music scene. There he met well known session drummer Greg Tell (Dion Warwick, Hugh Masekela, Elton John, Renee Geyer). Greg Tell and Dillinger began playing regular gigs in Auckland's CBD performing Blues, Funk and Soul covers as a Duo.
After graduating from Mainz, Dillinger returned to Taranaki to search for a new backing band. After several months he formed Jac Dillinger and Subject to Jam.
Dillinger plans to release his self-titled debut album ‘Jac Dillinger'. Each song from the album will be released as a single from July to December. Following the album’s release, Dillinger and the band will be performing at private shows and live shows from late 2022 into 2023.
There is much to look forward to as this young upcoming artist brings a revival of honest storytelling and a call back to a golden era of music. Be sure to look out for Jac Dillinger and Subject to Jam as they prepare to turn it up to 11 and give you a performance that will shake the foundations with some good old fashioned Rock n Roll.