Dylan Sprayberry: Art, Music, Identity, and Reinvention

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Carpazine: Hi Dylan, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions for Carpazine. Most people know you as an actor, but you are also a musician and visual artist. How do these different creative outlets influence one another?

Dylan Sprayberry: My take is that every individual has their own beingness, their own collection of memories, experiences, and perspectives of the world. That bleeds into everything that the individual does. I have all these ideas in my head. These are effects that I wanna cause on other people through different forms of expression, but it’s all coming for me.

Carpazine: Your recent music has a strong folk and acoustic feel, while you've also spoken about your love of punk rock. How do those influences come together in your songwriting?

Dylan Sprayberry: I remember growing up and my father had a DVD with a live record recording of an AC/DC concert. I recall, jumping on the couch and imagining that I was Angus Young. Cut to- I’m 10 years-old and I’m going to see the documentary “It Might Get Loud” with my father. That is when I discovered who Jack White and the White Stripes were. This discovery blew my mind. I don’t know of someone who better represents taking strong inspiration from roots music and turning it into Punk. Jack White was single-handedly the reason why I wanted to become a musician. I also have to give my father credit because he was constantly showing me new music. I remember the first bands I ever listened to were Smashing Pumpkins and Steppenwolf. Writing music is like making a movie; you create a world, a story told by a character maybe. I’m inspired by punk and folk because they are seemingly simple; but there is great depth in the messages of these genres.

Carpazine: Folk and punk may seem very different on the surface, but both share a DIY spirit and a commitment to honesty. Do you see a connection between them?

Dylan Sprayberry: Absolutely! For me, Punk and Folk are similar because they are both raw tellings of hard truth. There’s no “waiting for the perfect moment” you get out there and make it happen with what you got.

Carpazine: What artists, bands, writers, filmmakers, or painters have had the biggest influence on your creative vision?

Dylan Sprayberry: As a kid I LOVED Picasso. We had a few of his art books in the house. I would spend hours looking at them and trying to draw images like his. Also Tim Burton, don’t even get me started.

Musicianwise, as I said before Jack White, but also Tom Waits and earlier artists like Howlin’ Wolf and R.L. Burnside. I also really love C.W. Stoneking. I’m a hardcore Melvin’s fan along with Alice In Chains. Punkwise I was also really into Fugazi and a lot of the DC punk scene of the 80’s. I’m also big into Pantera but more specifically DOWN. I have a huge love for New Orleans and Louisiana culture. I also love traditional Cajun music. The Lost Bayou Ramblers are one of the few current bands keeping traditional Cajun music alive.

Film makers, DAVID LYNCH! I’ve never seen a person who is more inspiring and beautiful! I love David Lynch. Jim Jarmusch is fantastic. I specifically love “Down By Law.” I love the film “Big Fish” by Tim Burton. I’m also super into classic cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Popeye the Sailor Man and others like King of the Hill and the Simpsons. Actor wise, in my eyes, there is no one greater than Jack Nicholson: Iron Weed, The Last Detail, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, As Good as It Gets, Terms of Endearment.

Carpazine: Has your experience as an actor influenced the way you approach songwriting and storytelling?

Dylan Sprayberry: Yes for sure. As an actor it is my job to understand people and to be able to portray an individual in an entertaining and believable way. The way to do that is full commitment. Full attention to the mission. That is Power. I take that with me into my writing for film and for music.

Carpazine: When did visual art become an important part of your life, and what draws you to painting and drawing?

Dylan Sprayberry: Well before I wanted to be an actor I wanted to be a painter. That has always been my first love. I recall that being one of the first things I had a natural interest in. I love painting and drawing because I can communicate what I see in the mind of my imagination. It doesn’t have to fit into reality. It can be whatever I want.

Carpazine: Do painting and visual art allow you to express things that music and acting cannot?

Dylan Sprayberry: That’s a good question! Regarding music, my experience is that when I listen to a piece of music, it influences my imagination and I create an image in my mind based on the emotional response I have to the music or it might remind me of a past experience that I’ve had in my life. And as an actor, I am an integral part of helping create an image for the viewer to experience. With visual art, meaning painting, drawing and also film making I am actually taking the image I’m seeing in my mind and bringing it to life so that the audience can experience it.

Now it will most likely have a different effect on each individual but still I’m delivering to them to the closest degree the way I’m seeing an image or a collection of images in my mind and that’s very special.

Carpazine: What role does underground culture play in your life and work today?

Dylan Sprayberry: I like to look at it this way: all seeds must be planted underground in order to grow and sprout up into the light. The most organic and raw type of art always starts in an underground sort of way. It takes an artist forging his own path, creating his own direction planting that seed and watering it, helping it grow and bringing some sort of new idea or experience up into the light so that the world can have it. My consideration is that every individual has something about them, which is why they are an individual, I believe that underground culture gives the individual artist the opportunity to express themselves as authentically as possible, and that type of audience that type of community is so integrally important to the artist in regards to helping facilitate the creation of true art.

Carpazine: Looking back, what creative risk are you most glad you took?

Dylan Sprayberry: I was very lucky as a kid. My mom is a hairdresser, which is an art form in itself, and my father, a true film and music enthusiast. There were always instruments lying around great movies being watched and a plethora of cameras to pick up and shoot whenever desired. As a kid, I really enjoyed the little Rascals and the Three Stooges.

I remember when I was 10 years-old; I decided to start making these short, black-and-white silent films. I didn’t consider the risk, I didn’t consider if it was going to be good or not. I just considered that I had this idea and I wanted to bring it into reality. I didn’t care that my aesthetic was odd or that I had interest in things that most kids my age thought were lame. I liked what I liked, and I wasn’t gonna let anybody take that away from me. I’ve had moments in my life where I forgot about that version of myself and in those small handful of moments, I asked myself how did I get here? And I realized it was because I stopped being that person who fought for his creative authenticity.

So regarding risk, I think, taking that position of strong integrity and never sacrificing what I know to be true and what I care about regarding creating or anything else for anyone or anything. All I have is my integrity and my ability to create, everything comes from that, at the core that is what I am.

Carpazine: What projects in music, film, or visual art are you most excited about right now?

Dylan Sprayberry: Regarding my own projects, I actually just had a film come out today, June 23 of 2026 called Chapter 51. This film was a labor of love and I’ve given one of my best performances so far. I also co-wrote and created a film called Disorder with the amazing Director Luc Besson which I starred in and should be coming out by 2027. I also starred in another film, called Ordinary Madness, directed by the amazing MIKAI Karl where I got to act alongside my wife, Pruette Sprayberry, the Oscar nominated Paul Raci, Ethan Suplee, and Grammy award-winning musician BECK! I’m generally very excited for this specific moment in filmmaking because it seems like a lot of young filmmakers with great new ideas are getting the opportunity to share that with the world.

Regarding music, I am truly just a fan. I’m excited because it seems like a lot of younger artists are having an interest in reviving certain ways of recording music that have been somewhat forgotten about since the dawn of digital technology. I do my best to keep updated with how a lot of these new young music producers are finding ways to bridge the gap between analog and digital production. I think that due to the Covid Pandemic a lot of fear was injected into our society and into mankind as a whole. What I feel is important to remember is that there is strength in numbers, we are stronger together than we are divided.

It is a very special thing to be able to build a community around a certain artist or band or genre, film, etc… I’ve been taking it upon myself to break this cycle of introversion and seclusion that came about during Covid . Get out there, get a group of friends together and go see a movie. Go make a movie. Go to the beach and write a song. Set up a stage in your backyard and play a show for all your friends. Start a music festival. Get extroverted! Negativity, fear, has no true power. That negativity and fear is the power that we all give it. Negativity and fear are basically parasites. They need a host in order to survive.

Productivity is the basis of morale. If you feel low, get out there and do something. Get curious, get interested and become competent. Provide a service to your fellow man. Someone told me recently that, “In the end, everything will be great, so if right now things are not great then it must not be the end”. I really love that way of thinking.