Landyn Zane is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter, producer, mix engineer, designer, photographer, and everything else that comes along with being ‘your favorite Iowan popstar’.
With his most recent project, Coming Attractions, releasing July 31, he talked with NYS Music about being an independent artist, how this project came to be, and what shaped it.
Below is the edited and condensed transcript of the interview
Tell me about yourself and how you got to where you are now.
I’ll give you the dating profile version of it. My name is Landyn Zane. I’m 23 years old, and I’m from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I’m a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, writer, producer, mix engineer, designer, photographer, videographer, and social media manager. I do it all!
Being from Iowa is a big reason I’ve gotten to where I am today because I didn’t grow up around a lot of organized entertainment or music industry opportunities. As I started writing songs and developing ideas for visuals and all these different creative projects, I quickly realized if I wanted them done or done the way I envisioned them, I was going to have to do them myself.
On top of that, I grew up without a lot of money; it was either I figured out how to do it myself or simply wouldn’t happen. My fifth EP, Coming Attractions, comes out next week, and in just over 4 years, I’ve released more than 40 songs across 5 EPs.
That’s so impressive, especially as an independent artist; one of the things that really drew me to you was how much you do on your own. I think it’s incredibly cool because you can really see your vision all the way through.
Thank you. It is a lot of work. I don’t think there’s any mystery there when you’re making the outfits by hand, painting them, gluing them, shooting the photos yourself, editing them, and doing every single part of the process; it’s obviously a lot of work.
At the same time, it gives me complete creative control; especially with Coming Attractions, this project feels entirely like my vision because every little detail, from the font choices to every visual decision, was something I intentionally chose.
It’s a really cool opportunity because a lot of artists sign their labels and their ideas off to other people, and then someone else makes creative decisions along the way; I get to make all of those decisions myself.
Are you a big film person? Even listening to the EP from start to finish, especially the intro and outro, you can really tell there are some aspects of film.
Yes, thank you. I really appreciate that, and I’m glad it comes through.
For a long time I thought I was going to become a screenwriter, director, or actor. Most of high school I was writing screenplays. After I graduated and started learning what working in film was actually like, I realized two things.
First, you have to make a lot of creative compromises because no matter how talented you are, you can’t make a movie entirely by yourself, not on a larger scale. Second, you spend a lot of time waiting; “hurry up and wait” is a famous phrase in the film, and I’m incredibly impatient.
I grew up watching movies, and I’m obsessed with cinema. I love its history, and I idolized old Hollywood growing up; that’s why I wanted to bring that into the EP with the movie posters and all the visual references.
Music lets me take everything I love about film without having to spend years making a movie. I can sit down and write a song in 20 minutes, produce it, mix it, master it, shoot the artwork, and do everything else; still, it takes time, but it’s nowhere near the time commitment of making a feature film, and I can do all of it myself.
With this EP, I was able to pull inspiration from everything I love: Golden Age Hollywood, James Dean, Marlon Brando, MGM, ’80s sci-fi, everything that has inspired me, and use it in my own way.
You can really see those influences throughout your work, especially the old Hollywood aesthetic with your costume; it’s so cohesive.
Thank you. I’m really glad that comes through.
I live in Iowa now, but when I was living in Los Angeles, I had friends who loved talking about old Hollywood with me. Now, when I bring up someone like James Dean, people look at me and say, “James Dean has been dead for 70 years,” but I love Hollywood history and the visual iconography that came with that era.
Obviously, there are darker realities underneath it all. James Dean died in a car accident, and many of those Stars didn’t have easy lives, but the imaginary and cultural impact they created still hugely resonates with me.
Of course, there’s a reason it’s still such a big part of cop culture today; it’s iconic.
With Coming Attractions, what do you hope listeners take away from it? We’ve talked about what I noticed, but what do you hope people generally get from the project?
I know what I got from making it.
For listeners, I hope they see that the project is intentionally fragmented; it shows different parts of who I am and how I’m trying to navigate loneliness, love, modern life, and everything else that comes with it.
The more time I’ve spent with the EP since finishing it, the more I’ve realized it’s really about holding on to hope; it’s about continuing to dream and fighting for your own happiness even when there isn’t much evidence that things are going to work out. I know I’m not the only person struggling with those feelings, and I hope when people hear the record they realize they aren’t alone either.
I’d love to know how the idea for the postcards came about. I think it’s incredibly unique, and it seems like it’s also been a great way for you to grow your fan base.
It actually started with handwritten letters around September – October of last year. I wrote about 50 letters by hand; they were all full paragraphs, and each one took me close to an hour and a half. Eventually I realized, “I’m going to end up with carpal tunnel if I keep doing this.” I love writing them,m but it just wasn’t sustainable,
Then Christmas came around, and people were sending Christmas cards, and I thought I already have these people’s addresses; what if I send them Christmas cards instead? So I mailed about 50 to 60 Christmas cards, and people absolutely love them.
One person reached out to tell me they were spending the holidays alone and never received a Christmas card before; they said getting one from me genuinely meant so much to them, and that really stuck with me.
At the beginning of this year, when ‘Died on the Vine’ was going to be the first signal from what was becoming Coming Attractions, I had already started designing the movie poster concept for the project. I thought, what else could I have sent? Then it hit me. Movie ticket stubs.
Growing up every time I went to the movies I keep my ticket stub in a box as a little memory so I designed postcards that look like vintage movie tickets I sent 500 of them four ‘Died on the Vine’ that I posted about them on TikTok and Instagram and everything really took off it became such a special way for people to physically connect with the music instead of just streaming it online for ‘Strange Love’ I ended up sending around 1,100 postcards.
Wow
For both ‘Died on the Vine’ and ‘Strange Love ‘, I hand-wrote every single address. That was a terrible idea. Writing more than a thousand names and addresses took hundreds of hours, and I realized I couldn’t do that again.
Now the addresses are printed, but I still hand-sign and hand-number every postcard. What I loved most was that people had something real they could hold on to. Everything today is digital. Even when you’re buying something digital, you don’t really own it anymore, but there’s music, movies, or video games; companies can technically take that access away. Everything feels like numbers on a screen.
The postcards became my way of giving people something tangible, something that felt personal.
I completely agree.
When I send out the postcards for ‘Strange Love,’ it really made me realize how often people feel they’re just another number online. I feel that way sometimes too. You are one follower of hundreds of thousands; you’re another statistic in a spreadsheet.
I don’t want anyone to feel like that. I’m not making music because I want to; obviously, I’d like to make a living doing this. You have to survive, but that’s never why I create. The postcards became a way to remind people they’re individuals.
One fan was in the hospital with severe asthma and allergies when her ‘Strange Love’ postcard arrived; her family FaceTimed her so they could show it to her. She messaged me afterwards and told me it completely turned her week around. Like that means more to me than any amount of money or any viral video ever could.
Nothing compares to hearing someone say: You made my week better or you helped me feel less alone. That’s really what the postcards have become; hopefully they’ve done that for a lot of people.
That’s a lot of postcards, but I think it’s such a cool idea because fans want some kind of genuine connection with the artist they support. Getting something in the mail like that is really special, and I’m assuming you still hand-sign all of them?
Yeah, I hand-sign every single one and hand-number them too. The only thing I stopped doing was writing the addresses; my handwriting isn’t great anyway.
They’re such cool collector items.
Somebody actually told me yesterday that they keep theirs out because it’s a great conversation piece whenever people come over. I’d never thought about that before. Even if I’m nowhere near being a famous artist is still something unique enough that people ask about it. It starts conversations.
I make music for myself; writing has always been the coping mechanism. I’ve been writing since I was 5 years old, creating something I need to do, but releasing the music that’s different the reason I put it into the world. After all, I hope it gives someone else the same kind of escape, joy, or catharsis that the artists like Elton John, Billy Joe, and the movies I love have given me. If my music can do that for one person, then it’s worth it. The postcards have become another way of making people feel seen.
From everything you’ve shared and from all the comments I’ve read, it really seems like you’ve built such an incredible community.
I really hope so, but none of this means much if you put out the music, become successful, and end up treating people poorly. What would be the point? It would just be ego for the sake of ego. I’d rather create something meaningful and connect with people genuinely, help them through whatever they’re going through, and hopefully put a little more love into the world.
To me, that seems like the whole point of making music.
Alongside the release, Zane has launched the Zaniac Fan Club, giving fans a chance to directly support his music and become a bigger part of his journey. Artists earn only about $5 for every 1,500 streams.
The fan club offers a more meaningful one-on-one way for listeners to support his work while connecting more closely with his creative process. Fans can choose from a paid membership or join the free tier, making it accessible for anyone to be a part of the Zanaic community.
You can find additional information here
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