By Rick Kaempfer
JOHN, MARK & DYLAN
I
n 1996 John Records Landecker was the
popular morning man at WJMK, Oldies
104.3. A big part of his shtick in the
morning was creating parody songs about
stories in the news. His band Landecker &
The Legends toured the Chicagoland area
every summer performing those songs, and
they drew large audiences. So, when the
guitarist of his band called in one morning
to let John know his son had just been born,
John put him on the air.
Mark Gardner announced the news to
the WJMK audience; "His name is Dylan".
Dylan Gardner grew up in that rock and
roll world. When his dad performed with
Landecker & the Legends, Dylan was usually backstage in a stroller. Landecker
remembers the moment he realized that little Dylan was more than just a youngster in
great guitar rock with a great melody and
lyrics. Rock on, Dylan!"
Landecker told the story about the
Spongebob Squarepants moment on stage,
which amused Dylan's young fans. But it
might have amused the older segment of
the audience even more; all of the surviving
members of his Dad's old band were in the
audience. That meant a lot to Dylan. He
clearly idolizes his father.
"My dad was the one who taught me
stage presence. He taught me humility. He
taught me to how to set up, how to milk the
audience, how to talk to the audience. How
to do the bits. That's all my dad. When I do
the jokes on stage, I'm really just doing an
impression of my dad. He's taught me
everything. Dad was the first one to hear a
song I had written. He was always the first
Dylan Gardner
the crowd.
"We were doing a block party, and we
were putting stuff away afterwards and I
heard this perfectly pitched clear tiny voice
singing a song. I thought what was that?
There was this little kid. I mean little kid
singing into a karaoke machine. And his
voice was incredible." Dylan remembers it
too. "My mom told me if I got up and sang,
she would give me Spongebob Squarepants
Season 2 on DVD. And I got it too." By the
time Dylan was 12, he was performing with
the band.
"I recall it was the last Legends gig with
my dad before we moved to Arizona, and
we did a show in a really nice theater. So we
decided to do "Roadhouse Blues" (The
Doors)" and "Play That Funky Music" (Wild
Cherry) which were just two songs I liked
to do. We did it as a bit, as I recall. I would
wander onto stage, and John would say
'Who is this kid that just wandered up
here?' and I would grab a guitar and jam.
And I got so into that song – I had never
been allowed to play "Funky Music" before,
and I showed my dad that I could hold my
own. He learned a lot about me that night."
It certainly was a sign of things to come.
Flash forward a few years later and Dylan
Gardner is now signed to a major record
label – Warner Brothers. His song "Let's Get
Started" has more than 200,000 views on
YouTube, and he's in the midst of a nationwide tour. That tour made a stop in his former hometown of Chicago a few weeks
ago, and Dylan knew exactly who had to
introduce him on stage that night: John
Records Landecker.
Landecker is a huge fun of Gardner's
music and he jumped at the chance.
"Dylan's music is the kind of pop/rock that
the music scene really needs today. It's real,
18 illinoisentertainer.com may 2015
one. He knew I was going to be a songwriter when I was 8 years old – singing in
the shower. When we moved to Arizona
and I wrote my first fulfilled song, Dad
walked into the room and said 'Did you
write that? Tell me the truth.' And he's
always great to have in the green room too.
He's the parent that knows how to enjoy the
moment, and not ask 'did you eat? Did you
get dressed? Did you brush your teeth?"'
Dylan has come a long way since he
jumped on stage with Landecker & the
Legends and sang "Play that Funky Music
White Boy", but nobody who knew him
back in those days (including me – full disclosure: I was part of that original
Landecker & the Legends crew too) is the
slightest bit surprised. Even Dylan knew
this was where he was headed.
"I left Chicago knowing I was going to
do music in some way, shape or form, but
the answer wasn't clear to me yet. As soon
as I moved to Arizona I didn't know a single soul. We only moved there because my
brother was going to ASU, and that's how
my parents are – they follow their sons. I
was a freshman in high school and I didn't
know anyone, so I would go in the piano
room at lunch time and write songs. I wasn't even thinking 'Oh I want to be a songwriter,' it just happened. Sooner or later I
had these songs and showed my dad, and
learned how to record them. I learned the
whole world of songwriting and song craft
and I started to play some shows. I've
become a better person, a better songwriter,
and a better performer."
It's a story that began with a phone call
to a radio show in 1996.
But it's also a story that has many more
chapters yet to be written.