At the start of “After All,” we find Dylan Conrique on the stoop outside her home, about to take the next big step in her life. Does she join her friends’ “late nights up in the Hills” or stay at home on her Fridays? Does she wear that cute necklace around her neck or ditch it for a leather jacket? Does she put on a fancy dress and go to prom with some guy, or spend the night with a good slice of pizza instead? “What is a prom, after all?” she ponders on the chorus, highlighting the quandary that anyone faces as they go through this confusing ride called life. “I suppose it would be sucky and dull / I suppose it would be lame and boring / or completely wonderful.”
From there, she asks, what is a guy, after all? Does she put herself at risk of “problems and sh-t I don’t need,” even though “some nights, it’s all I want?” From there, “After All” displays wisdom beyond the years, as Dylan’s track – with its subtly clever songwriting and her undeniably powerful voice – becomes an ode to finding out who you are and what you want out of life.
Dylan spoke with HollywoodLife about “After All” and the video ahead of its release. “I decided to switch up the look into something that I’d actually wear right now and would make me feel confident,” she shares. She also talks about her ideal Friday night, what topping you should never get when splitting a pizza with her, and how she’ll feel when people dance to “After All” this prom season.
HollywoodLife: The clever lyrics behind “After All” hint that this song was inspired by a real moment in your life. Can you share what led you to write this track?
Dylan: We had the idea to talk about prom because it’s something that I’ve always debated about whether or not I’d wanna go. It fit well with how we compared different things throughout the song, like deciding if you wanna date someone or go out with friends. In real life, I’ve never gone to a prom either, just homecoming, so it was cool getting to act out a bit of that process in the music video.
The music video for “After All” tells a captivating story of your character seemingly growing up from innocent youth to young lady to badass woman. How did this video’s concept come about?
The video really shows the confidence you can find when deciding to stay true to who you are and doing your own thing. Instead of trying to fit a stereotypical prom-look mold, I decided to switch up the look into something that I’d actually wear right now and would make me feel confident. When I was younger, I probably would have let it get to me if my date didn’t pick me up for prom, but the older and current version of me decides to not let it get to me and instead make the best of it and go have my own version of prom doing whatever I wanted around the city.
Side question, what’s your favorite pizza topping? The slice you ate looked like it had pepperoni on it.
Pepperoni and bacon are definitely my favorite. And I hate pineapple, that’s for sure. [laughs] I’m also more of a thin crust person. It was fun doing the pizza shot because we got to actually eat dinner there during the shoot.
The opening line is a bit of an introvert’s dream. What’s the ideal Friday night for you?
My ideal Friday night is watching a movie with popcorn, brownies, cookies, and hanging with friends. I’m also into board games and playing Xbox. Basically anything fun, chill, and with friends.
How will you feel when so many people dance to this song at their own proms?
Happy! I want people to be able to dance to my music. It’ll be especially cool if they’re back at in-person prom and are able to all dance together after the past year. And I hope they can relate to the lyrics and sing along with their friends.
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“After All” is out now.