Proxii Media

Dylan Lee poses in her photo shoot promoting the release of her debut EP “Bittersweet”

When Dylan Lee entered a songwriting competition in August of 2023, she had no idea she would release “Bittersweet,” her debut extended play (EP), in November of that same year. Megan Stauffer, who works for the radio station that hosted the competition, approached Lee with an offer to help produce her music professionally, which Lee says felt like the push she needed.
“She’s kind of what kick-started all of this,” Lee said, “because I’ve always wanted to record music but I just never knew where to go or the process of that.”
Lee and Stauffer co-wrote “Bittersweet,” which contains six songs with a distinctly country yet slightly edgy style. The songs showcase a multitude of perspectives on the highs and lows of relationships, telling stories not just from Lee’s life but of her family and friends as well.
“I love writing about other people and writing about stuff that maybe they can’t say out loud,” Lee said.
Lee has always preferred to perform songs that are more externally than personally inspired, but that doesn’t mean her audience doesn’t pick up on her music’s undeniable personal flair.
“It’s actually funny because I feel like people who are listening to ‘Bittersweet,’ I think they think that all these songs are my experiences,” Lee said, “so I always get asked ‘Are you okay? What relationship are you in?’”
“Bittersweet” got its name when Lee was trying to come up with adjectives to describe the tone of the EP.
“I was in the kitchen with my mom, and I had just finished all the six songs,” she said.
She didn’t feel like naming the project after just one song would adequately represent it, but when she landed on “Bittersweet” it immediately felt right.
“A lot of the songs are sweet, about finding your first love and a good, airy, Kacey Musgraves feeling, and then others are more bitter and angry,” Lee said.
Lee finds musical inspiration in the work of Zach Bryan, Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Monre and more, but has a special affinity for early 2000s Taylor Swift.
“When I first learned to play the guitar when I was seven or eight, all the songs I played were Taylor Swift songs,” Lee said.
She has been passionate about music since her start at such a young age, especially when the place where she took guitar and singing lessons at hosted events that introduced her to performing.
“They would throw us onstage to sing a song or two, and that exposure I think really helped me as a kid,” said Lee.
At Trinity, Lee is a marketing and communications double major minoring in theater as well as the PR chair of Alpha Chi Lambda, but that hasn’t stopped her from getting gigs.
“Academics come first, but music is really close to that,” she said.
Lee looks forward to performing her music from “Bittersweet” around San Antonio and throughout Texas, but she also looks ahead to where her storytelling will take her in the future.
“This whole album was kind of written about love and heartbreak, and I think I will probably write more about that in the future,” she says, “but I do want to explore other themes as well.”
Lee mentioned that last year she was asked to write a song that would soundtrack another Trinity student’s short film, which she said was both intimidating and exciting.
“That was really fun for me — I think I would definitely be interested in something like that for sure,” she said.
Lee also said she can see herself performing some of her unreleased music one day.
“I write a lot of songs about myself and for myself,” she said, “I’m sure I’ll release them one day.”