Overcoming Lyme Disease: Jared Dylan’s Inspiring Story of Music, Healing & Resilience

Hustle Zone Exclusiva

On this episode of Hustle Zone Exclusiva, hosts Ryan Perez and co-host Monica welcomed singer-songwriter Jared Dylan for a conversation that moved between origin story, songwriting craft, industry hard truths, and a live acoustic performance — all introduced, fittingly, under the show’s “story behind the glory” banner.

From a Hospital Bed to a Microphone

Jared’s path into music didn’t start with a childhood dream of the stage. He told Ryan and Monica that he started singing at 15 — and before that, there was “no clue” it was even something he could do. The turning point was a diagnosis of Lyme disease in high school, at a time when he was running varsity track and playing sports. The illness left him sleeping roughly 20 hours a day, he said, while remaining fully present mentally — a frustrating combination. Laying in bed with a guitar he’d had for years, he began “pounding out” his first songs. He calls music his silver lining from that period, and it carried him on to the University of Miami, where he studied music.

Interestingly, music wasn’t his only path being considered. Jared had also taken drafting and architectural design classes in high school and had looked at the University of Miami’s architecture school before deciding — to his parents’ disappointment, as he put it — to pursue music instead. He also recalled that his father used to tell him to stop singing, only to become his biggest supporter once Jared started taking it seriously, including helping arrange a single professional singing lesson before Jared’s first-ever band audition.

Silver Linings and “We Can’t”

Asked why his songs so often land on a silver lining even in sad material, Jared explained that he doesn’t want to be the angry or upset person he sometimes feels like being — the music is how he pushes through instead. He described his songwriting as always rooted in real experience, usually written weeks or months after an event so he can process it first. The exception was “We Can’t,” which he said came out almost in real time: written the day after a difficult, unresolved encounter with a long-distance girlfriend during a trip to Los Angeles, down to a bridge line inspired by ignoring one of her calls mid-session.

He also shared a story about opening for Andy Grammer at the Jersey Shore and again in Rhode Island, where he met a fan after a show who, he learned a week later, had not made it home that night — and whose mother reached out to thank him for the joy he’d brought her. It’s the kind of moment, he said, that reminds him why he makes music at all.

Business Lessons, Independent Artist Myths, and a Pandemic Pivot

When the conversation turned to advice for artists coming up in the industry, Jared pushed back on what he called a “massive misconception” about independence — that going independent means not answering to anyone, when in reality it demands enormous time, money, and energy just to retain ownership of your work. His core advice: you can’t do it alone, be valuable rather than chase money, and — his biggest point — never compromise your voice.

On the pandemic’s impact, Jared said a month of booked Miami gigs was wiped out, cutting into his live-performance income. In response, he launched a freelance graphic design and animation venture, Broken Planet Media, building brand kits and ad creative for other artists and entrepreneurs. He also described crowdsourcing a music video for his song “I Really Want It” from fans across the globe during lockdown, built from clips of people holding up signs about what they wanted once stay-at-home orders lifted — edited and animated entirely by Jared himself in about a week and a half.

A Live Performance and a Parting Thought

Jared closed the interview by picking up a guitar and performing one of the first songs he ever wrote, about — naturally — silver linings. Reflecting on isolation in the industry, he offered a line that stuck with the hosts: that everyone is alone in their own experience, which in a sense means everyone is alone together — and that more understanding is what the world needs.

The episode wrapped with the show’s usual lightning round, covering everything from favorite cities to whether vegans can eat animal crackers, before signing off with Hustle Zone’s signature call and response.