Early Life
Dylan Clotfelter was a creative spirit from the start, never confined by convention or traditional boundaries. Before his passion for music took root, Dylan channeled his imagination through storytelling and conjuring cinematic scenarios using his Legos. Growing up in an era when video games heavily influenced young minds, Dylan found music in an unconventional way—through videos games. His natural feel for rhythm quickly settled in whilst playing Rock Band for the Wii. To this day, Dylan still credits video games to his natural and internal feel for complicated rhythms.
Education
Dylan’s journey in music theory officially began with drum lessons at Doug Key’s Musicology in Newnan, Georgia. Guided by instructors Torrie Boyd and Jack Jones, he developed a solid foundation in drumming technique, proper form, and music reading. Under their mentorship, Dylan learned to blend technical skill with expressive performance, gaining the proficiency that would define his style. Guitar and bass instructor David Puett expanded Dylan's musical toolkit by introducing him to songwriting, while audio engineer Paul Patton from Lagrange, Georgia, cultivated his curiosity for music production. This mentorship lit the spark for Dylan's exploration of Audio Engineering, and he soon began recording and producing for himself and other artists.
Current Career
99meltdown (2022-2025)
Once Dylan’s childhood best friend, Hank Smith, moved away to Monroe, GA, Dylan thought that it was last time that he was going to see him in person. Luckily, the two found each other on a random street corner in January when Hank and his dad decided to take a trip back down to Newnan. At this point it was around two years since they were separated, so naturally they wanted to catch up on what they were doing musically. Dylan talked about how he tried to start a band but ultimately failed because of creative differences, but Hank spoke about how he joined a new band called “99meltdown” and mentioned how they were looking for a rhythm guitarist. Eager to be apart of an original project, Dylan asked to audition for the role on the spot, and in the next few weeks started playing rhythm guitar for the band up until Hank, who actually played drums first, quit that same year just before summer.
Since then, the line-up for the band remained consistent after reaquiring an original member who came back from college for the summer. From left-to-right: Xavier “Tony Monroe” Torres, Vocals & Rhythm Guitar; Logan Philips, Lead Guitar; Luke Morris, Bass Guitar; Dylan “Kavalier” Clotfelter, Drums.
The band prepared to cut an album out of Elijay, GA in June of 2023. In the course of a year, Dylan would take on the responsibility of recording the final vocal tracks and mix the entire thing. The album was released in July of 2024 entitled, “Loam”, the one and only name that was suggested to call the album. The album feature their two strongest songs to date: “Blue Pill” & “I Would Not Mind”.
The band performed at venues such as The Masqurade in Atlanta, GA and The Nick in Birmingham, AL, and continued to do so up until Dylan’s departure from the band in late 2025.
VIA VICARY (2024)
Sometime in 2024, Via Vicary hired Dylan to perform alongside her for her first-ever gig in the commercial music world. The two met whilst attending Samford University, earning their degree in Commercial Music, Via concentrating in performance, while Dylan concentrating in songwriting. Their first show solidfied the line-up for the band, with Dylan on drums, Davis Dooley on Guitar, Devin Gaboya on Bass, and Briggs Copper on Keyboard. Following her inagural show, Dylan’s involvement with Via’s career began ramping up, eventually seeing more live gigs as well as studio sessions with Davis Dooley leading the charge logistically.