As far as names to watch in the music business go, Dylan Chase is one that warrants respect. Currently a senior at the University of California Santa Barbara, the 21 year old Chase has emerged to become one of SB’s most charismatic figureheads, having sprinkled his talents across-the-board of musical endeavors in the last 18 months. But for anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Chase before this recent surge, none of these successes came as a surprise.

Chase was raised in Imperial Beach, California, a little Tijuana-bordering town whose main claim to fame is the annual US Open of Sandcastle Making. Not exactly a hot be for creativity one might assume, but Chase began to development his artistic voice on an accelerated learning curve — at 12 he was siphoning tidbits from Spin Magazine and attending Pixies concerts, by 16 he was tinkering with his first bits of audio software and listening to LCD Soundsystem and Dan Deacon. He became well-versed in the particulars of singer-songwriters, bands, and beat music before venturing up the 101 with a head-filled of creative steam and boxes brimming with vinyl.