The new Cynz album, Little Miss Lost, is a reminder of what’s lost when rock’s forced underground as the only way it can thrive. And it shouldn’t have to be this way. Get this album as that reminder, and to realize that rock is made with loud, noisy guitars, not synths, dance beats, and autotune.

Cyndi Dawson, leader of The Cynz, was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: For all who know your history, there are still those who don’t. Could you give a short history of the band?

Cyndi Dawson: Henry Seiz and myself formed the band in 2010 mostly to do poetry pieces. It morphed into a songwriting project and we found other musicians to play with. When it started taking off we just went with the flow.

AW: Who were you listening to while recording the album?

CD: No one in particular. My musical tastes are in many genres. I love The Distillers, Patti Smith, Jim Carroll as easily as I love Joni Mitchell, Garbage, and a whole lot of punk bands. Social Distortion, Tom Petty…! 

AW: You quote “Eight Miles High” in “Break Me.” Are the Byrds an influence?

CD: That would be Henry’s influence. That’s a part he put in as a nod to them. He’s also widely varied in his tastes in music, but I’d say the 60’s-70’s bands were reasons he became a guitar player!

AW: I hear so few out-and-out rockers on albums these days. Everything seems a lot more mellow. What made you decide to buck the trend?

CD: We have always bucked the trends. Listen to any of our five albums and every one of them has all out rockers. Because we like to rock! But we also appreciate a good pop rock song or ballad so long as it has some rock mixed in. We don’t follow trends. We follow our own sense of what we’d listen to ourselves. What we like.

AW: Your melodies are great. Do you strive to make all your songs melodic?

CD: I think so. We want verses and choruses that are memorable. I always say a song is good if you find yourself singing it while driving or taking a shower!!

AW: Many of these songs are about heartbreak and frustration. Is that the theme of the album, or is the album about something else?

CD: Oh, it very much is about those things. It’s autobiographical with artistic license. It begins with my life at 17, being thrown to the wolves but guarded by angels. I’ve had great love, I’ve had great loss. I think those two things are relatable to most people if you live long enough. When you’re young you handle it with immature choices, often. I sought comfort in ways that were not always good, but I had strong survivor skills. The album concludes in the present and putting "Fall Away" as the last track was apt. “Be free, let go, learn to fall away.”

AW: What do you hope to achieve with this album, besides commercial success? 

CD: Commercial Success - while a wonderful fantasy- it’s not realistic in a rock and roll world of today. If it happened I wouldn’t be disappointed. I buy lottery tickets knowing I probably won’t win, but wouldn’t it be nice? I make records because Henry and I write good songs and the process of turning an idea into a tangible, material manifestation is magical and beautiful. And costly. So we definitely love doing it but it’s the house you love that requires constant upkeep.

AW: Do you have any shows coming up?

CD: We are in Boston this weekend at The Square Root, Saturday night with Muck and The Mires, Mach Bell Experience, and The Hi End. Sunday at The Worthen Attic in Lowell. May 18th we play Live@Drew’s House in Ringwood, NJ, and May 19th we do The Joey Ramone Bday Bash fundraiser in NYC. We are booked solid to the end of 2024! It’s been a great year so far with Jem - Marty Scott and Maureen Daye Pietoso and Bootleg Dan Anklin behind us.