Dylan Forshner Says It Ain’t So Bad – A Grunge Journal of Healing

A Basement Song with Heartbeat

Somewhere in a Welland basement, the hum of a garage band becomes something larger. The song It Ain’t So Bad by Dylan Forshner breathes, stretches, and shakes the dust off a tired week. Yeah – my week, your week, our week. I can almost see the cables tangled on the floor, the cheap mic stand leaning like a knocked friend, and that fuzzy Drop C# tuning filling the square meter of air with that warm, messy honesty only basement recordings carry. Damn basement – I’ve been there all my youth.

He wrote it while finding balance again — new town, new friends, six months sober, and a feeling that maybe life’s edges weren’t as sharp anymore. You can hear that in the lines “I wake up, you go to sleep / Try to get myself through the week.” And if you think that’s some philosophical climb to joy — well, you’re wrong. It’s just the daily attempt to keep the heart moving. And that’s what I love about it.

When he sings ‘Oooou, it ain’t so bad,’ you can tell he’s realizing it, not convincing anyone — like the first deep breath after a storm. I tried too much to get into this — but it got into me first.

He dropped the whole thing as a three-song EP — It Ain’t So Bad, Time, and I Miss You. Sounds like the stages of emotional hangover, doesn’t it? You start convincing yourself it’s fine, then check the clock, then realize you still miss them. Classic — but meaningful.

The Smell of Grit and Optimism

Dylan Forshner’s influences — Nirvana, System of a Down, Coldplay, Smashing Pumpkins — all peek through in the architecture of this track, but none of them steal the room. The guitars fuzz out with that old-school grunge confidence, the bass hooks like a heartbeat, and the drums by Joe Labrie move with a certain playfulness that keeps the air light.

I keep thinking about how he said it was all done in a basement without a click track — raw, imperfect, and alive. That kind of decision says more than a dozen studio filters ever could. It’s that stubborn DIY soul that reminds me why I still care about songs like this — songs made by real people with tired hands and a little spark left in the chest.

The song? Dylan Forshner calls it a sign of growth, and I see it. After a breakup, after the fog, you can feel his heart learning to stay open again. The bridge — that hypnotic “Cause when I’m with you…” repeated like a mantra — feels like he’s whispering to himself as much as to anyone else.

A Basement Band with a Future

Dylan’s not alone — there’s drummer and producer Joe Labrie, bassist Jody Mayne, and mixer Jay Crafton. They stitched it together like a family project. Then Joseph Carra mastered it, and Rachel Halpern wrapped it in bold, wacky colours for the cover art. Oh yeah — let’s not forget the small Canadian mr. basement. This one has an afterglow.

When I listen, I picture that mix of quiet and loud. I love that familiar grunge breathing pattern — every verse a question, every chorus the answer, expected or not. There’s a strange comfort in the roughness, like sitting on an old couch and realizing it fits your back just right. Maybe it’s just me, lying here at this early hour.

They even celebrated the release at The Bank Art House in Welland. I imagine the beautiful mess — sticky floors, local beers, that kind of small-town warmth where everyone claps a little too hard — because they mean it.

It Ain’t So Bad is both a title and a truth. The track moves with the sound of a man rebuilding from scratch — with a wink and a riff. And for anyone who’s ever tried to start over with shaky hands and a bit of hope, this one drifts in like a dream.

So yeah — It Ain’t So Bad might be the sound of someone finding their feet again, but it’s also a damn good reason to keep listening. Find Dylan Forshner on Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, and YouTube — wherever you like to wander for new music.