Dylan Hundley has a lot going on. That’s why we are so pleased the New York-based singer, actress, podcast host, and community-builder found time to visit Richmond, VA, and perform at Sunday Soundtracks!

To bring you up to speed, Dylan is…

• A musician who performs both solo as synthpop artist Darling Black, and as the singer for the post-punk band Lulu Lewis, which she co-founded with her husband Pablo Martin of Tom Tom Club.
• An acclaimed actress with an IMDB profile, having appeared in such films as Metropolitan (1990), Dangerous Game (1993), and The Last Days of Disco (1998).
• Co-curator of Salon Lulu, a multidisciplinary arts and performance series.
• Host of the music podcast Radar on The Vinyl District. Dylan has interviewed everyone from New Wave legend Midge Ure to influential New Yorker Martin Bisi.

Dylan is clearly an artist who enjoys taking the stage as much as she enjoys helping build the stage itself. To learn more about what makes her tick, we asked Dylan to pick five of her favorite albums and explain how they influenced her as an artist.

“I listen to a lot of music across all genres. I have favorites that have been with me for life. Classics from early Roxy Music (who is probably my favorite band), The Velvet Underground, Iggy, Bauhaus, Gary Numan and the like. I also have a deep penchant for the project Moon Duo whose records I grab possibly more often than any other.

“When it comes to Darling Black, and I think about where these sounds emanated from, it comes down to my fundamental deep love for very off-kilter dance music that has a little grit or darkness. And the things I like and produce don’t bucket easily in one place because I listen to so many eras of music. But here is a list of records that I listen to a lot and that have certainly informed my work so far.”

Light & Magic by Ladytron: “I think this is one of the greatest electronic dance records ever front to back. I was listening to Ladytron extensively while making my last record trying to figure stuff out. Then it just comes out in a different way but, this record is in there and me.”

Cobra Juicy by Black Moth Super Rainbow: “I love this artist. His extremely unique point of view is intoxicating to me. Wonderful, weird dance and groove. Vocoder all day. I think I’ve listened to the track “Gangs in the Garden” 100+ times over the past few years!”

I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got by Sinead O’Connor: “This record is so beautiful and cool. Her first two records are deeply embedded in me. I don’t think I realized the level of influence after listening again fairly recently and after not hearing it for many years. I kind of laughed to myself listening again and realizing this is one of the places I must have been inspired to combine the occasional hip-hop beat, juxtaposed against something darker that harkens to UK New Wave and the like.”

ESG by ESG: “I’m from NYC. These grooves and street energy are a part of my blood. That coupled with Martin Hannett’s production is like a perfect combination of things I love.”

Dead Elvis by Death In Vegas: “This record and much of Richard Fearless’s work is a huge influence on me. Samples, groove, arrangements, sounds. I listen to Death in Vegas a lot.”

“I’d like to give an honorable mention to Warm Leatherette by The Normal. I still think it is the greatest electronic track ever produced and I am probably in an endless pursuit to make one just as good!”