Musician Cort Dingman Talks Music Journey, Hippo Campus, And Upcoming Single “Willow”

Truly a jack of all trades!

A musician who knows how to play over 5 instruments, Cort is definitely becoming a name to know. In such a short time, his music has received over 1 Million streams on just Spotify alone, and is about to collab with a member of one of the largest bands to date.

We had the honor of talking with Cort on all things about his music journey, favorite instruments, and plans for the future:

Q: When did you first start your music career?

C: “My love of music began when I was about 10, with saxophone in my school band. Soon after I took a year of piano lessons, and taught myself, bass, drums, and uke. After being inspired by a wider range of bands and artists, I finally picked up guitar and began making my own music.

I started off making lofi jazz beats and eventually started recording my vocals. I would say my “career” really started when my tiktok started getting attention. It opened the door to a lot of connections and opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Since then my music has changed, along with my mindset and inspirations, and I’m so excited to see where this path leads.”

Q: Tell us about your upcoming single, “Willow”.

C: “Willow is by far one of my favorite songs on my upcoming album. I got the opportunity to work with a huge inspiration of mine, Jake Luppen, on the mix for this one, which was amazing. Hippo Campus has been my favorite and for a while now, so that really meant a lot to me. I wrote this song at a time where I was dealing with some issues between family and peers, everything felt very uncertain as things seemed to keep going wrong, but it’s ultimately about seeing past the part of me that drags me down, and holding onto hope for the future.”

Q: For someone who is incredible at both, do you prefer acoustic or electric guitar?

C: “I personally prefer electric, something about the way it feels and the tones/effects give me chills, which is what I live for. I do love playing acoustic from time to time though, as well as nylon strings.”

Q: Who would you say is your biggest music inspiration and why?

C: “One of my biggest inspirations is definitely the band Hippo Campus. They’re from Minneapolis, which is the same place I grew up. Their live performance is one thing that really blew me away, as well as the musicianship, creativity, and general vibe of the band. They were the band that inspired me to pick up the guitar, which I couldn’t be more thankful for.”

Q: You have received over 1 Million views on social media. What was your reaction to that?

C: “That happening was honestly unreal. I initially downloaded Tiktok just to see what all the hype was about, but as I started seeing music content on my feed, I figured I’d give it a shot. Lo and behold, one of my videos caught the “For You” page and began something I never thought”.

Q: What is one fact about yourself that your fans might not know of?

C: “One fun fact about myself is that I have color synesthesia. This basically allows me to connect colors to certain things such as letters, numbers, etc. This has always stood out to me in music though. I’ve always corresponded colors to each note. C is blue, F is purple, A is red. When I write my chord progressions, I tend to pick chords that display colors of the mood/vibe I’m trying to put out. I think this adds a unique element to my music, and it definitely makes it fun for me.”

Q: Do you have a favorite instrument to play?

C: “I’d have to say guitar is my favorite, as I feel it’s easiest for me to express myself on. I love playing other instruments though. Drums are a lot of fun, I can hardly imagine how it feels to play bass on a huge stage, and I love playing piano when I have the chance.

Q: When not working on music, what is your favorite thing to do?

C: “When I’m not doing music, I spend a lot of time with friends, I like to thrift when I have the money for it. I also love painting and wish I could do it more. I’d also love to travel more eventually.”

Q: What’s next for you?

C: “Once I release Willow I plan on releasing a couple more singles, followed by a full album hopefully before the end of the year. I will be Nashville soon, and plan on playing gigs as often as possible. Once I release my album I hope to be able to go on tour, or possibly open for a band on theirs. Since I’ve been n contact with Luppen, I think it could also be a possibility to open for them on their next tour, which would literally be a dream come true. I also hope to collab with many artists in the future and start bands/groups aside from my solo project.”

Q: Where can we follow your amazing journey?

C: “I have my music on all major streaming services, I post music content on Tiktok (cort_dingman) and Instagram (cort._d) I also plan on releasing more content on Youtube( Cort Dingman) eventually.”