At home with FWB reggae fusion band Simply D'Vyne

Gwen DVyne Lanier and Ed Mo Lanier have carved out a chunk of time to make their Fort Walton Beach home inviting — almost too inviting to actually invite people.

The two members of reggae fusion band Simply D'Vyne — Gwen, a sultry vocalist and percussionist, and Ed, a multi-instrumentalist — are introverts by nature. Their piece of paradise is a peaceful abode with a surplus of natural light and a well-maintained yard encased in a white picket fence — a place where the music never stops.

“We laugh at ourselves because we arrange our house for all this company and we never invite anyone over,” Gwen said. “This is the part where nobody needs anything from you. You can just replenish and recharge.

“We try to make sure we have fun. Music is so fun for us we can just get tunnel vision about it and realize we need to engage in the sunshine.”

The couple’s reclusive side, though, is what produced their latest and likely final album “Spirit Bone & Clay.” (They will release singles from now on, Ed said.) They spent the past year molding the songs into a finished product they recorded in their home studio and released in February.

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'Spirit Bone & Clay'

The context of the album is as deep as the respective elements listed in the title track, spirit, bone and clay. Gwen’s voice broke with emotion as she spoke about the interconnectedness of it all. She hopes people will understand it.

“We’re just here occupying these bodies for a moment, but we’re a combination of spirit, bone and clay,” Gwen said. “The theme is, the deeper the roots, the wider the branches connecting earth and sky. It talks about the connection of space and time, but not forgetting we’re part of a family.”

The record is deeply personal to Gwen, who is mostly responsible for its lyrics. She wrote “Break These Chains” with her 28-year-old son, LaRue Allegretto, in mind.

“He’s a very free spirit and trying to figure out how to navigate this world that is so contrary to what is in his soul,” Gwen said. “The lyrics in that are ‘Let go and set your spirit free,’ just me giving him permission. You don’t have to live this way for our approval; you live how you want to. That makes me want to cry.”

When Gwen and Ed craft a song, they have a process. Ed writes the basic structure and Gwen writes the lyrics.

“Typically I’ll come to him with an idea. Then he’ll say, ‘OK, go give me five more ideas about that,’” Gwen said. “I’ll go play around with that. He’s very strong in rhythm, so we will talk about how we can change it — syncopation and that sort of thing. By the end, when it’s all said and done, it’s like cake batter.

“You don’t know who did what because it got all mixed in together.”

Ed builds songs from the bottom up, meaning he starts with the lowest sounding instrument, he said. He starts with the bass and the bass drum.

“You don’t necessarily hear it, but you feel it all the time,” Ed said. “You wonder why you dance or why you move. It’s because of the bass or the drums — not because of the vocals or the guitar.”

Ed constructs the song based on how he wants it to feel, not how he wants it to sound.

“I say, ‘I want the song to feel like this. I want it to be a reggae feel. I want it to be a jazz feel. I want it to be a slow feel,’” Ed said.

One of the grooves on the album dictated by Ed’s method is “Let’s Dance.”

“’Let’s Dance’ is just fun, because I think music is the best antidepressant on the market,” Gwen said. “If you listen to it, it feels good. If you dance to it, it feels really good.”

'Off the chain'

Music and relationship were married before they were.

Ed and Gwen grew up in musical families. Ed’s father was a saxophone player.

“We had a family band,” Ed said. “We did shows together. My dad was my No. 1 inspiration.”

A 12-year-old Ed tagged along to jam sessions with his father and a slew of other musicians — George Benson, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGruff — cats like that … before they were famous.

Ed learned to play bass from the organ players. He later studied trumpet at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

Ed and Gwen met in August 2008 while Ed was performing at a club in Destin. Gwen and some family members made a pit stop during one of her nights off from singing on the Solaris yacht.

“The attraction wasn’t there right then, but it was something,” Ed said. “Something was going on. Nice family. Her niece and sister were so pleasant. They danced on every song we played.”

They reunited two months later on Halloween night. Ed played there again; Gwen stopped there again.

“She wasn’t really in costume,” Ed said with a chuckle. “She had a miniskirt on with some fishnet stockings and some boots! She was sitting at the bar. I thought I recognized her. We started talking and communicating and our chemistry took off from there.”

Ed moved to Fort Walton Beach in May 2009.

Because Gwen’s job singing on the yacht catered to tourists and Ed was new to the area, they didn’t yet have a place in the music community or a distinct sound for their partnership. They networked, hosting a weekly blues jam at Blues in Miramar Beach, the space that’s now Aegean Greek Restaurant.

“We started that jam and it was just off the chain,” Gwen said. “We met so many musicians.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t hear a big call for jazz in the area, Gwen said. After struggling to make a living, they decided to open their own club, Ed said.

They opened the Beal Street Bottle Club in 2010 on Beal Parkway in Fort Walton Beach.

“It was the hottest spot in town,” Ed said. “We had people from Atlanta, from Memphis, all over the place coming to the Bottle Club. The walls were covered with local artists.”

They hosted church on Sundays, family jam sessions with children on Wednesdays and live music other nights. The space birthed local acts that still perform today. Family jam night was one of Ed’s favorite memories.

“It was the neatest thing,” Ed said. “We had 6- and 7-year-olds with their air horns coming on stage with the adults. It was a blast.”

They still host a jam today every Monday night at the Funky Blues Shack in Destin. Ed's 90-year-old mother, who lives across the street from them, never misses it, Gwen said.

The Beal Street Bottle Club and restaurant is where their band name originated. Gwen went by the stage name, D'Vyne.

“She’d do a single before the big band would come on at our club,” Ed said. “I think what I did was I said, ‘Well, this is simply divine.’ It just stuck.”

Their dog — a Valentine’s Day present from Gwen — answers to the same name.

'Simply D'Vyne'

Through the Beal Street Bottle Club, Ed and Gwen earned a spot in the local music scene. They enjoy mentoring fellow musicians.

“The ones who want to learn and are willing to receive — our goal is to help everyone we know who loves what we do prosper in their passion as well,” Gwen said.

After almost five years, the two decided to close the club. They spent too much time ordering food and booking acts, and not enough time playing music.

Now, it’s all they do.

“We’re harmonic. We’re percussive. We’re electronic,” Gwen said. “We try to take the fundamental acoustic sounds, but also add electronic elements to it, so that gives it a whole different sound. I don’t think anyone else has that sound.”

They focus on creating songs that aren’t necessarily restaurant or venue worthy, but can stand on their own merit, Gwen said. They recently secured a contract with Homemade Soul Music, a music publishing and licensing firm, so they can sell songs.

“We do the instrumental versions of them also, that way, if they want to use it for a commercial, with no vocals in it,” Ed said.

“My hope is to just one day be watching Netflix or Amazon Prime and hear our song in the show,” Gwen said. “We do try to write things that are lyrically valuable.”

Ed writes at least a song a day. As for Gwen, well, she just tries to keep up with the stack of songs Ed piles next to her.

So, fear not. Your invitation didn’t get lost in the mail.

Ed and Gwen are secluded in the musical oasis that is their home, and it is Simply D'Vyne.

LEARN MORE

Learn more about Simply D'vyne on the band's Facebook page at Facebook.com/SimplyDvyneMusic. The album, "Spirit Bone & Clay," is available on Spotify, Amazon, CD Baby Music Store and iTunes.