DREAMERS may be one of the more original bands to come out of the past few years, and definitely one of the few to see a band as a total package. Coming out of Brooklyn, the band is breaking away from the pack not just with their 90s-grunge-meets-current-dance-rock sound, but with the artistic representation of the whole band.
DREAMERS may be one of the more original bands to come out of the past few years, and definitely one of the few to see a band as a total package. Coming out of Brooklyn, the band is breaking away from the pack not just with their 90s-grunge-meets-current-dance-rock sound, but with the artistic representation of the whole band. From the psychedelic visual aspect down to the band’s wonderfully weird bio, it all makes for a band with a cohesive vision. This is a band that’s gearing up to make a big impact in 2015, especially as they prepare themselves to embark on a big tour with Stone Temple Pilots.
This Wednesday night at The Canal Club, DREAMERS will be on-hand for their Richmond debut to show why they’ve gained so much momentum lately. Before then, Nick and Nelson from the band chatted with us about recording in Virginia, hearing their songs covered, and more.
So the big news is DREAMERS will be touring with Stone Temple Pilots soon. How did this all come about?
Nick: It came through our agent, Jake Bernstein, who was fighting for us. We’re independent, but we have an awesome team around us. They got asked what they had for Stone Temple Pilots by the band itself. There were something like five hundred bands submitted, but they fought for us and thought we were perfect for STP, and the band was into it.
It’s not a one stop thing, either – you guys will be on tour with them for about a month. I imagine that the feeling is indescribable.
Nick: Definitely. I guess in a way, our sound is a 90s throwback. We grew up on that stuff. Me and the drummer, Chris, are from Seattle and we were on that grunge stuff, so it’s perfect that a band like STP picked up on us. We’re excited to met them, but really to learn from them. It will be the biggest stages we’ve played on for this band.
Nelson: Right around the time I started playing guitar and bass, their songs were some of the first I was learning. Watching those guys, who I have incredible respect for, from the side of the stage is just going to be radness.
With the tour coming, you’ll have a lot more attention coming your way. Do you have anything planned to capitalize on it?
Nick: We have lots coming. It’s all super secret, but I can say we have more videos and much more music coming. We have tons of music already recorded and written so stay tuned. It’s coming.
Nelson: We’ve had some offers, but so far, we’re not seeing things that help us. We’re just building it as an independent band, which is working well for us. In the end, any dollar a label gives you has to be paid back, so it’s a loan. If you can avoid that and keep all your creative control, all the better for you.
Well, things have been going really well for you guys, especially recently.
Nelson: It’s been incredible. We have to take a minute to thank all the people on Twitter and social media that have responded. They’ve been awesome about voting for us on places like Sirius Radio. We’ve had an outpouring of support which has been phenomenal and we’re extremely grateful. It’s been fun for us.
What was a point with “Wolves” where you guys just knew it was going to be this success?
Nick: Well, we were sold on it when we recorded it. It’s been kind of a slow crawl though. First, we got on specialty radio, and that charted #2 on those charts. Then we made the video, which got some really good press from places like Billboard. Alt Nation on Sirius was even better and we got on the Top 18 there. It’s slowly snowballing from there.
Nelson: I had this moment driving through New Mexico and it came on the radio. You hear things and you’ll see numbers, but you don’t really know, so for it to come on was just this feeling of, “Oh, man – it’s actually being played!” People have been reaching out a lot lately and we could get a sense that it had some traction.
Any strange or bad reactions or press you guys have seen since it came out?
Nick: There was a really great cover on YouTube from these two girls just singing in their house. You know you made it when you find covers of yourself out there. We wrote the song a while ago, so we thought it all through so we just took it all in. It’s a great compliment.
Nelson: It was just surreal. As a musician who’s done that himself, it’s great–and now there’s tons of people who have covered our stuff online. For the press though, it’s all subjective. For every great thing that’s said sometimes, you might hear something come back that’s strange. I don’t think we’ve seen anything bad. We haven’t even gotten trolls yet. That’s when I know we’ve made it – when we have trolls bashing us.
Once the backlash hits?
Nelson: Exactly.
So you’re playing The Canal Club this Wednesday. Anything you’re hoping to do in the city?
Nick: We might go a day early since we have some friends in Richmond. It’s the first show of our next three months that are booked solid. We’re probably gonna play eighty shows the rest of the year, so this is the first one. We’ll get there a day early, talk, plan, and hang out.
Nelson: I’m from Maryland so I have friends and family in Virginia. I know some people planning on coming out, so that’s nice, and something to look forward to.
Nick: We recorded in Virginia too. Most of the songs that will be on the album are from those sessions.
Oh? Where at?
Nick: Ravensworth, outside of Scottsville. It’s right by Monticello and it’s just awesome. It’s owned by Greg and Elizabeth Schoenborn and they’re great to be around. They gave us star treatment, totally. It’s a small studio, but it’s perfect to just isolate [ourselves] out there. We slept in the live room and just recorded all day. Our producer Danny Kalb, who’s the man, set it up. I don’t know how he first discovered it, but it had been a place he liked to go on and he likes what they have going on. It was his idea, so we followed him there.
Nelson: It was perfect. We got to get away from the city and filter out all the things of our lives that are part of living in New York and totally become submerged in the process. It was great.
Did you guys get to take in the area at all?
Nelson: Crabtree Falls. We had one day off and we hiked up the mountain. Absolutely loved it.
Nick: I remember one time Greg was running the studio and just quickly told us to go outside that instant. He was really loud about it so we all got outside, looked at the stars, and saw the International Space Station fly by.
Nelson: That’s awesome simply because the stars just don’t exist in New York City.
Well, to wrap up, what should we expect from Wednesday’s show?
Nick: We’re playing a couple of new songs. We are doing the live shows different than the recordings – more raw and stripped-down. We’re just a three piece, so it’s kind of a power trio. We started doing it with some samples to get some of more of the sounds from the recordings, but we realized it was better when we just played them more stripped down. The songs will be stretched out a little bit and there’ll be some surprises of course.
Nelson: Ultimately, we’re going to be sharing the stage with some great bands over the next few months, so we’re really going to bring our all and try elevate our performance. So it should be fun to see.
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DREAMERS are playing The Canal Club this Wednesday, March 4th alongside Born Cages, The Kickback, and Flight Club. For more information and where to buy tickets, click here.
