“I decided to just put everything aside and let myself be free with the music...”
WRITTEN BY RTM (@RYANTHOMASMITCHELL)While our blog and playlist tend to lean toward the electronic side of things, sometimes you’re presented with a project that’s too good to ignore.
Enter The Dream Is Dead, a Texan solo project centered around gothic shoegaze and “the fear of growing old.” Between the hours of 3 and 6AM, this 23 year old songwriter has carefully crafted an ethereal collection of songs, each one inspired by “low-budget paranormal videos and imagery.”
Learn more about this project through our exclusive interview below.
DARKNESS CALLING: Can you tell me about your musical life before The Dream Is Dead and what spurred this new project?
THE DREAM IS DEAD: I’ve been writing and recording music in my bedroom for the last ten years. A lot of it is sort of embarrassing though; it never really came out to something I could feel proud of. Right before this project, I was really into making beats and ambient music. I decided to just put everything aside and let myself be free with the music, ignoring self doubt and letting myself be — well, myself — which is what sparked this project.
DC: Can you tell us a little more about your process? I know you purposely recorded at late hours. What did that do for you in terms of helping the process?
TDID: I’m not sure what about the night makes me feel so inspired. When I first started recording at 13, I would set up a mic in the middle of my room at 5-6 AM and lay in bed playing for hours. Maybe it’s something about that being where I started. I’m constantly searching for/trying to preserve that feeling I got when I first started. But there’s also something so beautiful about the night: the sense of fear and creepiness, the silence and stillness after a long day, the lack of movement from the outside world… I don’t know; it allows me to fully be myself and create this world of music to be trapped in until it’s time to face the busy world again.
“But there’s also something so beautiful about the night... it allows me to fully be myself and create this world of music...”
DC: How did these late night demos lead to a cassette release with Crafting Room?
TDID: That’s a good question. I really wonder that myself [Laughs]. Honestly, back then I was a lonely person who had no idea about the big beautiful world of underground music. I had no idea about indie labels or cassettes being released. I guess when I found out I had people from all around the world to become friends with and who could enjoy my music, I started pushing myself to make music worth releasing, get out of my comfort zone, and interact with people like Crafting Room. It’s still a little scary putting myself out there, but it’s an amazing feeling when someone from another country enjoys my music.
DC: If I remember correctly, something like 50 other songs were scrapped and you narrowed it down to these 6. Were most of the others fully recorded songs or just sketches of ideas, and what was it about these songs that stood out to you? How did you know a song was a “keeper”?
TDID: I would say half of them were completed songs and half of them were just instrumentals. I also recorded an entirely different debut album for this album, but right as I finished it, my computer crashed and I lost everything. I guess the way I know if the song’s worth keeping is if I can listen to it over and over and still feel proud of it. If I feel any sort of embarrassment about the song or anything like that, I usually trash it.
“...my computer crashed and I lost everything.”
DC: I’m sorry to hear that, about your files getting lost. But perhaps it was meant to be.
TDID: That’s how I view it! It’s funny because I’m really glad the tracks got lost now.
DC: You certainly have a killer collection of songs here. My favorite might be “Love Is Telling Someone When To Stop.” It has a real groove element to it that makes it stand apart from the others, in my opinion. Can you tell us about some inspirations behind that track, or any personal reflections?
TDID: Thank you for the kind words! That song was actually the first song I made for this version of the album. I wanted to make something a little more upbeat. I was listening to a lot of music from the 60’s, and just psychedelic influenced music in general, and I really wanted to focus on the bassline for that song. I’m currently writing the next record and it’s heavily bass-driven, kinda like that song. The song for me is about addiction and knowing when it’s time to stop for the people you love.
DC: Awesome! One last question: What’s next? Any promotional plans? Livestreams / in-person shows, etc? Working on new material?
TDID: Right now, I’m focusing on recording this second record. It’s coming along really well and I think people would like it a lot. Hopefully, eventually I can perform livestreams of some sort, but who knows!
Thank you for having me! This was seriously a ton of fun.
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