eBurban recently scored an interview with Michael McLeod of Australia-based band Dream On, Dreamer and got the scoop on the inspiration behind the video for their single “Ambition” off of their Hope EP. The band released their debut full-length, Heartbound, via Rise Records (AU – We Are Unified) earlier this month and later this fall they will embark on the Dead Throne Tour alonside The Devil Wears Prada!
Let’s start with the normal pedigree, what are your names, what do you play? How long have you been together?
Aaron Fiocca – Drums
Callan Orr – Guitar
Luke Domic – Guitar
Daniel Jungwirth – Keys
Marcel Gadacz – Vocals
Michael McLeod, Bass/Vocals
As a band we’ve been keeping it real since “09”
Tell me about your hometown? Did the local scene take to you guys? How do you feel looking back on your hometown?
The hometown question is a bit tricky as we are all from different suburbs and countries. But we’ll say for argument sake our hometown is Melbourne, Australia. I think from the get go the local scene was amazing to us, bands and fans alike – we were getting a lot of positive feedback and things really took off quickly for us.
I remember our first show ever playing as a band was in a run-down club in Frankston, and our “crowd” consisted of the other bands on the bill and three of our mates. But even from there things just fell into place you know. We’ve played a lot of shows now and we have enjoyed each and every one of them in a certain way. Playing hometown shows are always going to feel that little bit different; you may have a venue you first started at, or certain faces you see at these shows that just make you remember the last show they were at. Hometown shows are always good.
On your last E.P ‘HOPE’, you recorded a video for “Ambition,” great video. Can you explain where the idea came from what it means and whether you accomplished what you set out to make?
Thank you so much.
The idea had been in discussion with the producer Gareth McGilvray for quite some time. He gave us a vision of what he wanted to do with the video and we had never shot a video previously as Dream On Dreamer, so we put all our trust in him and let him take the reigns.
Basically we wanted the video to be a performance/storyline edit. The video is basically about a guy who becomes something he can’t control and almost turns into a monster. Towards the ending of the video we wanted a transformation from good to bad, and to have the keys really stand out and have atmospheric visuals, which is something we were really looking forward to seeing and I think he nailed it with the floating and almost graceful dance in the pool scene.
Overall we were really happy with the final cut and to have it shot on the budget we had, we couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Tell me about it your new album. How is it the same and how it is different from your previous release HOPE?
We sure do, we have our debut album HEARTBOUND out worldwide, which we are all really excited about!
It is different but still the same as HOPE, in that it’s still Dream On Dreamer, just refined. We approached this album slightly different to the last release, as we had such an amazing response to our debut E.P. we knew we had to back it up with an equal or better result in the album. Heartbound is much more personal and I think and the production is a lot more tighter.
Will you be touring more this year? And does that include US dates?
We will be and have been flat out this year! We are currently gearing up for our album tour wich will see us around most of Australia with good friends The Bride (NSW) and Hands Like Houses (ACT). We can’t wait for this tour to kick off ’cause we know it’s gonna be off the hook!
A couple of weeks after that tour we’ll be flying over to Europe, which we are stoked about! To be a part of the Rise Records Euro tour playing alongside Memphis May Fire and The Color Morale is a huge opportunity for us, and we’re just grateful to be able to take our music and live shows worldwide. After that we have more tours booked but all is hush hush for now.
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