Dead Press (May 8th 2017)
INTERVIEW: Dreamcar
Take three parts No Doubt, add a pinch of AFI, throw into an 80s mixer and you’re looking at the brand new project of DreamCar. Adrian Young, Tom Dumont and Tony Kanal have teamed up with Davey Havok to bring us a new wave, alternative rock supergroup that touches on new ground for all members. We caught up with Adrian for a quick chat about the origins of the band and what their plans are.
DP!: Hi Adrian! Thanks for talking to Dead Press! So how did DreamCar come about? How did yourself and the No Doubt guys meet Davey Havok?
Adrian Young: DreamCar was initially an experiment. Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and I love playing together and we discussed expanding music making outside of No Doubt. Tony suggested we meet with Davey Havok and float out the idea to him. So we took him on a date and of course he welcomed the idea of trying something. Well, after spending some time demoing songs, we all came to realise that we had something real, and wanted this to be a band.
DP!: I think it’s fair to say that your first single ‘Kill For Candy’ doesn’t sound like anything any of you have ever worked on before, what made you want to make a Tears For Fears 80s new wave style sound? Does this reflect the rest of the record?
Adrian: I would say that ‘Kill For Candy’ has been a good representation and introduction of this band. However, we never had a specific focus in regards to music styles. We were just jamming and writing. I think that some of the sounds derived from our youth happened naturally. It felt good to play the way were playing, using the instrumentation and sounds that were pouring out. So we just went with what was happening organically.
DP!: Tim Pagnotta of Sugarcult produced the album, what did he add to the recording process?
Adrian: Tim did a wonderful job on this record. He was the right person for the job, and really helped shape the songs and define the soundscape.
DP!: There’s already a lot of buzz about DreamCar despite everyone just having heard one song – do you think the new sound direction has intrigued people more than if the band sounded like No Doubt?
Adrian: It is hard to tell why people are reacting to DreamCar, but it feels really good. My wish is that listeners have as much fun listening to this band as we have recording and performing these songs.
DP!: Supergroups and side projects can often be hobbies or a bit of fun away from the members normal bands, what does the future look like for DreamCar?
Adrian: DreamCar is not a hobby. It is a real band that we are trying to build from the ground up, and I believe that there will be more records to come.
DP!: You’ve got a whole bunch of North American tour dates coming up (with all on sale shows sold out) as well as a performance at Coachella, what have you got planned for the shows? Will you be playing the whole album?
Adrian: Yes, we are currently playing the whole album as well as a couple of covers.
DP!: Are you excited to be playing back in club venues for the first time in a while?
Adrian: Playing in clubs is awesome…….makes us feel young….super exciting!