Morning Metal: Dreamer/Deceiver Interviews & Review of “Generations”

by Jamie Grant

04/22/2014

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Dreamer Deceiver – Generations

Released – March 11th, 2014

Dreamer/Deceiver, based out of Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario released their debut EP titled “Generations” through the Boston, Massachusetts label, “We Are Triumphant” on March 11th, 2014 to quite remarkable reception. Only forming in mid 2013 and announcing their formation in December of 2013, having spent the majority of the year secretly recording “Generations” with Horizons guitarist, Doug Meadows – they released their debut single “Tempest” after announcing the band name and album release.

When first hearing of these guys, I was admittedly quite skeptical as every new band that forms with tags of “hardcore” and “metal” are often quite generic and boring to a seasoned metalhead. Well, that makes me sound like a bit of a snob, but hey, it’s a good thing with Dreamer/Deceiver! During my interview with all the members, minus frontman Eric Williamson, they mentioned they were at first unsure of how far they were wanting to go until they were greeted with positive feedback with “Tempest”. After that, they decided to finish recording the rest of the EP with Doug – which is the now released “Generations”.

Doug Meadows, alongside being the guitarist for Horizons, also helped produce Of Reverie’s newest single “Parallels”. if I had my way, Of Reverie and Dreamer/Deceiver would co-headline a tour. Yes? Maybe? One day? The six song EP has many different influences, that I can hear. Nearly every member mentioned their main influence was Northlane, which came as no surprise after listening to them. The main thing that attracts me to Dreamer/Deceiver is the fact that alongside the chugging that has made metal core quite bland – is the fact that they have the coolest sliding and tapping additions. Of course, there are other bonus’ for these guys such as only having one vocalist instead of a clean singer and a “growler”. Eric handles the duties as a frontman the way he does live – like a complete animal. I have been to my fair share of local concerts and festivals, and none of them live up to how involved Eric is with the crowd.

The EP flows like liquid from song to song with the heart attack inducing drums from Jake Hulse, earthquake bass work from Gordon Campbell to the dual shredders Eric LeBlanc and Jon Gervan. All of the songs are beautifully produced with zero space for error. Each song has its own life and is almost dreamlike with the note articulation behind the main chugs. The songs to check out on this bad boy is “Residual” and “Tempest” which are obvious due to the fact that they were both released as singles to anticipate for the rest of the EP.

While the vocals don’t exactly change between songs, the end of “Tempest” in which Eric crosses the threshold and does some light clean singing alongside the growling – which I seriously hope continues because it is what makes that song so cool.

From all of the support Dreamer/Deceiver received right out of the door with numbers still climbing, i have no doubt these guys will be heading on more and more tours in the coming months. Releasing this monster in under a year is quite a debut demonstration for what these guys are capable of. They’ve all been in the scene long enough to know how things work and it definitely shows considering they’ve already been signed and are already touring.

Everything about Dreamer/Deceiver is what this scene needs. Heavy, melodic and in your face. Even the artwork is cool! Give “Generations” a look on YouTube and hear “Tempest” on Morning Metal’s rotation – because it is a must have this year.

Eric Williamson was unable to attend our interview at CKCU, so I sent him some questions based off of the questions asked in the interview, check them out! You can stream the interview with the rest of the band here: https://soundcloud.com/jamie-grant-9/dreamer-deceiver-interview

Dreamer/Deceiver – Eric Williamson Interview

When and how did you join Dreamer/Deceiver, as the band mentioned they were looking for a vocalist before they found you?

I first started jamming with the guys in D/D in February of 2013, I was currently still playing in Of Reverie and just was looking for something to do with some extra spare time. I did know they jammed with a few other vocalists before me, but at the time the direction of the music, the plan for launch and the opportunity to try something new was enough to convince me to jump ship haha.

What was it like working with Doug Meadows?

Doug actually pushed me really hard when we were in the studio. Prior to recording we discussed what kind of sound I was hoping to get out of my vocals in terms of the production, and then he took it from there. But I loved the pressure because he pushed me to become more comfortable with different styles of vocals, the cleans at the end of Tempest were new avenue for me vocally and I’d love to work with adding more to some of the new material.

Did he help contribute with lyrics?

He didn’t so much contribute to the lyrics, but he helped us modify words here and there to create more catchy lines, a better flow, etc.

Why did you guys decide to go with “Tempest” for your first official release?

We went with Tempest because it was actually the first song we wrote, and we originally planned to put it out as a stand alone single before finishing the rest of the writing to the EP. But once things got going with We Are Triumphant we decided to finish up everything and include Tempest on the EP. We dropped it first because it has elements of the full range of the style we play. Some of the more technical instrumental parts, mixed with the more generic breakdowns and a chorus for those feel good sing alongs!

How much creative input did you have with the writing of the EP – aside from vocals?

I actually was allowed to have a lot of creative input. We wrote a lot of the EP together as a group and would discuss what we liked and didn’t like, then we’d track pre-production vocals and listen back maybe make a few more changes in the sake of vocals and repeat the process until we were happy.

What are songs “Tempest” and “Residual” about?

Tempest started as a song directed to those people who complain about how nothing good ever happens to them or how they’ll never get to be or do whatever they really want too. But then those people are just sitting around doing nothing about getting to those goals. As I penned it out it kind of turned into the finished product of lyrics which essentially carries the same message. If you want to do something you’ve got to just go into it with a no looking back plunge, I really don’t want to look back one day and regret not doing something because I was scared of what might happen if I did.

Residual is actually sort of a spin off of Tempest’s lyrics. Throughout all my years of playing music people have always told me to just give it up, get a proper job, and forget about trying to make music a career. But over the years music has become my entire life, all of my friends play in bands, or go to shows, or talk about the new whatever band track. That song is written about when I was so close to just giving up on music completely, I didn’t have a lot of motivation to keep carrying on with Of Reverie, and didn’t know yet if I’d join another band and spend all of the time and money all over again. I suppose it’s about me realizing the message of Tempest.

In our interview with the rest of the band, I mentioned my dislike for lyrics involving love and teenage angst – do you try and incorporate your personal experiences into the lyrics?

Ohh man, I 100% agree, I’m not a massive fan of writing about girls and who back stabbed me haha. The trend of negative and suicidal messages within lyrics from many bands has me baffled as well. As musicians we have the opportunity to influence and impact those who listen to us. I want to use that chance to relate to others who have gone through the same things we have. All of the writing and lyrics is definitely impacted by things I’ve gone through in one way or another.

In previous bands, you had a co-vocalist. What are some of the pros and cons to being the sole front man?

I actually love being the only vocalist, the ability to move around the entire stage is the biggest perk. I love running around and hanging off stuff. We recently played a venue that had a caged in stage and I hung off it and had a great time haha. The other perk is I get to decide the lyrical content, I don’t have to try and get someone else’s opinion on what direction to take my lyrics. I can finish a song, bring it to the table when its 100% finished and how I envisioned and then get input. The cons though are that I never get a break live, it was definitely a bit of getting used to the extra endurance required to do this on tour by myself. Although we took Matthias (original Of Reverie vocalist) with us on tour so I had the opportunity to sing alongside him still.

What is something you try to incorporate into Dreamer/Deceiver that you haven’t with past bands?

What I really wanted to do with D/D is write music for myself about myself. Every band I’ve ever been in has been shared experiences in the lyrics which is hard to get into emotionally. I also wanted to try and bring my vocal style to a new genre. My vocals are not the typical brutal lows heard in heavier metalcore bands, it was really fun to do.

Who is your main influence as a vocalist? You can name a few, if you’d like.

I think I have a few that fit this. My biggest influence vocally has been Loz from While She Sleeps, the energy and passion in his voice has always been such a lasting impact for me. Jason Butler is a huge influence for me when it comes to live performance, if you haven’t seen that guy tear up a stage, you’re missing out. I also love The Devil Wears Prada’s Mike Hranica, surprisingly a bunch of comments have been made about that influence on YouTube.

Same sort of question – what band inspired you to become a musician growing up?

I think it was back when I was into Taking Back Sunday and Mayday Parade that I really wanted to start playing in bands and such. I actually played in a really terrible pop punk band back in high school haha.

What was the first concert you ever went to?

My first concert ever was a Green Day show, to this day I can play a huge selection of their discography on guitar and bass. Such an insanely good band.

What metal musician/band would you say is on another level in terms of creativeness, song structuring and overall talent?

I might be jumping on a bandwagon with this one. But I think Northlane’s latest album was just such an insanely influential album to us even deciding to start this band and go the direction with the music that we did. Although one of the most underrated bands right now is ‘Sylar’ I cannot wait to see those guys blow up in the coming months. Very unique sound in my opinion.

`Jake said his gauges are the biggest – are their plans to go full out and get Ricky Hoover ears?

Haha, I want to catch up to an inch or so first with my ears. Where I’ll stop I’m not sure but I may leave Ricky Hoover’s massive ear title for him to keep permanently.

Dreamer/Deceiver – https://www.facebook.com/dslashdband

Stream “Generations” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZgzrlM_x3c

James Rockso – Host of “Morning Metal” & Producer/Engineer at “Pebble Studios”

Morning Metal – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Morning-Metal/286205571505773

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