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Interview: John (from Dreams of Redemption)
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Dreams of Redemption consists of:
John - Guitar/Vocals
Remy - Vocals
Ben - Guitar
Atom - Drums
Corey - Bass
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What got this band together and started in this business?
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The band was brought together by myself. I just wanted friends to jam with. But
after playing a few shows, we decided to take things a little more seriously.
So after doing a handful of shows we finally took the time to do an EP "A New Era".
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Who writes and produces all the material for the band?
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Most of the existing songs were written by me, although Ben wrote the interlude,
and Remy wrote the hidden track. And when Atom came into the band, he laid down
the main melody for "The Non-Existent." But everyone contributes to the writing
process. Whether it be lyrics or a guitar lick, everyone gets involved. After
completing the EP, all of the new material is a group project. We all have
thrown in our own things to make our music really show our individual styles.
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Has the band played in front of or with any acts our readers would
know from the mainstream?
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We have played shows or festivals with; All Shall Perish, Unwritten Law, Kotton
Mouth Kings, Finch, and a few more we can't remember.
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Where can people access your music on the web?
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Any embarrassing moments on stage?
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Well it wasn't really embarrassing, but it sure pissed us off. We were playing
a festival at Hollywood Park and had gotten a slot on second stage. Throughout
our whole set, stage left's power (my guitar and vocals) kept turning on and off.
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So during our last song, the power had finally given out. I threw down my guitar
to scream along with Remy but the mic was out. I then jumped up on the drum
riser and smacked a few cymbals around. I was so pissed that I kicked to venues
mic and mic stand off the stage and told them to (expletive) themsleves.
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Any good stories you want to tell us?
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We try to take trips together as a band, just to get away from everything, jam,
and just have fun. We went out to Palm Springs, California for a few days and
gambled at the local casino when we got a chance. Well I guess the heat had
influenced Ben to strip down and be naked at the most random times. So with a
randomly naked guitarist and Atom, usually being the last one awake, havoc was
bound to ensue.
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One morning, Ben was doing is thing and decided to get into bed
with Atom. So Remy and I did what any good band mate would have done: We grabbed
the camera and took pictures. It was great.
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Who are the band's musical influences?
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We are influenced by so many great bands. Some of them would be Iron Maiden,
Black Sabbath, Skid Row, Killswitch Engage, Lacuna Coil, Pink Floyd, Korn,
Megadeth, Metallica, Soilwork, Nightwish, Opeth, In This Moment, and so much more.
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How did the band get together?
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It started with Ben, Remy, and I coming from a previous project. We all met each
other in high school and were brought into the other band at different times.
We decided to leave the old project behind and pretty much re-invent our sound.
We then brought in Atom on drums and played a few shows without a bass player.
But we finally found the guy for the job and thats when I brought in Corey.
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What is your musical background like?
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Well I never consider myself to be a musician. I tell people that I am just a
man with a guitar. I taught myself by learning songs from bands that i loved, I
think everyone has done the same. Corey does have some musical knowledge, but
we are both studying to be sound engineers at this time, so we hope it will push
our knowledge a little further and benefit the band. But pretty much everyone
has messed around enough with an instrument to be good with it and make songs.
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Any other members in your family that are musicians?
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Corey's mom plays first chair violin, I was influenced by my uncle who had a
wall full of guitars, Remy's great-grandpa was like the Sinatra of Tango in
Argentina. Well at least I like to think so. Ben's step-father was guitarist
for people like Cher back in the day and was in a group called The Jades. And
Atom's brother plays with him in a band called Death's Die-Ary, and has an
industrial band called Reloader.
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What is the top reason why you want to play music?
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We all love playing live. Especially when the crowd is just right and nothing
goes wrong, its a great feeling. Plus we have messages that we need to get out,
and doing so through music is a great way of getting people to listen.
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What has been your best show?
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As of right now, our best show would have to be when we played at a place in
Long Beach, CA. We opened up for some festival. Even though we opened the place
was pretty crowded. Since it was close to home, we had it filled with friends
and family.
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The only thing was that most of the people that came to watch spent
hours looking for parking. So when we were forced to start, we bumped up the
audio levels and pretty much played as if we were trying to reach the parking
lot. The energy was so intense and we did a great job. And with no ego, haha,
let's just say we made it a little harder for the following band.
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