Dream The Electric Sleep
Biography Dream The Electric Sleep
Dream the Electric Sleep
was formed in Lexington, Kentucky, by Matt Page (vocals/guitar), Joey Waters (drums), and Chris Tackett (bass) in 2009.
After three self-produced, independent releases, “Lost and Gone Forever” (2011), “Heretics” (2014), and The Giants’ Newground Reissue (2008/2018), Dream the Electric Sleep worked with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Ghost, Rush) on their fourth studio album, “Beneath the Dark Wide Sky,” (2017), which marked a clear shift in the band’s songwriting style and sonic quality.
“We decided we needed help realizing the vision we had for the new album,” says guitarist and vocalist Matt Page. “The songs were different enough from our earlier material that we felt they needed a new treatment and a fresh set of ears to help pull out the strengths and tighten up the ambiguities of each song.”
“Beneath the Dark Wide Sky” was released by Mutiny Records/OMN in 2017 and was critically and creatively well-received among fans and the media. In 2018, after the release cycle of “Beneath the Dark Wide Sky”, the band began writing a new batch of songs for their fifth studio album, and decided to look for a new collaborative partner to push the songs and compositions further.
“We had all long thought it would be incredible to work with a producer like Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Herbie Hancock) and so we found his contact on SM and sent him a message. To our complete surprise, he said he was just starting a new creative venture and was interested in helping us through the pre-production process” says Page.
The band worked intensively with Beinhorn for a year, writing many new songs and continually rewriting and refining the strongest material. “It was grueling but fantastic! I think we all loved it” says Page. “Michael was really invested in us, and the material and we were able to get into the smallest details and the greatest depth because Michael is truly invested in the creative process… you can tell he loves it which made us love it too.” After the preproduction process was over, Michael proposed he and the band try something radical. He would produce the album, but it would be completely remote! “He had never worked in that way and neither had we, but how could we pass up the opportunity to see it through with Michael?” The band brought in recording engineer, Nathan Yarborough, who engineered “Beneath the Dark Wide Sky”, and we all began getting the technical details sorted out using a software plugin called Source Connect. This allowed Michael to get a direct, studio-quality feed, directly from Nathan’s board. Fortunately for the band, this process also meant that when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in the middle of tracking, we were able to proceed and finish the album without ever setting foot in the same room. “It was a surreal way to make the album” recalls Page. “Nathan was in the control room, I was in the vocal booth, and Michael was talking to me on my headphones inbetween takes from Canada! I honestly can’t believe we were able to do it so successfully. Nathan and Michael’s commitment to the album was stunning to me. We all faced incredible challenges, and though it slowed us all down, we pushed through and made an album we all feel really proud of.
