Dream Catcha
Picture copyright respected holders.
Interview With Harry From Dream Catcha By Chris
17/1/06
Dream Catcha is a great rock from Perth
A band who does the hard yards,tours in America self
funded
These guys are going places and will go far.
So check out the interview and then check out the
music
Dream Catcha
Website
1. How did the band form?
The band formed in 2002 out of the ashes of various bands
around Perth WA and then grew into a 5 piece when we added
keyboards in 2003. We’ve had the same line up now for over
2 years and it just keeps getting better 🙂
2. Who were your idols growing up?
Wow that’s a hard one as there are so many people. I think
to be honest Richard Branson is one of the coolest guys
around. I love the way he has made something from
absolutely nothing but a dream and a will to succeed and
he’s not an arsehole. I actually have an autographed copy
of his autobiography.
3. Who were your influences?
Def Pink Floyd, The Beatles and INXS for me, our guitarist
Flacky is a huge fan of the shredding guitar solos from
players likes Via and Satriani. Craig (keyboards) is a huge
Yes and Rush fan so there’s plenty of influence coming
through in his playing. Keys our Bass Player is into the
old heavy scene like Ossie Osborne and Led Zeppelin and
Corey our drummer is into just about anything with a good
solid aggressive beat. To be honest though, the main stream
writing approach is very much like “if it sounds good play
it”. There’s no definite “we have to or want to sound like
this” attitude.
4. What is like playing in America?
Cool! 🙂 There’s certainly a feeling of achievement knowing
you have made it across the water. Most bands from Perth
focus on Europe first but we decided the US was the way to
go for us. The crowds are very receptive to our music,
which makes it better, but overall it’s another gig just
playing somewhere different. We’ve noticed that the US has
a lot more shades of music than in Australia and it’s
harder to keep people’s attention for a long period of time
however “Nothing beats opening up a gig and having people
dance to your music, no matter where you play”. The US is
just bigger and has more stuff to see and do that’s all.
Australia is still our home and we love coming back to play
for the crowds here.
5. Is it hard to set-up a self-funded tour in
America?
Exceptionally hard but it has gotten easier the more times
you do it. The first tour was a real eye opener and allowed
us to learn and grow thus allowing us to do more tours to
the USA in a more cost effective way. In addition, Austrade
has really helped us get a leg up in the US Market and
continues to support our touring schedules and ideas. It’s
a huge country with loads of competition by some very very
good bands. It’s probably easier for us now than when we
first begun coz we have made heaps of contacts and friends
over there. Having an awesome US Rep also helps a lot 🙂 it
takes the pressure of us trying to do it all by email and
phone calls.
6. Has the Internet helped with your music?
Yes Definitely. With the Internet virtually world wide now
it allows us to get our music out to people that would
never usually have the opportunity to listen to the band.
It also allows us to look into the digital download and
ring tone markets which leads to more open doors especially
in the Asian and US Markets.
7. What are your thoughts to filesharing and the MP3
format?
You know, music is music and it’s worldwide. It’s been
around since someone worked out they could whistle. People
want to have the freedom to do with a cd or MP3 what they
want when they buy it. I think that fine. You can’t stop
all the people from sharing so why try? It’s like locks on
your car. They’re only there to keep the honest people out.
If some one wants it bad enough then they’ll find a way to
take it. And I say if you want our music that bad then so
be it. What does annoys me is when labels make a song and
dance about it, sue some small time individual and forget
about the big companies that are doing. Then they take the
money made from the lawsuit and don’t pass any on to the
artists. That shits me. Musicians are real working people
and I guess from that point of view, you don’t take
something from a super market shelf and say I’ll share this
with 10 friends and we won’t pay the store owner for it. We
have jobs to go to and rent to pay like the rest of the
world so we should get paid for creating our products and
selling them to the world. There seems to be this
perception that musicians are only filling in their time
until they hit the really big time or find a “real job”.
That’s just not the case.
8. Have you had much response from labels?
Had a few bites but nothing we are happy to get involved
with just yet. We are happy doing what we are doing right
now but that’s not saying we don’t welcome label offers. We
certainly do! The band thinks that the full-length album is
going to be a big step in attracting these labels and
moving forward to the next level. We as a band just want to
make enough money to be able to keep writing and recording
and getting our music out there. If a label can help us do
that, then we’ll certainly get involved with them. Right
now we seem to be doing all right playing shows and selling
our music online through our website www.dreamcatcha.com
(yes I know shameless plug) hahaha.
9. If you could work with any one who would it
be?
I definatly want to work duets with Santana and Kylie
Minogue. That would be a highlight of my career.
10. Have you got any recordings in the
pipelines?
Yep sure have. We are currently in pre production for our
first full length LP. Hopefully this will be ready to go
mid 2006. It’s been a little stop start due to the amount
of gigs we have been playing lately but we are locked into
recording this summer and I think there will be some cool
stuff on this record for everyone.
11. Have you had much response from radio?
With the 4 song EP we put out in 2003/04 we have had great
response. More so overseas than in Australia but we are
very happy with the level of interest these songs brought
us. We’ve used this as a platform to tour the USA and the
Solomon Islands. It’s great to turn on a radio and hear our
music being played here in Perth. I still run around the
house turning on every radio when one of our tunes come
on.
12. What are your thoughts on realty tv talent shows eg
Australian Idol?
Yeah… um.. hmmm what can I say without raving on and
sounding like a jealous dick.. I think there are some
genuine talented people that go on the show and I think
there are some people who have been exploited by the TV
coys and Labels over it. I think the target market for it
is teenage girls from 12 – 18 and they eat it up. I think
eventually people will get tired of being spoon-fed junk
food music and move on to something else. This is why bands
like Queen, Rolling Stones, Eagles, U2, Matchbox 20, Red
Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters all survive and kick ass.
They are consistent with their music and stay true to their
roots and fans. I want to be judged by my performances on
and off the stage, not by some people who are on an agenda
to make money for the labels at all costs including
screwing over the chosen artist with lousy label contracts
and their own integrity whilst they do it. Look out for a
song called Aint No Idol real soon.. That’ll give you a
good indication of what the band thinks about these types
of comps.
13. If you could have a dream gig line up who would they
be?
Queen, Matchbox 20, INXS, Pink Floyd, U2, The Rolling
Stones, Jet and us (Dream Catcha) 🙂
14. Have you had much support from radio?
Not as much as we’d like but we also realise that we are
competing for commercial radio spots with major labels that
have heaps of money to spend on advertising and promo. If
you think Payola doesn’t exist then ask yourself how some
of the shit on radio gets there right now. Aust Idol is a
great example of shit music being advertised correctly to a
massive market and the radio and TV stations love it. They
make their cut out of it by advertising the series and
playing the winners music.
15. If you could be on The Simpsons or Spongebob
Squarepants where would you be?
def Simpson’s sharing donuts with Homer… hmmmm
donuts…
16. What is on your stereo at the moment?
Doby Grey.. dude who sang the original version of Drift
Away, Head First (a local Perth band) and a cool band from
the USA called Yellow Delicious.
17. What are some of your favourite musicial
artists/bands?
Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Queen, Floyd, Bowie, Rush, Jet, The
Killers (great sound atm), Robbie Williams (what an
entertainer), Kylie hmmm Kylie 🙂 hehehehe
18. What movies you have seen lately you have really
enjoyed?
The Island.. how freaky is that…clones and underground
labs… man that’s warped..
19. What are your favourite movies?
I own 2 movies, Gross Pointe Blank and Once were Soldiers.
Both great flicks.
20. Realty TV? Good Or Bad?
Bad… Except “The Great Race”. That’s cool…
21. Beer Of Choice?
Scotch on ice please.. hahaha Sol Brew is pretty good
though.
Thanks for your time any last words.
Thanks heaps for the questions mate. Talk to us anytime and
we’ll make sure the album’s a cracker… Oh yeah and Hi
mom.
