1986 - 1992 The Progressive Metal band from Munich was founded in 1986 by lead guitarist Wolfgang Kerinnis (photo on the left from '92) and rhythm guitarist Stefan Gassner (photo on the right from '95).
After countless changes in the line-up, singer Tobi Zoltan, drummer Andreas Angerer and bass player Benno Schmidtler stayed with us. We do not forget, however, what we owe to drummers Thomas Hecht and Stefan Pätzold, as well as to bass player Christoph Gastl, who have strongly contributed to the band's development.
In the beginning we were mainly concentrating on practicing in order to improve our skills on the instruments, thus not putting too much emphasis on the quality of the songs or their structure. At that time we were still thinking: quality improves with quantity. After a while, however, our artistic skills improved and so did the songwriting. We started concentrating on creating thrilling melodies in order not to lose the proverbial thread.
Right from the beginning we tried not to follow the trend so that we wouldn't have to worry about being compared to bands like DREAM THEATER, QUEENSRYCHE or FATE'S WARNING. Very early in our career we tried to develop an individual style in order to stand out from the other bands. It was clear to all of us that this goal would be difficult to achieve, but by now we've managed to create a style that is at best affiliated to a very general type of melodic progressive metal without clinging to any one kind in particular.
1992-1995 After very thorough preparations we started performing on stage in 1992. After that, we had gigs with bands such as IVANHOE, SKINTRADE, B-THONG and many others. After a considerable fluctuation of members within the band we have produced three demos between 1993 and 1995 called 'Dreamscape' (1993), 'Decisions' (1994) and 'Changes' (1995). A little later we contributed to the following samplers: 'Peace Eater Vol. 5' (Germany) and 'Chrome Sampler' (USA)
Reactions were very positive, and we got to be known outside of Germany and even Europe in countries like Brazil and the USA. One of our demos even reached the far shores of the country of the rising sun. It was reviewed in the Japanese issue of Burn, and the article was presented with a foto. It got a high mark and was declared demo of the month.
1996-1998 But demos don't get you very far these days. We didn't get any offers from record companies and our spirits were sinking rapidly. So we decided to raise a credit in order to be able to produce our first CD. At that time Stefan and Benno had just got their degree at the School of Audio Engineering in Munich, and we spent the money on studio equipment. We wanted to work in our own studio because we didn't want to be rushed by anyone and take our time to make the recordings. Furthermore we were the only ones to understand our music thoroughly and consequently to be able to produce it properly. We have to admit, though, that we worked rather slowly because we were inexperienced, so that the recordings and the final mixing weren't finished until half a year later. But we succeeded after all and witnessed the birth of our first CD 'Trance like State'.
In the wake of the CD production several changes took place. During the pre-production phase we decided that we needed a keyboarder as a permanent member of the band, as we kept developing keyboard passages while working in the studio. During the final mix we decided that the very talented keyboarder Jan Vacik was the very man for us. The changes brought about by the permanent keyboarder caused our second guitar player and one of the very first members of the band, Stefan Gassner, to leave. He took with him our drummer Andreas Angerer (picture from 1993) and they founded a new band and turned their back on progressive metal music. Their band is called DEAD MEN WALKING and they play melodic strong hardrock.
DREAMSCAPE was facing the ruins of their former band, being left with neither a drummer nor a place to rehearse. (Our only comfort being the fact that in 1996 Germany won the European Football Championship!) But after a while we were able to find a useful place to rehearse and at a reasonable price too, as well as a new and very good drummer who was a valuable addition to the band thanks to his creativity.
After several offers from smaller labels, the Rising Sun Production took an interest in our CD 'Trance like State' and released the album all over Europe in 1997 and planned releases in Japan and South America.
1998-1999 After the recording of 'Trance like State', twelve months went by before it was finally released, so by that time we were already writing new songs. Working with the new band members proved to be very productive and for the first time we were able to develop new songs entirely during rehearsals. However we were being delayed once more, as our lead singer Tobi Zoltan was asked to leave the band because of his lack of motivation. But we didn't have to look far for a replacement and found it in Hubi Meisel, a very motivated young singer who displayed obvious potential. After many concerts (VANDENPLAS, KINGS X, STRATOVARIUS, CHROMING ROSE, ELEGY, AVALON ...) and a tour of Germany with Axel Rudi Pell, we released our second CD 'Very' in 1999. It was generally well acclaimed, and this time we managed to release the CD in Japan.
In 1999 we started working on the new DREAMSCAPE STUDIO. Jan built it from scratch with the help of the other band members, and this is where the third DREAMSCAPE album will see the light of day.
2000 Once again we're left without a singer. Hubi Meisel has left the band because he didn't agree with our musical concept. The new material seems to be too tough for him, and so we are looking for a new singer to replace him. There is a chance, however, that we might get together with our former singer Tobi Zoltan again, who seems to have overcome his motivational problems and is very eager to sing again. We have already had a kind of test concert and we are very optimistic as far as the future is concerned.
2001 We have a singer again. The new CD is going to be great. The rest will be a piece of cake.
