Brandon Thomas (vocals) Dave Aguilera (guitar) Scott Gottlieb (drums) Keith Thompson (bass and vocals)
Bleed the Dream's going for broke. In less than a year, the Southern California rock band produced an EP ("Awake"), booked its own national tour, shang-hai'd its way aboard the Vans Warped Tour '03 and earned an opening slot on Pennywise's tour. And a week of shows with Yellowcard in February 2004. . And they're just getting started.. . This summer, you'll find them on the Volcom stage at the Warped Tour, where they were invited back after last year's castaway antics garnered them a do-or-die reputation.. . "Bleed the Dream's about music, first," says Dave. "It's been about the songs from the very get-go. This is a real band, going out on the road, making it, doing everything on our own. What we've been able to do on our own so far without the help of a major label is cool.". . "We do things with a work-horse mentality," says Brandon, who grew up with Keith in Baltimore. "We're not waiting for hand-outs.". . Bleed the Dream was an accident waiting to happen. They'd all been in other bands and what started off as a side project quickly evolved into a powerful reality.. . Effortlessly mixing and matching musical styles, Bleed the Dream navigates the waters of rock and ends up wearing its heart on its sleeve. "Awake," its six-song Noize Pollution EP, sucks you into a sonic boom of emotions leaving you craving more. From its opening track "Villain"- with a melody so inviting it's ready for radio, to the dreamy "Be There," "Awake" grabs you by the jugular and gives a good squeeze.. . "It's fifty-percent aggressive, fifty-percent passive," says Brandon. "Some of its really kind of wide open for whoever to dig a fork into the heart of the song and take a bite of whatever they want, and some of it's kind of like, `Fuck you, here's what it is.'". . "I think we're kind of experimental, with traditional songwriting too," says Keith. "Sometimes kind of dark, but sometimes really upbeat and light.". . The varied descriptions are not surprising, with each member bringing something different to the table. Brandon's influences include Faith No More, the Deftones, and Dave Gahan, as well as "dirty white trash metal." Scott tunes into Bad Brains, British punk, and jazz, while Dave gets his kicks from Radiohead, Fugazi and the Cure. For Keith, it's all about Bjork, Jeff Buckley and Glassjaw.. . "This is a band where each and every one of us contributes in equal parts," says Dave. "We do it because it's fun, it's what we like to do, for the love of music. The fact that people like the music is the ultimate compliment because we write this stuff for us. Truly, it's for us. The fact that we've gone this far is so awesome.". . Being invited to tour the country with veteran punks Pennywise is a dream come true for Bleed the Dream.. . "If you were into skating at the time I grew up, you were almost issued a Pennywise record. To me, it's not like it's even real. Until I show up in Atlanta for the first show and I'm there, it's not real.". . "I've never seen so much luck with one band," says Scott. "We were in New York for about five hours and we said, e're gonna play CBGBs.' I've never even been there before in my life. And sure enough, we ended up playing CBGBs. We didn't have any of our equipment. We were just hanging out drinking. But we did, we went up and played two songs. It was surreal.". . "You can call it luck, call it whatever you want, but there's something to be said for making your luck happen," says Dave. "It's been that attitude of not giving up.. It's determination. We were not gonna take no for an answer.". . If timing is everything, then the time is right for Bleed the Dream. The band's balls-to-the-wall attitude and DIY spirit is the perfect antidote to a music industry that's oversaturated with pre-fab shite.. . "All the kids are coming back to the garage shit, where it's real," says Brandon. They just want something that's honest.". . And Bleed the Dream's giving them the whole truth, nuthin' but the truth.. . "We're all kind of last chance kids," says Brandon. "So this is the dream and we're bleeding it for all it's worth.".
Source: http://www.msopr.com/mso/bleedthedream_main.htm#bleedthedream_bio
