Dream Aria is one of those great bands that are impossible to put in one category or another except
maybe in the one of just plain good music, combine that with a great song called Pandora’s Box and we had to get them to stop by and share some words with us.
How did the band get started?
Hi I would like to first thank you and Paper Dragon Ink for letting your reader know a little about Dream Aria
I am not sure how far back I should take your question, the very beginning was seven years ago I had a driving thought of getting back into music , I bought a keyboard , wrote some songs and began recording , that was with Garry Flint , the drummer in Dream Aria and who also is my producer . Ann joined us about a year latter when the songs were ready for vocals , it was
actually Ann that came up with the name Dream Aria and because of the use of some opera in our songs I thought it fit . also in the band is Jon Casselman on bass and Ross Stewart on guitar.
What was the band’s first gig?
Our first gig was about two years ago in a large club in Toronto called The Kathedral
Dream Aria seems to pull together a lot of musical influences was this conscious decision or did different members of the band just bring different things to the mix?
It was not really a conscious decision but I guess it’s because I enjoy a lot of types of music , from world to opera to rock to prog rock to ambient etc I seem to draw on different styles the only thing I did do consciously was try to make Transcend a little harder edge cd then In the Wake was.
You have a new album Transcend which seems to draw on some themes from myth and legend. Where does your inspiration come when you are writing songs and is it a collaborative effort with the rest of the band?
Ann wrote all the lyrics for Transcend she would pick up what I was saying musically from the emotions from the music that I wrote and she would write the lyrics from the music she was listening to and from her life experiences.
for example, when I wrote Pandora’s Box I was visually seeing in my mind a Tim Burtons movie with a little girl with dual personality , when Ann wrote the lyrics she place herself as that little girl showing off her own dual personality, leaving herself
exposed. I wrote all of Transcend music except for The Rhythm of Now {a group effort} Rebecca – Garry Flint Flower
Duet- Leo Delbes
What has the band learned making albums that you wished you knew before you got started?
nothing , it was a fun learning experience!
Is it a challenge to make music that is inspirational and mythic but still accessible to the average listener?
I hope our music is accessible to the average listener, the only goal I had at the beginning of Transcend was to I hope make a cd that was as good or better than our first cd and also to make it a little harder edge {that may make it more accessible}other than that it was just write songs from the heart and press the record button LOL
If people want to know more or pick up some of your music where should they go?
Everyone can visit our www.myspace.com/dreamariacanada
you can buy our cds at our web site and also if you like to download songs we are almost everywhere itunes etc also if you live in the UK there is a couple of sites that sell our cds one is Classic Rock Society thanks again and please check us out if you get a chance!!!!
