Dreamwake has been on the rise lately, tearing up the scene with their unique blend of synthwave, metalcore, and...a saxophone?! I had to hear it to believe just how well it works, and they somehow pull off a sound reminiscent of a neon glow that's been dubbed as "wavecore." I had the pleasure of chatting with the band — made up of Bobby Nabors on vocals, Dave Pazik on guitar, Kevin Jacques on bass, and Andrew Popolizio on drums — at their recent tour stop in Durham, NC. The guys are currently opening for Thousand Below on a national tour that's ends in LA on Sept 13th. We did a rapid-fire interview of ten questions, and here's what they had to say!
MSM: Alright, so your first question: What are three words to sum up The Lost Years?
BOBBY: Hi, I'm Bobby. I'm the vocalist of the band, and my three words to sum up the album are: Holy fucking shit. Honestly, that's my answer.
DAVE: Hi, I'm Dave. I'm the guitar player, and my three words to sum up the album are elegant, emotional, and heavy.
KEVIN: Hi, my name's Kevin Jacques. I play bass, and I would say melancholy, vibes, and nostalgic.
ANDREW: I'm Andrew Popolizio, and I play drums. I would say I'm going to steal Kevin's nostalgic, and add: heavy, and pretty.
MSM: If the album were an ice cream flavor, what would it be?
BOBBY: Oh man. I'm going to go ahead and say sherbet, like the rainbow sherbet. I probably stole everyone's answer here, but rainbow sherbet, for sure.
DAVE: I'm going to try and come up with something different. This is Dave, and I would describe our ice cream flavor as specifically mango sherbet. Okay, because that's the best flavor, and it's orange. Kind of like our album.
KEVIN: I am going to piggyback off you, Dave, and say the orange sherbet, but in a punch bowl.
ANDREW: I'm going to top that by saying that that sherbet is not ice cream, for one. Here we go. I would say the album is Ben and Jerry's Fish Food because it's got a little bit of everything. And it always leaves you wanting more.
MSM: Next! Favorite neon color?
BOBBY: Oh, this is so easy for me. But pink, come on. Neon pink. Or we will lean into purple a little bit. I'm on the fence, but yeah, pink.
DAVE: I actually love a good neon teal, like that up there. You can't see it, but there's a sign right in front of me that's the exact color I'm describing, and it's just beautiful. Nice and calming.
KEVIN: I love neon purple. Purple is my favorite color.
ANDREW: I love a good neon blue.
MSM: If you had to choose one: sax solo or breakdown?
BOBBY: Oh, that is really tough. I'm going to have to go ahead and say sax solo. It just brings out all the emotion. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. So yeah, sax solo.
DAVE: I write most of our breakdowns, and I have to say breakdowns.
KEVIN: I'm going to have to say sax because it's sexy.
ANDREW: I'm going to have to be the outlier here and say sax solo over a breakdown. We've done it before. We'll do it again.
MSM: Your late-night drive song of choice?
BOBBY: Ooh, this is easy for me, but "Shadows" by The Midnight.
DAVE: You stole my answer. I mean, I feel like all of our choices are going to be by The Midnight, but probably "Los Angeles" by The Midnight. That's a beautiful song, and it gives me a lot of nostalgia. So yeah.
KEVIN: I love EDM. So anything by Illenium.
ANDREW: I'm going to piggyback on The Midnight and say "The Equalizer" by The Midnight.
MSM: Your biggest tour guilty pleasure snack?
BOBBY: Oh man. I'm going to, again, probably steal everyone's answer here. I got to say pierogi.
DAVE: So I'm going to add to that specifically and say 2:00 AM pierogi cooked by our very own chef, Andy.
KEVIN: Alright. I am going to say hot dogs. We microwaved hot dogs at 1:00 AM one time, and it slapped. It was so great.
ANDREW: My favorite guilty pleasure tour snack is an Uncrustable.
MSM: Favorite city that you've played so far?
BOBBY: Well, this is really tough for me, but I want to say either Vegas or Colorado, one of the two. Those were both really sick shows, so yeah.
DAVE: So for me, actually, Denver and Chicago are tied. Both those shows were nuts and haven't been matched yet.
KEVIN: I'm going to say either Denver or Philly.
ANDREW: I'm going to steal Kevin's and say Denver or Philly.
MSM: Who is the band's silliest member?
BOBBY: Oh dude, that's so hard because we're all equally silly. But I want to say me. I mean, it's equal. It's equally silly, but I guess I could. We're all probably just going to vote for ourselves. But me.
DAVE: Me, I'm the silliest; I'm the silly goose.
KEVIN: Hey, I was going to say I'm a silly goose. I guess I'm a silly duck.
ANDREW: We all share one collective brain cell, so depending on who has the brain cell that particular day, that person is the silliest.
MSM: I like that. Alright, so speaking of The Midnight, for a dream collab, would it be Spiritbox or The Midnight?
BOBBY: Oh, it has to be The Midnight. We're all suckers for it. I can probably say, though, that band has changed our lives for the better. Yeah, just The Midnight for sure.
DAVE: Yeah. And no disrespect to Spiritbox either, because they are one of our favorite bands as well, but The Midnight helped shape who we are as musicians in a way. So definitely The Midnight.
KEVIN: The Midnight is a no-brainer. Definitely.
ANDREW: All love to Spiritbox, but I have to say The Midnight.
MSM: And the last question: what is one word that you want fans to feel when they leave your show?
BOBBY: Shook.
DAVE: Happy.
KEVIN: Excited.
ANDREW: Moved.
