By: Sheena LyonnaisMarch 19, 2008
I like a band that in this era of “indie” indie bands isn’t afraid to embrace their inner emo selves. Combining elements of the Ataris and the Early November, to name only a few of the predominant imagery, Awake and Dreaming is a band out to steal the hearts of teenage girls and (secretly) their boyfriends’ alike.
“We ended up recruiting Evan, Braden and John just randomly over Myspace or Craiglist,” Brett Roberts said. “They auditioned for us and everything formed together eventually and now we have this super awesome super band! We have a super awesome group of five guys now and I’ve never heard a better sound come out of anything Cam and I have ever tried to produce.”
Awake and Dreaming has been holding a steady number three spot on the Myspace unsigned charts, recently bumped down from number two by Toronto’s princess Lights and fronted only by hip hop artist Drake. Toronto Music Scene sat down with them last week at the Horseshoe right before they headed off to play some Ontario gigs with Faber Drive.
“This is a really cool point for us because every day I hear some new information that we’re doing this show or that show,” Brett Robers said. “A lot of things, because we’re up and coming, are showing up out of no where. It’s actually really exciting as everything unfolds. I’ve noticed with this band, once one cool thing happens a whole bunch of cool things happen, it’s like a domino effect.”
The band has been quite busy lately. Saturday March 22 they will be playing a free show at the Edge 102 studio front and on March 25 their album will be available for download on iTunes. The album was produced by Chris Gordon and mastered by Troy Glessner (Underoath, Mxpx, Anberlin). They’re in the treatment stage of producing a video with Marc Andre Debruyne (Protest the Hero) for the song “All In” as well as marketing the song “Miss Miserable” for radio.
If that’s not enough, they’re also working on improving their live show. The Horseshoe crowd last week was up to par with the standard Toronto crowd – most people stood with their arms crossed in the shadows, while a few daring souls danced up front. I was surprised when Awake and Dreaming played a popped-up version of Hotel California, the crowd didn’t seem as into it as I was as I sang along and snapped photos. Hopefully there will be more energy next time.
“We’re starting to do more shows as the time goes on,” Brett Roberts said. “By next month we expect to be doing a healthy amount of shows throughout Southern Ontario. We think shows are what mainly attract Myspace hits, especially if a kid goes to your show they’re probably going to listen to every song on there and they’re probably going to tell their friends about it. Shows are the most important thing for an indie band to do for Myspace and to become tight on stage as a band.”
For more information check Awake and Dreaming out at www.myspace.com/awakeanddreaming. Don’t forget to check them out at the edge on March 22 and request their song “Miss Miserable.”