The Dreaming

The Dreaming, also known as a successor band to the multi-platinum outfit Stabbing eWestward, is on the horizon of something brilliant. Their next album, Rise Again, is coming out in February of 2015, and seems to be a well brought out effort on all accounts. To get more familiar with the album, as well as talk of recent outings with the band, I was able to talk with Christopher Hall, lead singer of the band, about a few different subjects.

Hello and welcome. For just a simple introduction, tell us who you are and what you do.

Christopher - "My name is Christopher. I'm the singer in The Dreaming."

Let's get straight to talking about the band, then. How has 2014 been to the band? Any notable events occur during this year? Good or bad?

Christopher - "I had a son! that was kind of big. I named him Gibson Marshall Hall. He is awesome. But as far as the band goes than yes. We signed to Metropolis records which has been our top goal for 10 years. We got a new manager (he is the one who got us signed to Metropolis), I reunited with my keyboardist and co-songwriter from Stabbing Westward, Walter Flakus, and I got my original lineup back together. We finished our new and best record and got to mix it with Rhys Fulber who is one of my idols. so yeah pretty good year over all."

And you guys have been working on the latest album, "Rise Again", for quite some time now. With very few details being let out to the wider audience. It wasn't until in October that the first single "Alone" was released from the album; will any more singles be released in the following months?

Christopher - "The album really did take a long time. I spent nearly a year trying to write it myself with help from the guys in my band at the time but honestly it just wasn't getting anywhere. That's when I finally swallowed my pride and reached out to Carlton and begged him to come back to the band and help me write this record I had trapped in my head. Walter joining the band was a great surprise. He came to my father's funeral and after we patched up 10 years of misunderstandings and hard feelings. We started trading music the next morning and had 'Alone' mostly written a month later. Once those two were on board the album came together really quickly with ideas flying back and forth between Carlton and I in LA and Walter in Chicago. There was so much excitement and energy that it really felt like time flew by. The longest wait was waiting for Rhys to become available to mix the album. And then he pushed us to re-record the drums and guitars to make it even better. He did such a great job pushing us out of our comfort zone to make the album the best it could be. We will release a single sometime around January to go to radio in the US but the powers that be are still arguing over which song to release. that is not such a bad thing. Way better than not having any singles I suppose."

As with that, you've signed onto Metropolis Records in order to release the album. What brought you to Metropolis Records to release the album?

Christopher - "As I mentioned before Metropolis has always been the label we wanted to be on. I am a huge fan of many of their bands from The Birthday Massacre to Peter Murphy, Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly. I've always admired the roster Dave has built at Metropolis and I'm really honored to be a part of it. Unfortunately our previous managers had other plans for us but I believe all things happen for a reason. This is our time and Metropolis is our label."

Now, you also are aiming to deliver the earlier sounds from your previous band, Stabbing Westward, with "Rise Again". Was this because of fans clamoring for more of the old sounds, or was it more of a personal choice?

Christopher - "That's really a bit of a misconception put in motion by our initial press release declaring 'Stabbing Westward will RISE AGAIN as the Dreaming'. We didn't set out to make a record that sounds like Stabbing Westward and I don't think that this record does in fact sound like Stabbing Westward. Walter's music blended with my melodies and vocals defined Stabbing Westward's sound and it's only natural that the music we write together now will have a similar style. But a lot of the material on the record was written by Carlton who brings his own sound to the band as a guitarist, programmer and writer as does Johnny's high energy drumming style that is the antithesis of SW's sludgy machine like drumming. I'm glad that the fans have enjoyed the first single but I get a bit nervous that they are expecting a rehashed version of SW. That's not what we are trying to do. We are trying to make fresh new music not cling to shadows of the past."

I've also read that there might be a chance to see earlier The Dreaming material reworked for this album. Is that true? And, if so, can you tell us what songs will be on the album, or is that a secret?

Christopher - "I tend to do that a lot. I rarely get a song right the first time and I like to keep approaching them from different angles until I find the music that best captures the feeling of the lyric. On this record I went back and revisited one of my favorite early Dreaming songs, 'Afraid'. Walter wrote a really sexy synth bass line for it and spun it in a whole new direction. It's one of my favorite songs on the album. As far as the track listing for the album that's no secret. It's listed on the Metropolis Records page to preorder the album."

And, is "Rise Again" referring to recent successes the band has had, or because of that resurgence in sound from the Stabbing Westward days? Or is it something entirely different?

Christopher - "'Rise Again' is actually a song of the new album and the title seemed appropriate for the whole album. The last album cycle was incredibly hard on the band. As we released the album and began 8 months of touring we found ourselves without Brent and Carlton who had both been in the band since the 1st album. They both got offered better gigs in Static X and Orgy. So we were forced to scramble and put together whatever local guys were available at the time going through 7 different guitar players in the process. It was a really hard year with lots of people coming and going and lots of tension between us and our label. When we finally parted ways with the label they decided to try and blacklist us. They took our guitar and amp endorsement away and we had to return the guitars and basses and amps we had been using all year while we were still on tour. They forced our agent to drop us and tried to get us banned from local clubs. it was a pretty dark time but it really just fired me up to rise up and make the band even greater than it was before. so we got the original lineup back together, got our deal on Metropolis and recorded the best album of our career. The chorus of the song says " you will never break us, we will always find the strength to rise again.' And that is what this record is about."

Now, the album is releasing in February worldwide, and that's not too far off from now. Tell me, are you nervous with how people are going to react to the album? Or do you just not care for critics or the voices of fans regarding the work you've done?

Christopher - "I wish I didn't care what people thought but yeah it makes me nervous. If it was just a question of comparing us to other current bands I would have nothing to fear but I know people are going to compare us to the elusive memory of Stabbing Westward. The music that we loved in high school and college will always have a certain magical quality to it that will forever remind us of our youth and our glory days. How can anything I write now compete with the nostalgia attached to getting drunk and laid for the first time? For example, no matter how great an album the Cure could write now it will never, at least in my mind, be as great as Disintegration simply because at that point in my life that was the greatest album ever made. So I understand how people feel, I just ask that they listen to Rise Again with an open mind. Try and forget that three of us were in SW and listen to the music as something new. You might be surprised to find that ten more years of writing songs and touring has made us better."

And, looking even further ahead in the future, what are your plans for The Dreaming? Is there a certain goal you're looking to achieve with this band?

Christopher - "Our goals. or at least mine, are simple. I love to write music. I love to stand up in front of a room and sing. I want to keep doing that for as long as possible. I want every record to be better than the one before and I want every show to feel like both my first and my last."

And, are there any other announcements that you wish to make at this moment in time?

Christopher - "We will be touring after the album comes out. We have already begun booking shows in the US and are hoping to get to Europe later in the summer. We can't wait to play and hopefully meet as many of our fans as possible."

I thank you for your time, and I leave you the space below to leave any final messages.

Christopher - "Thanks for taking the time to speak to me about our music. We really appreciate the opportunity to spread the word about our art."