Over the years Swansea has produced some real gems that have grown out of our small but thriving music scene to go on to bigger things and our artist of the week this week is no exception. Dream State have had an ridiculous 2018 so far and rightly so, as they're absolutely amazing.
I grew up listening to bands like Funeral For a Friend, Alexisonfire, BMTH etc... and now only really pay attention to similar bands that are really a cut above. After we started compiling artists for our artists directory back in December of last year, I contacted a few people to get their suggestions and BBC Radio Wales DJ Bethan Elfyn emailed me linking me to Dream State.
I then proceeded to check them out and was not disappointed. I thought to myself, this band MUST have a huge future ahead of them - every song I listened to I was like "that is a certified BANGER".
And it seems like the WORLD agrees. Their track "White Lies has now reached a whopping 6+million views on YouTube and their recent EP 'Recovery' has received the highest of praise worldwide.
I was lucky enough to have the chance to see Dream State at FOCUS Wales earlier this year. In fact in a weekend of incredible bands (from all over the world and across many genres) it was genuinely the best sets I saw that weekend (and one of the best I think I've ever seen).
It was a busy room filled with hard core Dream State fans and front woman CJ Gilpin made sure it was an unforgettable night. She spent the majority of the set in amongst the crowds and mosh pits, singing along cheek to cheek with fans, whilst the rest of the band played flawlessly (often resorting to maintaining the high energy by running around the room whilst playing complex riffs). CJ & the band then made a point of sticking around post show at the merch stand to sign autographs, take selfies and chat to the bands' fans.
Their was so much love in the room and a real sense of togetherness and this appears to be present at every Dream State show.
I unfortunately missed their homecoming show at Sin City, but I've had multiple reports that the same love and energy was present (see the above video), with many saying it was the best gig they'd been to in our city.
Their currently on a whopping European & UK tour with The Amity Affliction, they've just been on the road with Babymetal, they've been signed a worldwide deal with heavy music label legends UNFD , won a Kerrang Award for best breakthrough artist and have been putting and unbelievable shift in with music videos, live shows and more. But for CJ, guitarists Aled and Rhys, bassist Danny and drummer Jamie, this is definitely only the beginning.
Written by Simon Parton