DREAMER BOY’S MOST RECENT EXPERIMENTAL SINGLE, “OVER EVERYTHING,” IS INTELLECTUALLY STIRRING AND EMOTIONALLY INQUISITIVE. THE ASSOCIATED MUSIC VIDEO IS AN ADAPTION OF RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH IMMENSE FONDNESS AND PLATONIC INTIMACY, DIRECTED BY ADAM ALONZO & TANNER DEUTSCH.
THE TRACK BEGINS WITH THE DELIBERATE LYRICS THAT BECOME FOUNDATIONAL FOR “OVER EVERYTHING.” DREAMERBOY SINGS, “I REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS ONLY US / OVER EVERYTHING NO MATTER WHAT / WE WERE IN LOVE UNDER THE SUN NOW IT’S GETTING COLDER / I’LL BE THE ONE / I’LL BE THE ONE WITH YOU WHEN IT’S OVER.” THE QUESTION ARTICULATES THE DOUBTS OF LOVE AMONGST GROWING UP.
THE VIDEO BEGINS WITH A SWEET MOMENTO, A SIMPLE QUOTE. “THE LIGHT IS SO BRIGHT, IT WON’T BLIND YOU, BUT IT WILL CHANGE YOU,” BY ARTHUR AND WAS WRITTEN BY THE ARTIST. THE SUBJECTS OUTLINE THE DELICATE EXCHANGE OF TRUST AND TIME BETWEEN YOUTHFUL PEOPLE. THERE ARE JARRING VISUALS THAT EMPLOY MOVEMENT AND AESTHETICS, WITH TONES, SHADES, AND COLOR VARIANTS. THERE IS DEPTH IN THE HUMANITY OF THE PROJECT, CRAFTED INTENTIONALLY THROUGH THE ARTISTS’ FRIENDSHIPS THAT NOT ONLY CHALLENGES THE VIEWER’S FOCUS BUT EVEN SUGGESTS A PLETHORA OF UNDERSTANDING AND DIGESTION OF THE PURPOSE OF THE EXPERIENCE.
THIS PROJECT IS A DIVERSE COLLECTION THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE CONTRAST BETWEEN AN IMMERSIVE AND OVERWHELMING SENSE OF LOVE AND THE SIMPLICITY THAT CAN BE EARNED THROUGH THESE KNOWN VARYING FORMS OF RELATIONSHIPS.
INTERVIEW ON 3/30/2022.
EJ: HOW ARE YOU TODAY? HOW ARE YOU FEELING?
DREAMER BOY: I’M DOING PRETTY GOOD, I’M IN A NEW PLACE THAN I’VE BEEN IN AWHILE. I’M PREPARING TO MOVE TO L.A. STARTING IN APRIL… THE PAST FEW WEEKS HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, SPENDING A LOT OF TIME WITH OLD FRIENDS, NEW FRIENDS, KIND OF SOAKING UP THE LAST MOMENTS OF THAT CHAPTER, LIVING IN NASHVILLE. NOW, I’M ABOUT TO DRIVE TO L.A. TO SPEND THE NEXT FEW MONTHS BEFORE TOUR WORKING ON MY ALBUM AND ALL THAT. I’VE BEEN DOING WELL, JUST BEING PRESENT AND HAPPILY CAUGHT UP IN ALL THE WHIRLWINDS OF CHANGE. IT’S EXCITING, I REALLY LIKE CHANGE AND IT PUTS ME IN A HEADSPACE THAT I REALLY LIKE TO BE IN. I DON’T KNOW, I’VE LIVED IN NASHVILLE FOR SEVEN YEARS SO THE MOVE IS COMING AT THE RIGHT TIME. I’M DOING GOOD AND FEELING INSPIRED.
EJ: THERE IS SOME GENRE FLUIDITY IN YOUR STYLE, SO TELL ME ABOUT YOUR INFLUENCES IN MUSIC. WHO DO YOU LISTEN TO IF YOU WANT TO BE INSPIRED TO WRITE?
DREAMER BOY: FOR SURE, I LIKE THE WORD ‘FLUIDITY.’ IT CHANGES ALL THE TIME, WHAT I’M TRYING AND DRAWING FROM AT ANY CERTAIN TIME. IT CHANGES, IT CHANGES WITH ME. I FEEL THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE EVERY SINGLE PART OF MYSELF WITH MUSIC, AND THAT’S WHAT IT IS THERE FOR. I FEEL LIKE, AT LEAST WITH MY MOST RECENT SONG, FOR INSTANCE, I MADE IT DURING A TIME WHERE I WAS REALLY INSPIRED BY PEOPLE WHO WERE MAKING POP MUSIC REALLY, REALLY WELL. I WAS LOOKING UP TO PEOPLE LIKE CHARLI XCX AND TROYE SIVAN AND, I DON’T KNOW, EVEN BIEBER. LIKE WHAT WOULD I SAY THAT I MAKE, THAT IS INSPIRED BY THAT WORLD, SOUND LIKE? IT CAN COME FROM SO MANY DIFFERENT PLACES. RECENTLY, I’VE BEEN ON SUCH A BIG EARLY 2000S KICK OF RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, AND SUGAR RAY, AND JESSE MCCARTNEY’S ‘BEAUTIFUL SOUL…’ GREAT SONG FROM MY CHILDHOOD. FOR SOME REASON THAT RESURFACED FOR ME TODAY IN THE CAR AND JUST LISTENING TO THAT… I DON’T KNOW.
I FEEL LIKE ALL OF THOSE, FROM MORE POP STUFF TO EARLY 2000S STUFF, AND TODAY, THOSE ARE ALL THE THINGS THAT COME AND GO. I TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT I FEEL DURING THAT TIME AND PUT IT INTO WHAT I’M MAKING AT THAT TIME. BUT THEN THERE ARE ARTISTS I’LL LISTEN TO FOREVER. THOSE BANDS AND ARTISTS ARE DAVID BOWIE, AND RADIOHEAD… THERE’S ARTISTS THAT I LOOK TO THAT ARE PERMANENTLY IN MY BOX OF CRAYONS, YOU KNOW? THEN THERE’S SOME STUFF THAT JUST HITS YOU IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD ONE WEEK AND I GET REALLY INTO. I LIKE THE FREEDOM OF BEING ABLE TO JUST TAKE WHATEVER IS FEELING RIGHT FOR THAT TIME AND DO MY OWN THING WITH IT.
EJ: LET’S TALK ABOUT “OVER EVERYTHING.” WALK US THROUGH THE PROCESS OF CREATING AND CURATING THAT TRACK.
DREAMER BOY: SO THE SONG ACTUALLY WAS CREATED IN A VERY UNIQUE WAY IN THE TIME THAT I CREATED IT. I HAD NEVER MADE A SONG THIS WAY. WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS, MY FRIEND, WILL TAYLOR, HE’S LIKE HALF OF THE DUO OF ‘HOWDY,’ THEY ARE ONE OF MY FAVORITE BANDS. HE TEXTED ME ABOUT THIS SONG IDEA THAT HE HAD STARTED WITH THIS OTHER FRIEND OF MINE, JACKSON MORGAN, AND THEY HAD THIS SKELETON OF A SONG WITH SOME LYRICS, BUT MAINLY THESE MELODIES THAT REALLY INTRIGUED ME… AND A GUITAR PART. WE WERE EXCITED ABOUT IT AND THEN THEY SAID, ‘WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH THIS AS A STARTING PLACE?’ UP TO THIS POINT, EVERYTHING I’D MADE OR WRITTEN HAD JUST COME FROM MYSELF AND HAPPENED IN ONE WAY. IT WAS ME COMING UP WITH ALL THE MELODIES AND THE LYRICS AND PUTTING THAT TO MUSIC WITH A PRODUCER, BUT THIS TIME THEY CAME TO ME WITH THIS STARTER, AND THEN WE ALL GOT ON A FACETIME… BECAUSE THIS WAS DURING THOSE LOCKDOWN TIMES, WE ENDED UP WRITING MORE SPECIFIC LYRICS, TWEAKING A COUPLE THINGS… REALLY JUST A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT.
IT WAS REALLY FUN FOR ME BECAUSE I HAD JUST BEEN MAKING MUSIC A CERTAIN WAY FOR SO LONG THAT I NEEDED A FRESH EXPERIMENT WITH SOME FRIENDS, THAT FELT REALLY LOW PRESSURE BUT THINGS WERE CLICKING AND WE JUST KEPT CHASING IT. LIKE, WHAT WE FELT THE SONG NEEDED. EVERY CONTRIBUTED HERE AND THERE, THEN I TOOK IT IN, PRODUCED IT WITH MY FRIEND, BOBBY. BOBBY KNEPPER IS HIS NAME. WE HAD BEEN WORKING ON ALL THE DREAMER BOY MUSIC FOR A WHILE AND HE HAD IDEAS FOR INSTRUMENTATION AND JUST TOOK IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL. SO, THE PROCESS WAS A UNIQUE ONE FOR ME AND THAT WAS GREAT TO OPEN UP A DIFFERENT WAY OF DOING THINGS. IT KIND OF SHOWED ME HOW LOW PRESSURE AND GREAT COLLABORATION CAN BE, AND SINCE THEN, I’VE DONE A LOT MORE CO-WRITING. I GUESS, THAT DOESN’T REALLY TALK TOO MUCH ABOUT WHAT I’M SAYING IN THE SONG… BUT WE WANTED THE SONG TO BE THIS BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF THIS RELATIONSHIP AND REMEMBERING WHEN IT WAS SIMPLER. I GUESS THE OUTRO SECTION WAS ONE I WANTED TO HAVE A GUIDING HAND IN AFTER ALL THE COLLABORATION. WITH WILL AND JACKSON… THE OUTRO WAS ONE THAT WAS REALLY INSPIRING TO ME TO TRY AND INFUSE DANCE MUSIC AND SOME OF, AT THE TIME, WHAT I WAS LISTENING TO… CHARLI XCX’S MUSIC AND EVEN JUST SOME 90S DANCE MUSIC AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC. IT ALL JUST KIND OF HAPPENED IN A NATURAL WAY AND I DIDN’T FIGHT IT. NOW, IT’S HERE.
EJ: YOU OPEN UP THE CONVERSATION REGARDING HEALTH (PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, ETC) AND DISPLACEMENT IN THIS TRACK. EXPLAIN TO ME THE INTENTION BEHIND THE VARYING VISUALS IN THIS BEAUTIFUL MV?
DREAMER BOY: WITH THE VIDEO, I REALLY WANTED TO PORTRAY DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIPS, ALL IN DIFFERENT WAYS THAT THEY LOOK, AND THE DYNAMICS. SORT OF PUT THEM IN A CONTEXT OR DISPLAY THEM IN A WAY THAT… NOT A NATURAL OR NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCE BUT RATHER TRY AND HEIGHTEN AND ADD IMAGERY THAT SYMBOLIZES THE CARE-TAKING IN A RELATIONSHIP OR THE WAY ONE PERSON CAN INTERACT WITH ANOTHER THAT TELLS A LOT WITH ONE SIMPLE ACTION. WHEN WE WERE THINKING OF IDEAS, WE WERE TRYING TO COME UP WITH SIMPLE WAYS OF SHOWING A LOT, LIKE PEAKING INTO THESE PEOPLE’S CONNECTION VERY BRIEFLY BUT GIVING YOU THE IDEA OF WHAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP LOOKS LIKE.
I WAS JUST WANTED TO SHOWCASE PEOPLE BECAUSE EVERY VIDEO WE’VE MADE OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS HAS HAD SO MANY LIMITATIONS OF GETTING PEOPLE TOGETHER. LIKE, TRYING TO SHOOT DURING COVID ERA AND STUFF… THIS WAS A TYPE OF VIDEO I’VE BEEN WANTED TO MAKE FOR A WHILE WITH GETTING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND SHOOTING VERY NATURAL INTERACTIONS WHILE ALSO HAVING A VERY SPECIFIC DIRECTION FOR PEOPLE TO SHOWCASE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS. IT WAS REALLY SWEET TO SEE WHAT CAME OUT OF THESE PEOPLE. WHEN WE CASTED IT, I CALLED UPON REAL FRIENDS AND REAL COUPLES… IT WASN’T LIKE WE PAIRED UP RANDOM PEOPLE… IT WAS REALLY SWEET TO SEE PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE… SLOWING START TO FEEL MORE AND MORE COMFORTABLE ON CAMERA, TO THE POINT WE’D BE ROLLING, AND THEY’D BE INTERACTING AND LAUGHING AND JUST BEING THEMSELVES. THAT’S WHAT WE WERE GOING FOR AND IT FELT BEAUTIFUL TO SEE IT COME OUT THAT WAY. HOPEFULLY, PEOPLE FEEL SOME STRONGER CONNECTIONS TO THEIR RELATIONSHIPS AFTER WATCHING IT OR JUST ADMIRING THE PEOPLE THEY LOVE IN A NEW LIGHT.
EJ: IF YOU COULD PICK ONE LINE FROM THAT TRACK TO GET TATTOOED, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
DREAMER BOY: UM, I THINK I WOULD GET… I THINK IN THE SECOND VERSE I TALK ABOUT… AFTER THIS RELATIONSHIP I WAS VENTURING OUT. AFTER YOU END THINGS WITH SOMEONE, YOU KIND OF GO OUT AND SEE WHAT’S OUT THERE FOR YOU. I DON’T KNOW, THERE’S… THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG-WINDED FOR A SIMPLE QUESTION SO I APOLOGIZE… BUT LIKE, YOU GO OFF AND SEE WHAT’S OUT THERE. SOMETIMES IT’S A GOOD THING AND THAT’S WHAT’S RIGHT AND THAT’S WHAT IS GOING TO LEAD TO GROWTH. BUT SOMETIMES, YOU’RE IN A PLACE WHERE, YOU KNOW, IN THE SONG I TALK ABOUT GOING DOWN THE LONG ROAD TO SEEK GREEN GRASS, BUT REALLY LIKE, I HOPPED OVER THE FENCE AND REALIZED THE GRASS WAS JUST SPRAY PAINTED AND IT WASN’T REAL GRASS. THE CONNECTION I THOUGHT I WAS SWEPT UP IN WASN’T A REAL ONE AND IT WAS FLEETING… AND THEN IT PUTS YOU IN A PLACE WHERE YOU REMEMBER HOW REAL THINGS WERE WITH SOMEONE ELSE AND HOW THE REAL GRASS FELT, I GUESS. I GUESS I WOULD GET THAT LINE TATTED, BUT I DON’T HAVE ANY TATTOOS. I DON’T KNOW HOW I FEEL, I GO BACK AND FORTH. I CONVINCE MYSELF I’M GOING TO START GETTING TATTED AND THEN I DON’T.
EJ: DO YOU HAVE ANY UPCOMING PROJECTS THAT WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF? HOW CAN WE SUPPORT YOU AS AN ARTIST?
DREAMER BOY: YEAH, IN TERMS OF WHAT’S COMING UP… I’M GOING TO BE RELEASING A LOT MORE MUSIC BEFORE THE TOUR THIS SUMMER IN JUNE WITH BENEE AND YEAH, AND JUST TO GIVE PEOPLE WHO READ THIS SOME CONTEXT. THIS MUSIC, I’VE MADE A LOT OF MUSIC OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS SINCE MY LAST ALBUM AND IT’S JUST A FEW SONGS THAT EXPLORE DIFFERENT SOUNDS, KIND OF LIKE MY LAST ALBUM WAS. SO, IT’S JUST A HANDFUL OF SONGS I FELT SHOULD COME OUT, BUT THEY AREN’T TIED TO ANY ALBUM OF SORTS. RIGHT NOW, I’M WORKING ON GETTING THOSE OUT AND TRANSITIONING THEM TO WHAT I WANT TO BE MAKING FOR THE ALBUM. I FEEL LIKE I’VE REALLY OPENED A NEW CHAPTER FOR MYSELF AND I THINK THE MUSIC I WANT THE ALBUM TO SOUND LIKE IS JUST NOW SURFACING. IT FEELS GOOD BECAUSE THE PAST TWO ALBUM PROCESSES HAVE JUST BEEN TO MAKE A BUNCH OF MUSIC AND FINISH THE ONES I REALLY LIKE AND THAT’S THE ALBUM. THIS TIME I FEEL LIKE I’M REALLY SHEDDING A LAYER OF SKIN THAT I FEEL WILL LEAD TO SOMEWHERE REALLY EXCITING. SO, YEAH, PUTTING OUT MUSIC AND MAKING AN ALBUM… AND DEFINITELY, COME SEE A SHOW ON TOUR BECAUSE I’M REALLY EXCITED FOR THAT. MY FAVORITE THING TO DO IS PERFORM SO BEING ABLE TO DO THAT AGAIN IS REALLY INCREDIBLE. AND MOVING, SO DOING ALL THAT…
SO, THE SECOND PART OF THAT QUESTION, I DON’T KNOW, I GUESS I WOULD JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE. IT’S SPRINGTIME AND IT’S A GOOD CHANCE TO FEEL THE POTENTIAL ENERGY. SPRING IS A GREAT TIME TO FILL YOURSELF UP WITH ENERGY FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. GO OUT AND ENJOY THE WEATHER, I DON’T KNOW. I’M REALLY BAD ABOUT LOOKING FORWARD TO SUMMER, LIKE ALL SPRING I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO SUMMER, AND THEN SUMMER COMES AND GOES. I’M JUST TRYING TO BE PRESENT AND LIVE THROUGH THIS SPRING. I GUESS THAT’S WHERE I’M AT. JUST ENJOY THE SPRING, SEASONS CHANGING IS VERY POSITIVE, YOU KNOW?