CaliAlive.com

Member Interviewed: Eli (vocals)
Date: June 2005
Website: www.killingthedream.com

First things first. Who is Killing The Dream.

killing the dream is made up of five mesqweet (yeah it’s spelled it right) dudes who bring rock and shred ‘za like nobody’s business. joel and bort swing the axes, chris steals all our babez with his hot bass lixxx, Isaac hitz da skinz and i try not to lose my voice...

Are you guys members of any other bands?

TOO many other bands, man. haha we started off as a side project ‘fun’ band…joel and bort were/are in EMBRACE THE END (who just put out an awesome new record on ABACUS recordings), isaac was doing OUR TURN and had a pop punk band when we started, and has been drumming for ALLEGIANCE for about two years now, and chris doesn’t do any other bands but he was in a sweet band called EXTRA STOUT and basically spends all day hanging out with babez. sometimes having dudes in other bands is hard, especially because they’re all really good bands and do really well and are fairly active…but it’s something we’ve been dealing with since the beginning of the band, and it really isn’t a big deal. we love the all dudes in embrace the end and allegiance, and they make awesome music.

I've heard good things about the scene in Northern California. Can you
talk a little bit about the kids & the scene up there.

to me, northern california is the best scene around. The bay area is just so awesome, man…the kids up here are all so cool, and so supportive, no matter what type of music you play…if you’re good, you’re gonna get love, and the same goes for touring bands. there’s not a lot of closed mindedness or politics or whatever that goes on up here…i mean, obviously, nothing’s perfect, but for the most part, kids just come to shows to have a good time and dance and hang out with their friends because they love hardcore and they love being a part of it. i mean, there’s so many bands up here that play so many different styles and they all do well, they all get love…from bands like THE HOODS and ALL BETS OFF to bands like LIGHTS OUT, CEREMONY, ALLEGIANCE, or bands like LIFELONG TRAGEDY or JEALOUS AGAIN or SET IT STRAIGHT, it’s just rad that kids notice and appreciate bands like this, no matter what style they play. in particular, sacramento has become so awesome again in the last year or so…it’s just so nice to know that at any given show, there’s going to be kids there that WANT to be there and are STOKED to be there, no matter who’s playing. there are kids that have seen us and other norcal bands literally 30 or 40 times and STILL come out to a last minute show on a weeknight…and are STOKED to be there, dancing, singing along, and just making everything awesome. it sounds cheesy, but i can’t tell you how much the kids up here mean to me and how much i appreciate them.

How did the release of your 7" "I Rewrote It" go? How did Deathwish
Inc. handle everything. Was this your first release with them?

deathwish is amazing. it was a really tough decision for us to leave rival, and we were a little apprehensive and unsure of exactly how things would go with deathwish. we were spoiled on rival because kyle was not only a good friend, but he’s a hardcore kid who goes to local shows and really has a feel for what’s going on…he lives an hour away from us and we get to see him a couple times a month. but it was just so good to immediately feel welcomed by tre and jake and the deathwish family…they have helped us out so much and are there for us whenever we need ANYTHING, i’m sure tre gets sick of me bothering him at 2 in the morning (5 am for him) about stupid shit that we’ve gone over four times already…but they are so patient and so helpful, it just feels good to know that you have people like that backing you up. deathwish really reminds me of rival a lot…tre and jake love hardcore, and they really do everything the right way and more importantly for the right reasons. we really couldn’t have gotten luckier with labels, i feel so blessed that we’ve been able to work with such quality people.

I got some news about your upcoming album from the Deathwish
Newsletter. I think you guys are in the recording stages, correct? When
do you think this album will be released. Is there a specific date set?

the album is done, finally, after six months and a bunch of delays (mostly because of me being a sick baby)…it’s gonna be called ‘in place, apart’ and HOPEFULLY we’ll have copies by sink with cali this year but who knows, i’m trying not to get my hopes up. i think it should OFFICIALLY (street date)be out by sept. 13, but who knows. i can’t wait for it to get out, man. i hate/love the nervous feeling of being done with a record and waiting for it to get out.

I got to see you guys play the last time you came down to Southern
California at Chain Reaction for the Bust! Streetwear show, and I had a
blast. Do you guys have any upcoming tours lined up? How stoked are you
for Sink With Cali Fest in Redondo Beach, CA?

dude, bust! fest was amazing. we were really nervous before that show, just because it was a freaking HUGE show (since the warriors/ia/wowy were playing), and we haven’t played the la area a ton. we’ve been to socal a bunch, but we’ve usually ended up playing places like san marcos (i gotta shout our boys down there out!) or san diego or bakersfield, but we’ve only played la maybe once or twice. but everything was so awesome man, the show was honesty one of the best shows we’ve ever played…i mean, there’s definitely been crazier shows or whatever up in our hometown, but just the overall feeling at that show was something we haven’t experienced a lot. we all walked away saying, ‘man, that was such a GOOD show.’ not to mention the fact that we got to play with THE WARRIORS, INTERNAL AFFAIRS, and WITH OR WITHOUT YOU (andy what up dude), who are our boys and some of our favorite bands to play with anywhere…man, i hope we get to play bust! fest #2.

about SINK WITH CALI…dude, i cannot WAIT for this show man. sink with cali 2 was literally the highlight of my year last year, i had SOOO much fun and got to see soo many good friends and hang out on the beach and just…man. AND the show itself was so good, i still think that it’s one of the best shows we’ve ever played (haha i know i just said that, but it’s true). so many good bands are playing, i am just hyped to be down there and play man.

Any last words?

yo thanks for the interview man, we appreciate it…the site rules, thanks for your time man!!! cop the new album, out sept. 2005! peep www.killingthedream.com, www.deathwishinc.com, and www.rivalryrecords.com for news, updates and other stuff. and buy the new ALLEGIANCE and GO IT ALONE lps, and go get the new CEREMONY, ANSWER, AND SINKING SHIPS 7�s while you’re at it. peace!