The Dream Analysis is a metal band descending from Cleveland, Ohio Their upcoming record, ‘Suspended Animation’ hits a very personal note, as it outlines struggles with addiction, mental health, and personal darkness.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Dustin Simmons - Vocals

Daniel J. Pavilonis - Guitars

Bradley Knepp - Percussion

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to The Dream Analysis. How long has the band been around?

[Danny] Dustin and I were a part of a local band called As Daylight Falls.  I was in the band for less than a year, and Dustin was part of it briefly. I [Danny] was formerly the drummer of Dreamwalker.  I’ve been in over ten bands since 2015, but for personal reasons, I’ve left them in the past.  Brad was part of In A Broken World, which disbanded a year or two ago.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

[Danny] I distinctly remember how the name came to me.  I was in high school psychology, and my teacher said “today, we’re talking about dream analysis and the subconscious mind.”  I immediately knew that that was the band name.  I had to find a way to personalize it, but that meaning shifted over time.  [Dustin] Honestly, I don't even remember some of the other names we had before The Dream Analysis.  The idea for the name came from Dan originally expressing the idea of self discovery and analyzing oneself on a much deeper level. 

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

[Dustin] The main composition instrumentally for this record has come from Dan. He writes the instrumental, sends it to me for lyrical content, I come up with what I can for the song, and then we iron out the kinks together from there and slowly bring the song to life.  As for what are the themes of the songs, this is a concept record. 

Every song tells a little bit of a broader story; starting at a low point, explaining thoughts and emotions of that low point, a breaking point, the fight to reclaim your life after that breaking point, and finally acceptance and growth.  While most songs are written in a way we hope many people can connect with, the ideas and emotions stem from very personal parts of our lives.  We will never write from this mental space, again. 

[Danny] I wrote the instrumentals over the course of five years; some being as recent as last October.  The hardest part was lyrics; I had written a fair portion of them, and they stemmed from a very, very dark area of my mind.   I was battling personal demons at the time, and the only “release,” other than personal vices, was writing the music that became Suspended Animation.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

[Dustin] Content wise, I'm not inspired by other bands. I'm inspired from past experiences.

[Danny] Musically, I’m heavily inspired by Architects, Erra, Reflections and Avenged Sevenfold.  But I’m with Dustin, as far as being inspired by experiences. [Brad] Beartooth, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Chon, Periphery.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

[Dustin] Honestly, I've dreamed of being a rockstar since I was a kid, before I even knew what it meant to be a rockstar.  I first started dabbling in singing when I discovered Green Day. I started trying to find other kids to form a band with after seeing my very first concert which was Shinedown. But what really made me want to pursue music was watching the Avenged Sevenfold’s “Live in The LBC.” 

[Danny] I remember being like eight or nine years old, seeing a video of Slash rocking a crowd of thousands with a ‘59 Les Paul and I just wanted to learn guitar after that.  I joined As Daylight Falls as a drummer when I was fourteen or fifteen and that solidified my desire to be in a band.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

[Dustin] My warmup for a performance would probably make vocal coaches cringe, because I start with minimal vocal exercises just to warm up my vocal chords.  After that, I have a playlist that I sing along to, starting at what I consider a lower difficulty and then progresses to a higher difficulty. During this time, I drink a lot of water (or beer) and just sort of wing it from there. I've been doing this for years now so... if it ain't broke, don’t fix it. 

[Brad] I never drink before; always sober until after the show. I drink tons of water and smoke about 100 cigarettes and try not to throw up.  I get nervous, but it comes and goes. I also try and stretch and warm up on a practice pad if I have time. 

[Danny] My warm up is a Miller High Life, and two shots of Crown.  I’m usually the “tech” of every band I’ve been in, so before I’ve gone on stage, I was setting up tracks with my pre-show anxiety sending my heart into overdrive.  When I turned 21, I added whiskey to the mix and all was since peachy.  Since I’m the “brain” of this band, you won’t miss me without a beer on top of my guitar cabs.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

[Danny] We only recently debuted our first song.  But the amount of streams has been mind blowing to me.  We did this with five dollars worth of advertising, and the support of our closest friends sharing it to death.  I will say, the most rewarding aspect so far has been people personally reaching out to us, connecting with the music in a positive manner.  As I mentioned, this music comes from a dark place; this record took a huge chunk of me with it.  Seeing people embrace it like they have brings me an immense amount of joy. 

[Dustin] The biggest highlight for us has been our release of Call of the Void.  As of right now we've reached nearly 15k streams total for that song across all platforms, and the number continues to grow every day. Personally however, just finishing this project is the highlight for me. This has been a long time coming and I'm so excited to finally share it with the world.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

[Dustin] I'd love to share a stage with Avenged Sevenfold.  I also think it'd be really cool to tour with Beartooth, with regards to the fact that we're both Ohio bands, and the context of our music isn't drastically different. But in terms of potential short term tour mates, I'd love to tour with our brothers in Dreamwalker.

[Danny] Dreamwalker, for-motherf-cking-sure.  Logan, their bassist, is who brought me into my first real band and got me into performing.  I’d absolutely sell my soul to tour with Architects and Born of Osiris. 

[Brad] I’d love to tour with Avenged Sevenfold, August Burns Red, Beartooth, and Led Zeppelin. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

[Danny]  I mentioned before the sense of joy that was brought about by Void’s reception.  This record goes to a very dark place.  So much so, that Dustin initially refused to track a song called “Breaking Point.”  If this music can reach people in a positive light, and inspire or help them in anyway, then what I went through to create was worth it, and I’d do it one thousand more f-cking times.  With that said, if you’ve ever reached out to us, or supported us in any way, it keeps us going and we never EVER overlook you. 

[Dustin] To be honest, this has been a passion project for Dan and myself for roughly five years now. We've faced a lot of adversity personally, musically, and even as friends. But overall we're better today in every aspect than we were when we first started this project.  As I said, this band is a long time coming for us.  I can't think of anyone better to go down this road with than Dan and Brad.

Brad is the newest member of our little group of misfits, but he fit right in like a glove since day one. Dan and I may have written the majority of Suspended Animation, but Brad is going to be an excellent addition for our future projects.