AOTM Spotlight: Daniel Eyes & The Vibes -

How would you define the word “dream” in your own words?

I’m really interested in the concept of dreaming. It’s so fascinating. I think the types of dreams that we have at night are different than those that we refer to as career goals or life accomplishments. The former seems to be some type of visual representation of our subconscious minds which I think also has an effect on the later.

Do any of you guys dream frequently?

I feel like I dream most nights. Cruz and I have talked about some funky dreams we’ve had, PG of course 😉

Do you have any dreams that have really stuck with you that you feel like sharing with us?

I have a re-occurring dream that comes in different shapes and forms of talking with some of my musical heroes as if they were accepting me as one of them.

Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?

We don’t do anything unusual, we kind of just get up and play. Maybe we should start, it might help!

What are your practice habits like?

We try and find a balance of working on the site while, now working in rehearsals for new material we’re getting ready to record/ play live. We usually get one good 2-3 hour session in a week with the full band.

What are some of your favorite albums/records?

Exile On Mainstreet, Let It Bleed, Some Girls- Rolling Stones

Fresh- Sly and The Family Stone

Nothing is Wrong- Dawes

Undun- The Roots

Raising Sand- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Stay- The Faces

What’s one thing you can’t be on stage without during a performance?

A drink and a cup of water 😉

What inspired the cover art for your EP? Who designed the album cover?

The cover art was designed by a good friend of ours Jonathan Van Orne (TRNSPRNC). I went to him with the idea of a girl looking up at the moon, something that was intriguing and could play off the “Sweet Dreaming” theme. He came up with that collage-like image and nailed it. Can you guess who the girl on the cover is?

What comes to mind when you hear the word “nostalgia”?

TRL and Saved by the Bell. Anything 90’s.

What are some of your favorite childhood movies?

I was really into baseball/ music/ comedy movies: Field of Dreams, Grease, Heavyweights, Sandlot, Cool Runnings. I also watched Ocean’s 11 too many times.

What is the concept behind the “Sweet Dreaming” music video?

We wanted to build a sequence of dream like vignettes that were open to interpretation but also touched on the obvious themes of dreaming and struggle. I think the most talked about shot is where we projected those 90’s movies onto the white shirts. That idea just happen to come to mind a day or two before we actually shot the video. The apple-cutting/ white man scene extrapolates from a story I told Jeremi (the director) about a past bar-back job of mine when I was trying to make things happen after moving to Austin and was having a hard time getting things off the ground. The toughest part about making that video was trying to mimic the build up in energy and tension the song has.