Dream State are a Welsh post-hardcore band from South Wales. Formed in 2014, the group currently consists of vocalist CJ Gilpin, guitarists Aled Evans and Rhys Wilcox and drummer Jamie Lee. They signed to Australian record label UNFD in 2017, and have released two EPs, their debut Consequences in 2015 and Recovery in 2018, and a studio album Primrose Path.
History
Formation and ''Consequences''
Dream State was formed in South Wales, UK, in 2014 by vocalist CJ Gilpin, guitarists Aled Evans and Sam Harrison-Little, bassist Danny Rayer and drummer Jamie Lee. They released their first single "Burn Them Down" on 8 January 2015. Later that year, on 20 November, they released their first EPConsequences, which was recorded at The Boneyard Studio in South Wales.
Line-up change, UNFD and ''Recovery''
In March 2017 the band released their single "White Lies". That summer they had their first festival appearance at Reading and Leeds Festivals. It was later announced, that Dream State had signed to independent record label UNFD at the festival. 2017 also saw a change in line-up. Sam Harrison-Little left the band to spend more time with his family and was replaced by Rhys Wilcox. On 18 May 2018, the band's second EP Recovery was released through UNFD. Dream State is featured on the 2018 compilation albumSongs That Saved My Life in aid of mental health and suicide prevention charities. For the compilation, the band recorded a cover of Linkin Park's "Crawling".
''Primrose Path'' and departure of Danny Rayer
On 6 March 2019, Dream State released the single "Hand in Hand". The band released their single "Primrose" on 10 July 2019. It is their first release after the departure of bassist Danny Rayer, who "has decided to focus his time on his wonderful family". On 20 August 2019, the band released their single "Open Windows" and also announced that their debut albumPrimrose Path, produced by Dan Weller, will be out on 18 October 2019. Dream State released their single "Twenty Letters" on 8 October 2019, a day after its premiere on Annie Mac's Radio 1's Future Sounds on BBC Radio 1. On 18 October 2019 the debut album Primrose Path was released and opened on position 100 in the official UK Albums Chart. Following the release, the band went on a UK headliner tour beginning on 27 October 2019 in Glasgow and went on to support Being as an Ocean on their tour through Europe afterwards. In the beginning of 2020, Dream State supported I Prevail on their Europe tour. The final leg of the tour had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dream State released their music video for "Are You Ready To Live?" on 24 June 2020. The video features clips send in by fans as well as live footage of the band.
Musical style and influences
Dream State's musical style has mostly been described as post-hardcore and alternative rock. Jake Richardson of Kerrang! wrote about the band's sound: "It can loosely be described as post-hardcore, but the quintet throw in elements of math-rock, metal and punk and impress at every point." Slipknot, Tool and Linkin Park have been cited as some of the band's influences.
