Interview :: Dreamers of the Ghetto [12.8.11]

Storming out of Bloomington, Indiana spitting a brand of rock with more pathos than anything else you heard in 2011, Dreamers of the Ghetto arrived in New York last night for the first of two shows. Their record, Enemy/Lover rings as one of the finest debuts of the year, a mixture of gravel vocals, detached synths and slamming guitars. The band took a few minutes out to answer our questions about the things critics miss, the power of beer and Chinese food and if laughter counts as an enhanced interrogation technique. Our questions and their answers after the jump. Dreamers of the Ghetto play Mercury Lounge tonight with US Royalty. 

32feet: What are your top five Desert Island Records?  

Dreamers of the Ghetto: In no particular order...
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 
Afghan Whigs - Black Love 
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Peter Gabriel - Passion 
The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me  

32ft: Enemy/Lover feels rife with influence from the 1980s. U2 seems a popular, if unspecific comparison. What influences are critics missing and are these comparisons fair?  

DOTG: Well, comparisons are always based on someone's personal musical knowledge. So, are they fair? Sure. What else would a person have but what they've already heard? As far as what critics are missing... our desert island list reveals some of these but otherwise we are each influenced by our own life experiences which includes everything from listening to Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes, to Sade and Me'shell Ndgegeocello, to Bjork and INXS and on and on. Currently we're under the influence of Chinese food and Brooklyn Lager.  

32ft: We ask everyone this: If Dreamers of the Ghetto are trapped on a sinking cruise liner and there is only one life jacket left, which one of you gets it and why?  

DOTG: We would throw away the life jacket and use our inherent super powers to swim thousands of miles home while simultaneously writing a new album.  

32ft: Was there ever a doubt about closing the record with "Tether"? It implies a certain inexorability, even stasis, in progress. How much do you view these tours, these shows and all this nice attention as "just another door"?  

DOTG: No. There was never a doubt about our album closer. Tether couldn't be anywhere else but at the end. The lyrics were meant more metaphorically. Another door being your entire life experience, potentially. As far as the tours and shows, we are doing what every other band is doing. We are trying to work as hard as we can to realize our dreams of doing this full time.  

32ft: What is the one thing most people don't know but should never forget about your band?

DOTG: We don't like to be tickled. It is laugh torture.

Listen :: Dreamers of the Ghetto - "State of a Dream"
Listen :: Dreamers of the Ghetto - "Tether"