Some Kind of Nightmare are touring machines. For over a decade they have been on the road more than half the year bringing their positive and angry form of street punk to the smallest corners of the countries. Touring has made their live performance a true sight to see and hear. This album was recorded live at Lou's LMGA in Orlando in December of 2021, and it's the first post Covid show at a venue that DCxPC Live was able to record in front of a full audience. Only 150 pressed on red vinyl. The first single relates to bassist/vocalists struggles with breast cancer and her mastectomy.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Some Kind of Nightmare. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
Endurance. You have to be able to deal with rejection on a daily basis as a musician. Keeping in mind, if your art is continuing to make you happy and you're still learning and growing consistently, you're doing well. We also try to stay humble. Egos aren't doing anyone any favors. But confidence is key. There is a difference. Always learn and grow.
Who inspired you to make music?
It's hard to pinpoint this to one individual. But I remember seeing Mia Zapata's case (the lead singer of The Gits) on Unsolved Mysteries when I was about 8 years old and she always stuck in my mind. Same with Janis Joplin and Joan Jett. Nirvana too. When Chy started his first band, that pushed me to start my own band, because I had wanted to for years. Chy thinks it was the bands he was listening to as a teenager that pushed him to learn to play.
Your latest release is 'DCxPC Live Vol. 9 Presents Some Kind of Nightmare Live at Lou's'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
Scott from DCxPC had brought this idea to us and offered to do a live recording. So we were definitely on board. We love playing Lou's in Orlando. I remember being in an odd head space and so nervous during the set about vocals. But it was such a good show. We had so many friends come out. It's always so good to have family reunions across the country. Chy and Josh played beautifully.
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the EP?
"We Take Form" is a song about healing and acceptance of scars after a double mastectomy and cancer. It is a reflection of the trauma of body dysmorphia after chemotherapy, surgeries, and post operation infections. And taking this trauma along with these scars and embracing them and owning them. Forming into a new stage of empowerment, a new mind, body, and soul and learning how to fully accept, "this is who I am now. And I will thrive.
We wrote the song "Everything's Okay" in 2020 at the height of the nation wide protests against police brutality. The chorus goes "Everything's okay, the police are here". Which is complete satire about how we are lead to believe that if there's a problem then we should call the police so they can show up and make everything right. But in most cases what you get is a narcissist with anger issues and a gun who will most likely escalate the problem. There's been far too much injury and death over victimless and petty crimes. This isn't a political issue. We're not a political band. This is a human issue. And it needs to be talked about.
"Crow" represents freedom and solitude from this world. Flying from rooftop to rooftop in solitude and shadow. Being an alien, an outsider and watching the world as it continues to destroy itself and then watching it rebuild by learning from its mistakes. The underdog fighting back by living on its own terms in its own world, after almost being devoured by the world of society. Even if this world of solitude means living in poverty. I once saw a crow eating the heart of a smaller bird and it's haunted me for years. Nature and mankind can be absolutely brutal.
"Driven Red" is about survival in a toxic, abusive upbringing and over coming it, along with illness and emotional/physical scars. It's about growth and unlearning behavior. It ties in the theme of learning what unconditional love is. Then realizing it's not always returned. We sometimes have to mask our identity for safety due to abuse. Then we're driven into who we are and continue to grow despite of the past. All while knowing there are many beautiful scarred people learning how to survive, right by our side.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
I honestly have no idea what the latest musical trends are. And I don't mean that in a snarky, hipster kind of way. I just spend every night at dive bars and basement shows which becomes its own kind of rock to live under. So it's hard to keep up. Sometimes I'll see a bands shirt more often than others at shows and assume that's what everyone is into right now.
What makes you different from others?
I think our most stand out quality is our drive and passion for what we're doing. We're coming up on our 10 year anniversary of when we quit our jobs, packed what we could into a van, and started touring out full time. There's been a lot of hills and valleys in that time where most people would have thrown in the towel and settled for an easier way of life. But this is who we are and we're not slowing down anytime soon.
What’s an average day like for you?
That shouldn't be a complicated question but everyday is so completely different the than the last. But there is some sort of routine to it all I guess. Most mornings we wake up at the person's house we stayed at. Whether it's an old friend or someone we met at the show the night before. Sometimes we sleep in the van. There's usually some kind of breakfast and coffee thing that happens before we pack up and start the trip to the next town. Most drives are 3 to 8 hours with some sightseeing here and there. When we get to the venue we like to mingle with the other bands and catch up with our friends who we haven't seen since last time we rolled through. Maybe check out some sights in the area. Then we load in gear, set up merch, grab a bite to eat and enjoy the bands until its our turn to go up. Then we hit the stage. And that's what it's all about. That's why we're there. So it's time to put everything we've got out there and let the crowd feed off of it. If we're not dripping with sweat and gapsing for air afterwards, then we should have done better. After the set we like to hang out with everyone again. Share stories and make connections. It's a lot easier after they've seen what you're all about. That's the best time to get to know new people and make new friends. Then it's time to load out and head to wherever it is we're staying. And this is the part that can get a little dodgy at times. The best tour stories ever are always about where the band stays. You just never know what you're getting yourself into. Sometimes you stay with amazing people who just want to hang out for a couple of hours before we all pass out, other times you might stay with someone who's on messed up on pills, completely unhinged, and wants to show you their guns. It's always a toss up you know? In the morning we rinse and repeat.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
I think this one got lost in the message.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Best advice I can give is never give up, and do it for yourself. If you're after fame and fortune then you're in the wrong place. We'll most likely die poor, but happy.
What are your plans for the future?
Right now we're working on getting our passports so we can hopefully branch out to the rest of the world. There's a lot of cool things to do and see out there and we want in on some of the action. Until then, we'll keep taking it one step at a time.