Those with their ear to the ground and their wits about them will have been hard-pressed to have missed out on the quiet rise of Exit Dream. Comprised of Wes Thompson (ex-Napoleon vocalist), bassist Rob Hawkins, alongside ex-Casey members Liam Torrance and Max Nicolai, it’s a line-up that catches the attention of those who embraced the late 2010s era of melodic hardcore. However, the roots of Exit Dream go back further than that. Wes, who spearheads the project, explains, “In the back of my head, I always had Liam, since we went to university together in 2012.” This then led to the addition of Max to the band, shortly followed by Rob after Wes had seen him perform at Slam Dunk and then contacted him about joining the project.
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Behind the scenes, Wes had contacted Jesse Doreen of Counterparts about working on the writing side of the record. “I’ve known the Counterparts guys for a long time, did a EU tour with them when I was in Climates. I was trying to find a guy who was really good at writing shoegazey/post-rock/synthpop stuff, and that’s where I asked Jesse.” With the songs ready to go, Erik Bickerstaffe was contacted to work on the vocals. Known primarily as a member of Loathe, Bickerstaffe has worked with numerous UK bands, including God Complex, Static Dress and Holding Absence.
When it came to the visual side, Olli Appleyard was enlisted. “I’ve seen what Olli had done with Static Dress and I had a similar idea of what I wanted Exit Dream to be, but more shoegazey as opposed to the earlier 2000’s emo vibe. But I know that Olli can visualize things very well, and as soon as we started to work together during lockdown, we shot a video in my house with masks on and bi-bagged my closet downstairs and shot some of the “last cadence” video in there.” Wes first encountered Appleyard when his previous band, Napoleon, had the Static Dress vocalist run the circuit as a gig and backstage photographer.
Since the early 2010s, the UK music scene has become increasingly diverse in both sound and aesthetic. Groups such as Ithaca, Pupil Slicer and Heriot have offered up sensational records whilst drawing from an eclectic range of influences. With Exit Dream bringing in their shoegaze tones, it further adds to a scene thriving with experimentation. “What I’ve found is that it’s a lot more exciting releasing music now than before in Napoleon,” Wes commented, “because there’s a lot more to consider and I think there’s a lot more going on. It feels more diverse now in terms of the market, fashion, individuality. There’s a lot of room for exploring and it feels a lot more independent. It’s been a lot more creative, and it’s nice having that level of freedom, rather than having it be fairly structured.“
The shoegaze influences that Exit Dream invoke follow a trend of the scene slowly embracing the genre, with Slow Crush supporting Loathe on their recent UK tour, and the latter, Liverpudlian group releasing ‘gaze laden tracks in “Two-Way Mirror” and “Is It Really You?” on 2020’s I Let It In And It Took Everything. Recent years have also seen the likes of Hundredth and Deafheaven switch their sounds to the ethereal tones of a revived genre. “When you’re touring in a band that’s been doing screaming for years and years, you begin to see things differently really. Maturity and personal taste has a lot to do with it. The other guys have a similar taste and sound as well, so it all came together really.” With plenty of bands tapping into this sound alongside Exit Dream, Love Is Noise and Graywave, there is a wide array of choice for those who are finding a new joy in this sound.
There’s also been a shift in release cycles and interaction that has been accelerated by the pandemic, with releases now becoming single-focused: drip-feeding new releases to keep an audience engaged and Spotify playlists filled. It’s a method that aforementioned newcomers Love Is Noise have taken, and Exit Dream look to follow suit. “When I listen to new bands, my attention span is so short and I think in this day and age, people don’t want the whole package. If you don’t have the person’s attention span within the first 30 seconds, you’ve lost them. That’s why I think it’s important to release singles for now.” The aim of the recent singles is clear: grab the attention of listeners and establish the band, and lay the groundwork for a potential EP from Exit Dream in the future.
The response to these singles has been substantial, with Exit Dream gaining a firm footing footing as a unit going forward, with both singles sitting around the 50,000 streams mark on Spotify, and “kaleidoscope“ seeing its radio debut on Daniel P. Carter’s show on Radio One. Their debut success hasn’t simply been contained to the UK; the band has seen their merch drops ship to America, Japan and Australia. “After sitting on it for 2 years and being trapped in the bedroom writing these songs, and having Liam and Max join the band, and seeing people from so many different countries giving such great reception, it’s been way better than what I’ve anticipated.”
Teasing a London show earlier in the year, one of the goals of the Exit Dream project is to perform live. “I think the biggest goal of mine since starting this project was for it to tour, since I miss touring so much.” With a show in the works, there might be an opportunity for fans in the UK to see recent tracks “last cadence“, “kaleidoscope“, plus upcoming tracks live. “It’ll be end of July in London but don’t count on that.” With the next single on the horizon and potential of live shows, now is the perfect time to invest in one of the most exciting newcomers to the UK scene.
You can find Exit Dream on their social media here. For further coverage on the UK scene plus more, keep it locked on Boolin Tunes.