JR: Tell our listeners a little about Bodega Dream. Where and how did you guys start up?
BD: We started writing music together in Miami. The project was initially supposed to be a straightforward conscience Hip Hop group, but slowly transitioned into a lot more musical experimentations (playing around with different genres and styles). Once we moved from Miami to Brooklyn most of our inspiration came from our new surroundings. We then decided to expand and include a full band into our sound.
JR: When googling Bodega Dream I find a book by Ernesto B. Quinonez. Are you guys named after a book based in Spanish Harlem?
BD: Yeah we are. It’s hard not to reference the book when we mention our name. The other source is from Miguel Pinero’s poem La Bodega Sold Dreams. We site the poem more often because it defines our sound and intent a little better than the book.
BD: We joke around saying all roads lead to Prince! Or when we are exhausted and feel as though we can’t continue on, someone also says, “Prince didn’t take a day off.” So obviously prince is a huge inspiration. Other influences would include TV On The Radio, The Mars Volta, Blood Orange, Bjork, Lil Wayne, OutKast, Danny Brown, and Chance the Rapper. But really I think we just sound like a bastard child of TV On The Radio and OutKast.
JR: "Chronic City" won Jamsterdam's track of the month for April. Where is Chronic City and whats the track about?
BD: Chronic City is greatly based off of Brooklyn, from the constant gentrification to the overwhelming negligence for the human condition. The Chorus “Ant Hills Piling Up”, are the new condos that are slowing eating away the cities identity. The Natives are left with rubble and that’s all they can afford and have to work with.
JR: Sounds very similar to our situation here in Toronto with "ant hills" piling up all over town. The city skyline grows along with commute times.
BD: Honestly, this can be said about most, if not all, metropolitan areas. However, even though these cities have their faults they’re like vampires and suck you in. So you want to leave, but you’re captivated and it becomes almost impossible.
BD: We start all composition stripped down, either guitar and voice or piano and voice. Once we have the skeleton of the song fully developed we then move on to creating the proper atmosphere for the track. The songs generally go through 3 or 4 rewrites unless it gets discarded all together. Lyrically speaking we are undoubtedly influenced by the things we read, so we tend to write in a story format.
JR: What do you guys have planned for this year? Albums? Tracks?
BD: We will be releasing a video for Unraveling, the second single off our EP Chronic City, in the summer. We plan to write and record our first full length in the fall hopefully seeing a spring release date.
BD: We will be playing shows relentlessly in the North East area throughout the spring and summer. If all goes well, we might hit up Canada sometime this summer.
JR: Any Shout-outs?
BD: Shout-outs to Peanut, Jojo, Nathan, T’chan, Copán, Bandits on the run, Gelo, Nancy, TOBE FRESH, FOXY, Caballo Braun, The Arc, Robot Lipstick, Moms both sides 200%.
Bodega Dream topped the Jamsterdam charts back in April, listeners can tune in for the Jamsterdam Top 10 daily at 10am and midnight EST for the best new tunes they've never heard. Jamsterdam Radio is always on the hunt for new music. Artists may send in their polished tracks to Jamsterdam for a chance for instant radio play on the station.
