Artist Close-Up/ Review: DreamVacation Yearns To Make You Feel Connected To Life

The first thought you will receive at hearing DreamVacation is, “Oh, I like this!”. They are instantly pleasurable to the ears. Moreover, their band name is befitting. Their indie-rock sounds are exactly that: a “dream vacation”. 

When you hear their music you feel like you have escaped into an alternating world. It is not that this world is simply different, but it is ever- changing. This sonic capacity to flow into varying visual spaces is inspired by downtown LA. As lead singer Ray Silva exclaims,  “LA is such a juxtaposition of opposing landscapes. One minute your rolling through a really upscale area and the next you find yourself on 6th Ave passing the inner city refugee camps of the homeless”. The variety of material excess and destitution can be felt in the songs’ wavy compositions. You can go from the richness of a green pasture to the poverty of a broken streetlight in some dingy corner. The strides between highness and lowliness is very representative of DreamVacation’s personal journeys throughout their formation.

From breakups, family deaths, and living out of their cars, DreamVacation exemplifies how music can be the only dream you have to get through life. Throughout their new singles, “Window Room,” “Press Play,” and “Letting in the Dead”.  you can hear the perseverance and lyrical attempts to not simply understand life but understand one’s relationship to it. Add on that Ray Silva’s voice is poignant and potent in its vocal capacity, and you become open to receiving the heftiness of their messages and sentiments. Thus, DreamVacation allows you to feel easy in questioning the uncomfortable. Why do we try to so hard to live, even against all odds? If you listen to DreamVacation, you will know why; it’s called heart.

The four piece band has much commercial success placing songs in films and TV shows, including Showtime’s Shameless, TNT’s Boston’s Finest,  SYFY’s Being Human, to name only a few. Moreover, each band member has worked with musicians like, The War On Drugs, Foxes, Birdie, and Foster The People, again, to name a few. Yet, I am not “name-dropping” these associations to impress, but to show their interconnection. From musical acts to television, DreamVacation is strictly sought and associated with entertainment that aims for spiritual/sentimental experiences. They have worked with fellow artists’ that are known for their ability to reveal humanity’s many heartfelt layers. These connections seem destined when Silva explains the goal of DreamVacation’s music,

“We hope to inspire people to think and see things differently than they normally do.  And maybe even remember things they thought they forgot.  To feel more connected and sense that there is more kindness available than it seems.”