SOURCE – Your new album Bioluminescence comes out in a couple of days! What do you think of the album now that it’s done and ready to go out to the Dawn of Ouroboros fans?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – Well, as this is our third album we feel we have progressed so much with each release. I believe that’s especially true with ”Bioluminescence”. We really pushed ourselves to try things we had not before, while still keeping the core sound of the band intact. So for us as a band we feel the album represents the growth and experience we have gained over the past several years of writing music and performing together.
SOURCE – Do you have any specific expectations for the album?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – We really feel that each album we do is the current reflection of where we are, not just as musicians, but as people. We go into each album just wanting to write music that allows us to expand our creativity, and to continue creating music that we personally enjoy and believe in. We can only hope that listeners enjoy not just the individual songs but the album as a whole as much as we do ourselves.
SOURCE – Given that music videos have become an essential part of an artist’s online presence, how important is it for bands to create unique, engaging content in order to stand out?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – Music videos have been a major part of our band since the very beginning. Each video we do is created with the intent to capture the visual aspect of the songs that we have in our imagination.
We do not make them just to have content for social media, although they do work quite well for that purpose.
I think as far as content is concerned it’s different for each band. For us visually striking videos are what we feel best represent the image and vibe of the band.
SOURCE – You recently filmed a video for the track Bioluminescence. Could you tell us a little bit about the video?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – We always come up with the concepts and DIY a lot of the props and effects for all of our videos and the “Bioluminescence” video was no different. This video took about two days to film. One day was spent filming the underwater sections, which was filmed in a rented swimming pool.
For the performance shots we decided to get as creative as we could to capture the theme of the song. It was filmed in the living room of my house, and we attached black sheets to the ceiling, and hung teal lights from the ceiling as well to act as a representation of the tentacles of a jellyfish. Some other effects we did are; an early shot in the video shows sort of a cosmic swirl for a few frames. This was actually a translucent sheet covered in glitter. It was then placed in a bathtub that had teal lights placed in it.
Some transition effects that may look computer generated are actually practical effects. Such as a teal LED cloth being swung around, or throwing teal glitter through the path of a light. We really try to keep everything we do in our videos as practical as possible.
SOURCE – How has the streaming model driven by Spotify devalued albums in favor of singles, and what does this mean for artists who prefer creating full-length projects?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – Personally, I do not feel Spotify has devalued albums. I see Spotify as a great way to be discovered by new listeners. It also allows us to visualize in real-time how active of a fanbase we have. We will always favor creating full-length releases and I do feel that there is still great interest from listeners in bands creating full-length albums.
SOURCE – Are you surprised by the power of social media today to influence people around the world? How does Dawn of Ouroboros approach their own social media content?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – Social media has been a major part of music discovery for a considerable amount of time now, and I have been playing in bands long enough to see it develop to its current form from the beginning, so I wouldn’t say I find its power in reaching people surprising. I don’t think we necessarily set out to make “content”. For us, visual art, be it through our videos, merch designs, or even photography is just another aspect of the band for us. Thankfully, we like to think we create, or collaborate with other artists to create different forms of visual media that can effectively be considered content.
SOURCE – As a band that has been around for a while, how do you keep things interesting—both within the group and for your fans? What continues to drive and inspire you to make music?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – Well we all work full-time day jobs, so that takes up about half of our time. We keep things interesting for the band by genuinely doing this because we love doing it, so one could say creating music is the reason we all get up in the morning. Personally, I try to also stay active in my local scene, and regularly attend local shows several times a month.
As for keeping things interesting for fans, really we just try to create music that we are passionate about and would want to listen to ourselves. I think bringing that energy to our music keeps people engaged in what we do as they can feel that we are doing this simply because we are all big music fans ourselves.
SOURCE – What’s next for the band after the album is released?
Tony Thomas (Guitars/Synths) – Well aside from starting to work on our next release, we are very driven with touring and hope to tour as much as we are able to while balancing our day jobs. So far we have only toured the US and Canada, but we hope to eventually make it to other areas of the world.
Photo Credit: Rob Watkins (Watkins Media)
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