A SHORELINE DREAM

[ Interview with Ryan Policky from A Shoreline Dream by Diego Centurión. ]

A SHORELINE DREAM: THE CONSTRAST BETWEEN DREAN AND WAKEN

It is not the first time that we have connected with the band from Denver, Colorado, to know their news. In 2016 we had our first interview and from there we have been attentive to the news of A Shoreline Dream. The excuse is the release of a new album called "Melting" under their own Latenight Weeknight Records label in August, and this is the excuse we have to contact you again to find out what's on your new album. Links to previous interviews: https://issuu.com/revistathe13th/docs/n26-th13th https://issuu.com/revistathe13th/docs/the_13th_n-30

Hello (Ryan)!

Thank you for agreeing to carry out this interview and to begin with, we cannot help but wonder how this pandemic is transiting that has stopped the real world, since the virtual one continues to move?

This has been one of the most isolating and confusing times since I was in the womb. Seriously! Not only have I lost my mind on numerous occasions, but I have also found many of my friends moving away, conflicts of all types somehow popping up left and right, and zero work/life balance. I always thought a pandemic was something from the 1800’s… and I’m sure a ton of people would say the same, but wow it came as quite the shock to actually have to live through one in present technological times. I can’t say much other than it sucks. It’s destroyed entertainment, and entertainment is what I am all about. I’m still adjusting and trying to figure out what could possibly come next… especially with how absolutely awful the social and political world is here in the states. But hey, at least it gave us time to finally finish our album!

You have released a new album, what is it like to release a new work in the middle of this strange world, where you cannot support it with live shows?

It’s beyond risky in my opinion, but we just did it anyways. With all attention turned towards old billionaire dictators, nonstop news and confusion from the virus, alongside a general lack of understanding how to promote anything, it’s been quite the challenge. More than ever there is literally no way to sustain any sort of income in this world as a performer, unless you’ve already made it. I used to think it was so easy back in the mid 2000’s, when we somehow landed in every dream publication and social space we could think of, but now… wow. People don’t even buy music. They don’t even want to stream your music unless you are Taylor Swift. I don’t know, I’m kinda being a pessimist, but we strive to still spread the music we love making regardless, even if it just breaks the bank…. which it did many years ago.

Since the EP “Waitout” in 2018 we haven't had much news from the band, yes from side projects, can you tell us about what you've been up to?

It’s been interesting. At that time we were a three piece, but now we’re back to two, so that has been another difficult wave to crash through. However, when Erik and myself sit down and write it always turns into magic… at least to our ears. We started tinkering with

some ideas in late 2019, but once again, as soon as this evil monster landed, we just started smashing down those previous barriers which prevented us from finishing an album, and wrote the whole damn thing in a few months, and recorded it on the fly, just like how we love doing it.

I have read that the album has been written quite quickly. How long did it take to compose it and how was the time of recording?

Haha, I keep getting ahead of your questions. As I mentioned, it was super fast. We wrote it and recorded it as we wrote it from November-April. I know we always promised to string together singles that we had released, but it just didn’t feel right and we wanted it to organically happen, rather than trying to match up a bunch of different production styles. I’m super happy we went that route and I know Erik would say the same.

What virtues do you find in "Melting" that there are not in your previous works?

Consistency from start to finish. I would say we had that with Avoiding the Consequences and Recollections of Memory, but I would personally say this one has that cohesion in tone and vibe that just gels. It’s storytelling through music, much like Avoiding was… and I find myself pleased with those results. It was truly raw and every moment matches the time period we are in. At times I feel we were almost foretelling the future in a few of the songs.

I particularly love the treatment they give to the sound of guitars, has it taken you time to get those layers in the studio?

I am so beyond a perfectionist when it comes to tone, and guitar is our tone. It takes some kicking your own butt to make things sound right. This time we sat out with an intention in mind as far as the sound and space of how the album would play out. Before we

started writing/recording we fine tuned our environment, the tools we were using to capture it, and the amps used to make it all feel right. It’s not perfect, as nothing ever is, but we sure are into the spacial qualities resonating throughout “Melting”.

There are many influences that many have always attributed to the band, but particularly in this work I have heard a strong vocal accent a la Daniel Ash. I don't want to ask about your influences, but what did you hear while writing the album?

I usually close myself off to other music while recording as I just don’t have the time to take my focus off of the task in front of me, but I do indeed always have influences from the past that are just engrained in the electricity in my brain. Dead Can Dance, Tears for Fears and surprisingly The Smashing Pumpkins as of late have really pushed me.

What can you tell us about your feelings about this album? What impressions can you tell us that “Melting” has left you?

My feelings for this one are all over the place, kind of like my overall emotional state

right now. This album needed to happen to keep myself sane and moving forward. It’s been a very rough life the past few years, and this was the breath of fresh air I needed to clear out the nightmares endured.

With this pandemic, what has changed in the promotional plans for your album?

Everything. Other than trying to get radio support and online support we are still searching for the answer. We thought it was trying to get streaming services to take notice, but that wasn’t true. Then we tried making it a focus on social media, and that place is beyond cluttered, so we are trying different approaches, such as doing a bunch of videos for the majority of the songs, debuting them at some of our favorite places such as DKFM, which we traditionally wouldn’t have done before. An online station to debut a music video?! Weird, but we said, why not try it. It’s a difficult landscape out there, and to not be able to share any of the music live is beyond devastating. We’ll keep looking for opportunities, but we have no real gameplan other than making more videos and possibly more music again soon.

What are the plans, if any, for the remainder of 2020?

Music Videos, trying to stay afloat financially as my normal day job of video production has also taken a big hit, and trying to stay sane and as stress free as possible. These waves can be paddled through, but it’s gonna take a pretty big paddle for it to actually happen.

To finish and thank you once again for the possibility of asking you these questions. Do you want to say something to our readers?

You are beyond amazing and it’s been a pleasure doing an interview! As far as the readers go, we hope you give us a listen. We don’t care if it’s spotify or itunes or even possibly the vinyl version we are hoping will pre-sale enough to make possible. Visit ashorelinedream.com and we thank you so much for your support!

Thank you Ryan!