Escaping to Dreamland
Where do dreams come from? I truly have no idea. Something lodges inside your brain and for whatever reason you can’t get it out. It burrows deep into your soul, driving you to madness. Since an early age the dream of being a world-renowned musician wiggled its way into my heart, and despite the world’s best efforts, it has never left.
Your dreams point to something deep within you. In the silence they whisper to you from the depths of your being. They continue to tell you who you are. They are a cornerstone of your identity. Sometime, perhaps long ago, you dreamt up a vision for who you wanted to be in the future. You might even be living out that vision. But, many of us are living lives of quiet desperation. We’re longing for a different life, a different path, a different future than the one society has scripted out for us.
We retreat into the land of dreams when we reach our wits end with the circumstances of our life. When our house, our job, our spouse, our careers are out of wack with who we truly are inside we escape into the world of our dreams. Dreams give us solace, comfort. They can in some cases be our truest, closest, deepest companion in our darkest times. At least, that’s who they have been for me.
It is in dreamland where we can allow our creativity to stretch free and our minds relax into who we actually are deep inside.
We Need Dreamers
I wrote the album Dreamland as a love letter to my own dreams. The world can be a place of distraction that takes us off course. But your dreams matter. They are important. We need more people passionately chasing the things that bring them alive. Without such people, the world would be a much colder, darker place. As my good friend and producer Dvani says, the good things we have in this world come from people pursuing their passions. I couldn’t agree more.
Escaping to Dreamland
Over the past two years I have escaped to my own Dreamland. I battled monsters and dragons, rescued fair ladies, fought demons and conquered distant lands. Also, while there, I decided to write some songs.
These were written during a time when I was immersed in personal chaos and uncertainty. I fell to a very low place. It was perhaps the lowest I’ve ever felt in my entire life. For months I was hardly able to recognize myself when I looked in the mirror. As someone who is usually upbeat, positive and happy it was hard to accept that I had become sad, hopeless, and lost.
Had it not been for music who knows what would have happened. In the silence of my darkest nights I grabbed my guitar, an old familiar friend, and began playing the melodies of my pain. I would escape every night, desperate to feel comfort, desperate for relief. One by one songs tumbled out of me and I found myself dreaming again, envisioning a brighter future. Bit by bit my outlook on life became more hopeful and optimistic. I got excited by the prospect of recording the songs. I felt eager to share my creations with my family, friends and followers. Gradually, I started to feel my sadness, pain and despair recede away.
This is the power of dreams. They can literally save your life.
Dreamland - The Coming Album
As we close the books on another year I am gearing up to release all the songs that I’ve written during my time away. The album will be named Dreamland as a tribute to the one place where I never feel alone. My dreams have helped me through an extremely difficult chapter of my life. As I emerge I feel stronger, more purposeful, and more at peace with who I am. Dreamland is my final wave to the pain and sadness that kept me trapped for so long.
Dreamland will be released in early 2022. It will be the largest album I have recorded in my career thus far. It is also an album that has been created with a team of complete pros who I will talk about in later posts. This project was a collaborative effort that has resulted in a beautiful collection of music. I feel an overwhelming sense of excitement to share it with you.
Your dreams are too important to ignore. During the creation of this album I went through tremendous peaks and valleys. I went through job changes, heartbreak, life changes, and even changing where I live. The distractions were plentiful. They could have easily taken me off course. But, month after month I found time to devote to my passion. I pushed myself harder than I ever have to continue prioritizing my work. At long last, we have arrived at the end of this incredible journey. There were many times when I didn’t think I would ever finish this album. There were times when I thought I would never release it. But, I kept pushing and pushing.
Closing Thoughts
In the past few months I have learned how powerful great art can be. Great art is essential to our lives. It is easy to get obsessed with making money and chasing practicality. But, when you slow down and read a great book, listen to an awesome album, watch a great film, it can be more meaningful than anything else.
I hope you feel that way when you listen to Dreamland. It has been a labor of love. I’m ready to give it to you.