Together again for the first time, Andy & The Dreams will be performing alongside Motel Beds and Me Time Dec. 13 at the Brightside.
“I’ve known those guys for, gosh, 15, 20 years, just playing around,” Gabbard said. “Andy Smith [of Me Time] is such a good songwriter. And Tommy Cooper and the gang in Motel Beds, they’re such good songwriters. They’re just guys I’ve always admired. I don’t feel like I’m anything special, but I feel like they are. So, if anything, I’m excited to be there and watch those guys.”
Each of the bands on the bill have a lo-fi, analog lean. For Gabbard and Me Time, specifically, that distinction is pretty clear in their recordings: each sounds like they’re tracked on a dirty, ‘60s reel to reel even when they’re not (though there are often 4-tracks involved). For Motel Beds, that lo-fi quality comes mostly from the fuzz of PJ Paslosky’s lead vocals.
When asked what attracts him to that sound, Gabbard suggested it’s the ongoing journey of recording and doing it yourself.
“One really inspiring thing about a lot of Dayton bands is most of the people I know record themselves and their records are great,” he said. “Guided By Voices, right? When I was a kid and heard that, I didn’t think it was a lo-fi recording. That’s just what it was and it sounds awesome.”
GBV’s Robert Pollard’s DIY mindset looms large in Dayton. His projects wrote the book on doing it yourself while still being weird and creative.
“The low quality doesn’t define the music,” Gabbard said. “It kind of adds to the mystique.”
Gabbard’s a superfan of ’60s and ’70s music, too, which comes through in his solo work. His latest LP “Ramble & Rave On!” on Colemine Records is a culmination of a lifetime of listening to records from the past, and his trial-and-error recording. If he needs help, he listens to a classic reference track to figure out how to get his stuff sounding good. He said his head is always there.
For the thudding drum tones, he tracks on a Tascam 424 tape deck. For everything else, he mostly goes straight into his computer, relying on the sound of his performances rather than the aid of a vintage machine.
“It’s always cool when someone assumes my record was recorded on a reel to reel,” he said. “I trust my ears. I try to trust them, then give them a break and trust them again.”
When tracking the demo for “Barstool Blues,” the Crazy Horse and Neil Young cover, Gabbard arrived at what he felt was the best drum sound he’d ever found, so he recorded every song on the album with that setup before he moved the mics. He even recorded his 2023 album “Cedar City Sweetheart” entirely on an iPhone, truly leaning into DIY.
“A lot of people that get into recording, you just learn,” he said. “Better takes and happy accidents… all that stuff only happens when you’re not following the rules and you’re attempting to do it yourself.”
In 2019, The Black Keys expanded the band and took Andrew and his brother Zach — both of Buffalo Killers and Thee Shams — on the road.
The song “Ramble & Rave On!” is a reflection of Gabbard’s time on tour. In fact, a lot of the latest record was written while pacing around hotel rooms, scheming melodies and singing into his voice memos.
For this upcoming show, Andy & The Dreams is a departure from playing everything himself. It features friends Joey Sebaali, Tim Pritchard and Kyle Byrum. The name was originally that of a fictional band, which he says will make sense once the first Andy & The Dreams album is released.
“If you follow the rules and you play to a click or something, if the whole point of everything is perfection,” Gabbard said, “then it loses all of the soul and all of the energy.”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Andy & The Dreams / Motel Beds / Me Time
When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13
Where: The Brightside, 905 E. 3rd St., Dayton
Cost: $20 advance / $25 day of show
Tickets: thebrightsidedayton.com
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