“Here comes the brand new flava in ya ear” to quote Craig Mack. By that, I mean y’all need some Dreaming Bull in your life! I get dozens of submissions of new music to blog about with most of them ranging from horrible to it’s been done already…way too much. Dreaming Bull, comprised of Nic Capelle (lead vocals and guitar) and Gabe Raham (drums and bass), is onto something that is pure genius with their fresh take on classic blues, gospel, jazz, and funk sounds. I wanted to be at the ground floor of this band’s rise and to also bring them to your attention first. After all, we all savor that moment when we puff our chests out and say how we knew about a band way back when they first started, right?  😉

If you live in the Chicago area, be sure to head to the Abbey Pub tonight, June 20, 2013 at 8pm for their debut concert, or “virgin voyage” as Nic Capelle described it in an exclusive interview with me. Accompanying Dreaming Bull for the live concert are Mike Guidry (bass), Natalie DePaul AKA “Nitty DeFaunque” in some other music circles (backup vocals), and Paulo Villabona (backup vocals, harmonica).

There’s no music to download just yet, but you can hear the tracks they’ve recorded thus far on SoundCloud which I’ve also posted below. You can also get the latest information about music releases and live performances by “liking” Dreaming Bull on Facebook.

I interviewed Nic Capelle, an Australian native and former front-man from the band Capelle that I featured last year, to get the skinny on Dreaming Bull. Here’s what he had to say.

INTERVIEW

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Ifelicious: Who dreamed up Dreaming Bull?

Nic: Basically, Dreaming Bull started with Gabe [Raham] and I wanting to do a new project together. Both of our bands kind of went on hiatus…One of our first songs was called ‘Dreaming Bull,’ and we both really liked the name, so it kind of went from there.

Ifelicious: How would you describe your sound?

Nic: It’s blues, gospel-delic which is gospel with a psychedelic edge to it and a heavy influence of the blues in there. We’re going for something with more of a vintage feel.

Ifelicious: So the gospel is more about the sound but not the lyrics, right?

Nic: Yes, that sort of hypnotic, big choir feel vocally, and music-wise, some of the tempos and drum patterns.

Ifelicious: Yes, I hear that particularly in “The Spell.”

Nic: Totally, and that was one of the first tunes that we did. We were trying to find our feet on what exactly we wanted to do with this project, and that was it.

Ifelicious: I see, so it just kind of happened naturally in the creative process…I hear the vintage element in it. What artists of yesteryear would you say were influences on your style?

Nic: Definitely Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, then some of that Al Green type stuff. Some rare gospel stuff from the 50s and 60s, too.

Ifelicious: Who writes your song lyrics?

Nic: It is very much a collaboration between Gabe and I. We both come from fairly different angles. Gabe has a lot of that old R&B, gospel soul feel in his music, and then I come from it with that blues and rock feel. We meet in the middle with our hip-hop influences.

Ifelicious: Let’s talk about the meaning and/or inspiration behind one of the songs. How about ‘Bull Be Coming?’

Nic: ‘Bull Be Coming‘ was inspired, musically, by some of those old 50s rock ‘n’ roll tracks mixed with a bit of a psychedelic feel…Lyrically, it talks about conscience. It’s heavily influenced by the current financial crisis the whole world is dealing with; the ones who take, take, take; and the ones who gamble but fall short. The bull is in part a symbol of the stock exchange but also a symbol of conscience, and, if you’re not careful, or shall I say ‘smart,’ the bull is going to destroy you.

Ifelicious: I love it!

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Check out these related features that I’ve already posted on Ifelicious

• Indie Artist Spotlight: Capelle rocks Chicago on Crooked Deluxe Tour
• ‘What You Gonna Do’ by Capelle featuring Nitty DeFaunque cleverly samples Kanye and Jay-Z’s ‘Otis’
• Indie Love: ‘Bury Them Bones’ video released by Capelle and Nitty DeFaunque