Alternative rock duo Those Who Dream may well be one of the next big things in Australia’s music scene and have been influenced by only the best.
If you haven’t heard of Those Who Dream, then we’re here to brighten up your day because the duo from Perth are a band to keep an eye on.
Comprised of brothers Josh and Cooper Meyer, the group have a refreshing DIY attitude to all aspects of their work from songwriting and production to even their music videos.
This Those Who Dream DIY ethos is perhaps best exemplified by the music video for their latest single ‘Tension Headache’, a wild cinematic showcase involving several different locations and some truly bonkers imagery that complements the song’s explosive nature.
“It’s hard to trust your own thoughts when you’re depressed,” says Josh and Cooper. “The same brain capable of thinking rationally and wanting to get better, is also capable of extreme self-sabotage.”
“Trying to balance this constant tug-of-war can leave you exhausted, confused and even rationalising the bad thoughts. The soundscape is very much a representation of the lyrics; chaotic, uncertain and torn between light and dark”
With so much creativity shoved into one music video, we got curious about what kind of music influenced Those Who Dream. And happily, the duo were more than happy to tell us about the 10 biggest songs that helped shape their sound.
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Good Charlotte – ‘The Anthem’
Good Charlotte was definitely one of the earliest inspirations for us, I swear they can’t make a bad song! I remember in 2008 we asked our mum for a box-set of all the Good Charlotte albums (at the time) so we could try playing along to them – the energy and attitude they had just lit up our minds like nothing else.
Avril Lavigne – ‘Contagious’
Along with Simple Plan and Good Charlotte, Avril’s catchy pop-rock songwriting style always stuck in our brains like glue. No one else was doing punk with such pop-influenced melodies, so we bought The Best Damn Thing on CD and had it on repeat for all of 2007.
Discovering Max Martin as a writer years later also brought us down a whole other rabbit hole of amazing pop music.
Mindless Self Indulgence – ‘B*tches’
I think I first discovered this band through someone’s emo Tumblr blog… I was blown away that it was from 2000 but felt more modern than half the music I was listening to at the time.
The seamlesss blending of old school hip-hop and punk with the crazy energy Jimmy Urine’s vocals bring is something really special. It also showed us you can use synths and programming in alternative music and still be punk AF.
Childish Gambino – ‘Bonfire’
We honestly had such a long lasting emo phase that we didn’t get into hip hop/rap till really late, but Childish Gambino had a sound you could really get lost in.
Camp was one of those albums I never got tired of, Gambino’s voice is just so full of character and emotion that you can’t help but listen to what he’s saying.
Green Day – ‘Know Your Enemy’
When Cooper saved up all his money to buy a drum kit in 2009, we dragged it out to our kitchen along with a microphone and guitar and instantly belted out a rendition of this song for our parents.
Another example of just fantastic catchy pop-punk songwriting – but also the whole rock opera element Green Day were bringing really inspired us. We’ve always been massive film nerds and love anything cinematic with great storytelling, so American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown really ticked all the boxes for us.
All Time Low – ‘Six Feet Under The Stars’
ATL truly was the first band that made us decide we wanted to write songs and make other people feel the way All Time Low made us feel. ‘Six Feet Under The Stars’ was such a game changer in the way I wrote and performed music, and seeing how they made a career out of just having fun on stage was so inspiring.
Bring Me The Horizon – ‘Shadow Moses’
Seeing how this deathcore band transitioned into absolutely huge stadium rock, while bringing amazing synths and programming into the mix, was the coolest thing ever to us.
Their progression from then to now has just continued to blow us away and make us even more confident in breaking genre boundaries, and just being unafraid to pour all our diverse influences into one mixing pot and see what happens.
We too would like to someday randomly drop a mixtape with a super long title and crazy trippy, trance-like beats just to mess with everyone. Love them to death!
Carly Rae Jepsen – ‘LA Hallucinations’
Ever since thinking “Wow, ‘Call Me Maybe’ is a great song! I wonder if her other music is any good?”, nothing has been the same.
We’re suckers for unabashed bubblegum pop, and Carly’s 80’s influenced production and sassy, dynamic songwriting really sparked our interest. Special mention to Jack Antonoff who’s work with Carly, Taylor Swift, Lorde, etc. massively inspired our writing.
Muse – ‘Supermassive Black Hole’
I’m not gonna lie, we were super into Twilight in 2009 which is where we discovered Muse. This song just makes you feel like a badass every time you listen to it.
Rock music is known for being loose, loud and ‘raw’, so hearing something so ridiculously tight and groove-based was a game changer for us. The minor vocal melodies dancing on top of those punchy drums just gives you the most eerie/unsettling feeling, which is something that really excited us.
Owl City – ‘Cave In’
Owl city has always been one of my biggest influences for producing music, I used to sit in class in high school listening to ‘Cave In’ and writing down all the instruments and percussion I could hear.
Realising it was all just one guy laying down all those intricate melodies and creating a soundscape so full of ear-candy and expression was mind-blowing, and really informed how we produce to this day.
