Meet the members of Ethereal Dreams, Keziah
Blake (left) and Hal Clyne (right)
ETHEREAL
DREAMS
We sat down with teenage
experimental pop duo Ethere-
al Dreams, made by members
Hal Clyne and Keziah Blake, to
discuss the release of their high-
ly anticipated debut album the
fifth dimension. They have sold
1.2 million copies so far and still
counting! In a generation of end-
less selfies and attention-hun-
gry YouTube stars the duo stands
out as different being compared
to Bjork, Florence and the Ma-
chine and others alike. They cite
an upcoming U.K band Lets Eat
Grandma as their inspiration say-
ing that they wanted to emulate
their quirkiness and originality
when they posted their five song
EP, Nebula, on SoundCloud in
England last October. We asked
them a few simple questions to
recieve an insight into their lives.
So can you describe your mu-
sic genre as its not something
we have really seen before?
We call it experimental sludge
pop, Keziah says, though she in-
sists that she doesnt like genres.
Instead, she thinks of their music
like the playlists they make for
one another. We want the al-
bum to express every part of our-
selves. You cant do that when
youre writing a lot of songs in the
same style, Hal adds. Her mini-
malist themed Midnight browsing
playlist is her latest addiction. We
want the album to be as spon-
taneous as our live sets seem,
she concludes. Our creative
process is very much Go for it.
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38
Tell me, how did two nor-
mal teenage best friends
end up here in this industry?
We never considered it as a ca-
reer, Hal says of the pairs un-
signed days. We were just do-
ing it for the hell of it. Theyre
both studying music at college
now but found themselves square
pegs in wycombes music scene.
Theres a lot of young bands
in wycombe, Keziah explains.
Indie rock stuff, a bit of grime.
When everyone else is mak-
ing that sort of music and youre
not, you can feel alienated. We
Life is about being
true to yourself and
finding out who you
really are.
-Hal Clyne
didnt know how to be anything
but true to ourselves though.
What do you think peo-
ple say about your music?
Some people are just thinking,
Is this really good, or is it shit,
but to be honest not even we
know Hal tells us. So what are
your next steps in your career?
Honestly we just see where the
wind takes us, we are thinking
of new ideas and new pieces of
music daily. Every song seems to
be a new genre for us. We made
a reggae track yesterday and
we kinda liked it, haha it was
something new to us and we are
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39
always looking for something new
to suprise our listeners. We under-
stand that changing genre could
definatly make us loose fans, but
were not doing this for the in-
come were doing this to get our
mind and ideas across to peo-
ple who vibe on the same wave-
length as us Keziah answers
So tell me, why the
name Ethereal Dreams?
We have always been interested
in outerspace and what lies be-
yond our world. An artist Willow
Smith really inspired us to delve
into the capacity of our brain and
unlock the full potential hence the
dream part of our name.What do
your families think of your music?
Most people are support-
ive but my auntie doesnt get
it, laughs Hal. She says, It
sounds jerky. Theyre interest-
ed in what were doing but they
dont understand the music.
That pursuit of honesty has led to
one of the most unique, refresh-
ing and downright weird albums
of 2016. Its a record of kaleido-
scopic influence. Melting Sad
Boys, named after a piece of
graffiti on their college wall, is
brimming with ideas from sooth-
ing chimes to a break out rap.
Ultimately though, like the pres-
sure of releasing a debut album
a year after taking their GCSEs,
they just laugh it off. When we
read negative things online were
just like, LOL, says Keziah. We
dont take anything too seriously.
AND APPLE MUSIC