Dreaming (Smallpools Song)
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"Dreaming" is a song by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band Smallpools. Smallpools—composed of vocalist Sean Scanlon, guitarist Mike Kamerman, drummer Beau Kuther, and then-bassist Joe Intile—first formed in 2012 in Los Angeles. Their songwriting partnership with L.A.-based production trio Captain Cuts was responsible for "Dreaming", which was released online in May 2013 as the band's debut single. They had yet to play a live show when they signed a major-label deal with
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
, which began distributing the single. It was later included on the band's self-titled
extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
, as well as their debut studio album '' Lovetap!'' (2015). The song received positive responses from contemporary music critics, many of whom compared the song to the music of
Passion Pit Passion Pit is an American indie pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Formed in 2007, frontman and keyboardist Michael Angelakos is the band's primary recording member. As a touring act, the band currently consists of Angelakos (vocals, syn ...
. Its
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
, released in July 2013, stars Scanlon experiencing ''
déjà vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–1 ...
'' at a house party. "Dreaming" was the band's biggest
hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...
; it charted at number 23 on ''
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''
Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...
chart, and was later certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
.


Background

Guitarist Mike Kamerman and vocalist Sean Scanlon, both
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natives, had been collaborating since 2007. They moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to further their music career, where they met bassist Joe Intile and drummer Beau Kuther, both from
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
. Smallpools was officially formed in August 2012. They soon began working with L.A.-based production trio Captain Cuts, with whom they wrote and recorded "Dreaming". Manager Greg Federspiel's dog, Jax, graces the cover art of the "Dreaming" single; it was a random photo Scanlon had taken on his phone and decided to use for it. The band's songwriting process at the time began with an idea of a melody or
guitar lick In popular music genres such as country, blues, jazz or rock music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes used in solos and melodic lines and accompaniment. For musicians, learning a lick is usually a form ...
played over a common
chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...
; from there, the quartet would " jam it out" for hours in their rehearsal space. After solidifying more ideas, they would bring songs to their producers to determine what parts worked and what areas needed more development. Scanlon was responsible for the majority of the lyrics. Their relationship with Captain Cuts was open and communicative; "We feel like we have this good creative energy going right now – the vibe in the studio with aptain Cutsis really good," Scanlon told ''
Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...
'' in 2013. The band released a self-titled four-song
extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
on July 16, 2013, featuring "Dreaming". The song was also later included on the band's 2015 debut album, '' Lovetap!''. The song was later used on the soundtrack for the
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'' FIFA 14'', as well as in ''
The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...
'' episode " I Know What You Did Last Summer".


Music video

The official
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for "Dreaming" debuted online on
Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
on July 16, 2013. The video stars Scanlon caught in a
time loop The time loop or temporal loop is a plot device in fiction whereby Character (arts), characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition. Time loops are co ...
at a house party. Scanlon continues to repeat various activities-playing beer pong, socializing, playing with his band-with every attempt to escape, resulting in him snapping back into the loop. Eventually, he begins to notice a young woman with a pixie cut and follows her into the backyard pool, before coming up for air and finally breaking the loop. It was a shot at a home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles that the band rented. The group invited all of their personal friends to act in the video; Kamerman joked the "fake party" developed into a real one.


Reception

"Dreaming" debuted on May 16, 2013 on the blog of label
Neon Gold Records Neon Gold Records is a New York City-based boutique record label founded in 2008 by Derek Davies and Lizzy Plapinger. Initially operating as a vinyl-only singles label, Neon Gold has launched the debut releases and international careers of m ...
, which also handled single releases from
Passion Pit Passion Pit is an American indie pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Formed in 2007, frontman and keyboardist Michael Angelakos is the band's primary recording member. As a touring act, the band currently consists of Angelakos (vocals, syn ...
and Sir Sly. Within three days of its release, it hit number one on the Hype Machine, a music blog aggregator. The first radio station to play the track was KTCL in
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,
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, after its staff discovered it on the Hype Machine. The band's manager, Greg Federspiel, assisted them in signing a deal with major label RCA Records. The band had been together formally for less than a year before the success of "Dreaming", and had yet to perform live. It quickly gained airplay on alternative radio stations in the U.S., first charting on ''Billboard''
Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...
chart in the issue dated June 29, 2013. Seven weeks later, the song achieved its peak position of number 23. They went on tour after the release of their first EP, and opened for Walk the Moon and
Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who both left in 2011. Since their departure, the line-up h ...
. The song was well-received by contemporary music critics.
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
reviewer Matt Collar praised "Scanlon's soaring tenor vocals," as well as "the group's potent combination of shimmering
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synths, crisp guitar licks, and propulsive dancefloor beats." It was frequently compared to the music of Passion Pit. Chris Payne at ''Billboard'' wrote that "Smallpools' opening statement sounds like it was written to be one of alternative radio's songs of the summer, with its exuberant, helium-voiced Passion Pit vocal riffage; sparkling,
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production; and young-and-invincible 'tude." The group hoped to counter these comparisons with the release of their debut EP. "We are very eager to put out this collection of songs, because "Dreaming" has since been mistaken for Passion Pit or
MGMT MGMT () is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, Ben Goldwasser. Originally signed to Cantora Records by the nascent ...
or
Foster the People Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members include founder and frontman Mark Foster (musician), Mark Foster and keyboardist Isom Innis. Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending ...
, which we're all fans of," said Kamerman. The single was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in 2018, which denotes 500,000 sales or streams.


Certifications


References


External links


Official video
on
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{{authority control 2013 songs 2013 debut singles RCA Records singles Songs written by Ben Berger Songs written by Ryan McMahon (record producer)