So, who’s Kate?

Kate’s Dream work a melodic catharsis

By Sherie Dyer

Kate’s Dream play Geno’s, Friday, April 27, at 9 p.m. Call (207) 772-7891.

DREAM ON: fraught with painful emotions.

“The fall of ’95 is when it started,” declares Travis Lloyd, singer/guitarist.

“No, the spring after that,” argues Nate Raleigh, bassist and backing vocalist. “Guys, just give her a straight answer,” begs Steve Dunphy, the drummer and current diplomat. Pete Witham, the second guitarist is just shaking his head. And me, well I’m sitting at a large table with Kate’s Dream one late night at Rosie’s.

By now Raleigh has taken the reins. “Ok, Genesis 12.1: the beginning. Travis and I met at a Christmas party in ’94, or rather re-met. We had known each other since we were youths. And we actually learned how to play our instruments together.”

This all took place in central Maine. The members went to neighboring high schools, spanning from Camden to Pittsfield to Burham.

Lloyd and Raleigh played together as kids starting with covers and gradually learning to write their own material. They met Dunphy later on in high school when they were playing for their friends.

“We were playing one of our songs and all of a sudden this kid just jumped on the drum kit behind us. He was trying to play along, but he didn’t know all the breaks. Nate turned around and yelled at him, and he went away,” Lloyd laughs.

“It’s pretty much the same thing I yell at him now: What the hell are you doing?” Raleigh pokes at him.

Dunphy started playing drums in the seventh grade, nothing short of the glory involved with the school band program.

“I was stuck on the bass drum,” he sighs. “Stick the 5’2” fat kid with the bass drum. It was just great.” Insert his biting sarcasm here.

The three of them are talking and reminiscing and Witham is just laughing. He joined the band last fall and has had his own history with them over the years. Playing within the same social circles, Witham confesses it was Lloyd’s particular style that made him want to join.

“I really loved his approach to the guitar. It’s more textural — there’s a huge area to cover when playing with him, it’s not two-dimensional. It isn’t supposed to be cockrock.”

He’s pretty accurate; Kate’s Dream is anything but “cockrock.” Their songs are very busy, melodic, and very serious. Lloyd plays his guitar with conviction, sometimes fast, and sometimes intricately slow to support his dramatic vocal styling. In every performance, there’s no doubt that he wrote the lyrics he’s singing, and he’s reliving the words and experiences attached to them.

Witham offers a layer of effects with his guitar. He plays fairly straightforward on some of the heavier parts, but it’s his knowledge of toys, sounds, and the overall picture that give the songs their density.

Raleigh, whose bass has one of the warmest tones available, plays between the guitars, and with the traditional concept of rhythmically supporting the drummer. His thought process resembles Nascar: fast and circular. He is more of an independent player, whose barrage of individual notes may sometimes be in harmony with the guitars, and other times be off on their own.

Dunphy fits in perfectly. He demonstrates how well rounded he is several times a song, keeping time and order within the emotionally chaotic trio. From delicate moments to driven rock breaks, he maintains his own. Dunphy consistently utilizes the cymbals to keep things flowing and provide an up-tempo background to the music. By throwing in his own playful accents he lets you know he’s very much a part of the band.

Although they took a two-year hiatus to play around with different styles, it was the recording of the demo that brought them back together again.

“We did a 12-hour power run to record our demo in Bangor,” exclaims Lloyd. “We’re not the kind of people who will spend tons of money on a demo.”

Witham now owns a 16-track board that will be put to good use keeping their recordings current.

“It’s a Roland 1880,” he says. “It’s a great thing. We’re still developing our ears. And it’s much more attainable to record ourselves right now. To be a part of the whole process using medium proportions. We really believe in releasing a series of demos. About four to eight songs, that’s all. At least until we have the money.” Witham sounds almost patiently broke.

The most bizarre thing about Kate’s Dream is the contrast between the players and their music. For a group that focuses on songs that are fraught with sometimes painful emotions, off stage they can’t keep a straight face. Joke after joke — too much fun for an interview. When asked, they act as though they never noticed the difference.

“Serious? Some of it is,” Lloyd admits. “That’s what I like about it. As far as sad or moody, it’s an outlet. To purge demons, cathartic. It makes me feel better to be able to get it out this way instead of going into Times Square and gunning down everything. I think we all get a chance to do that in the band. Each of us has our own take or emotion to each part.”

If emo-rock had better connotations I’d use that to describe Kate’s Dream. Since it doesn’t, check them out for yourselves this Friday at Geno’s.

Sherie Dyer can be reached at sheriedyer@netscape.net.