This has been a difficult year for everyone, every industry and every community in one sense or another of varying degrees of extremity. The former perceived playing fields of the former fragile constructs in many ways have been leveled, with a push toward a greater inclusivity during a time of a global pandemic and contemporary civic discourse corroded to the low levels of toxic Twitter feed shit-post authoritarianism. We rebuild. We protest. We open our doors for new dialogues with our neighbors. We foster communities of care, consciousness, culture and creativity. And although the challenges we face in the present and the future requires clever and careful navigation and application of all available skill faculties; together we have a chance to make a difference in being an active participant of bolstering our own neighborhood communities with a localized focus that is mindful of the world we collectively inhabit.

Today we move our focus to the educational DIY institution Brooklyn Drum Collective who are readying the release of a live performance from July, 19 2019 that features the talents of True Dreams, Catty, Bizarre Sharks and Powersnap. It revels in the world of what punk-y innovative amplified aesthetics were in the summer before the world shut down and all but collapsed on itself. Brooklyn Drum Collective Presents… Live at Our Wicked Lady will rekindle the reasons why you miss live shows, venues (both clandestine and legit), the experience of observing art created on stage by the respective author(s), the communal engagement and the list goes on. And as we long for the shows to go on once again when our world returns safely; we look to the principle blueprints and artistic foundations and elaborate from there.

Featured off Live at Our Wicked Lady, we present the debut of True Dreams performing the mortality and amour mixing “Die”. The duo of guitarist Angela Carlucci, percussionist Hannah Nichols both share vocal duties and sport schoolyard garb like the long lost descendants of Angus Young. "Die” goes gleefully for the jugular, entertaining the barely fathomable concept of post-death experiences that are spliced with the heart hymn emotions of a love song on the verge of a swooning break down. True Dreams cast the emotive tenets of being in the throes of love along with the components of the macabre and pseudo-morose into the high voltage cables connected to Ampegs. The live video captured by Carlo Minchillo, edited by Manny Nomikos with audio courtesy of Rich Crescenti, Jeff Berner and Sam Gelernter showcase True Dreams bringing together an economy of chords and clamor that instills a hope for the future of DIY communities.

The duo shared the following preface/prologue intro reflecting on the inspirations of "Die":

TW: death, suicide. 

The ideas for our song "Die" were based off of some of the big, scary existential feelings I have surrounding death. Not so much my own, but the grappling feelings of being alive while others are not anymore. It is the worst pain to lose people who are important to you and to try and wrap your mind around the fact that they aren't here physically anymore is... wow... really hard!

The bridge takes a bit of a lighter tone, it's about having a really gigantic crush on someone... I think while I was having these darker thoughts and questions about life, I was also experiencing the beginning of love-feelings...which feel like the exact opposite—there's nothing that can make someone feel more on top of the world than love.

*I feel the need to say this, because the lyrics are heavy, and because lyrics are always up to interpretation, which is one of the reasons why I love listening to music!

Depression and suicide are serious. They leave terrible holes in this world that rattle and echo on forever. Remember that YOU are always loved, and someone is ALWAYS there to help and listen.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

Brooklyn Drum Collective Presents​.​.​. Live at Our Wicked Lady will be available October 16.