Jeromes Dream
Jeromes Dream was a Connecticut post-hardcore/screamo band, active from 1997 to 2001. The band had a unique vocal style - singer Jeff Smith opted not to use a microphone while performing live, instead screaming unamplified at the top of his lungs. The band was known for playing very short sets, usually no longer than 10 minutes. According to Smith, they thought 10 minutes was all they needed to get their point across.
The band's second full length album, Presents, featured a drastic change in vocal style, abandoning the raw screams of their earlier work in favor of a talk-singing style filtered through an effects processor. This stylistic shift was rumored to a product of vocal cord damage sustained by their singer from the repeated strain of performing. However, Smith cites an anecdote in which while recording with Orchid his voice cut off and he passed out in the recording booth. Afterward, they changed their style overall.
After Jeromes Dream, Jeff Smith went on to play experimental drone music with Joseph Grimm as the Wind-Up Bird. Drummer Erik Ratensperger now plays drums in the band Best Inventions and runs NYC streetwear label Mishka.
Trivia
- The sample played in "The Sea of Tranquility" is from a video on how to cope with depression from the mid-1980s. Erik found it in the psychology library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- The sample played in "A Second Grade Art Project" is from a circa 1960s interview with Carl Jung in Texas.
Discography
- Jeromes Dream/Amalgamation, 7" [EP]
- Rice Control Records
- Released December, 1998.
- Availability: Out of Print - 300 on Blue Marble, 100 on Pink Marble, 100 on Black.
- Notable Characteristics: The Black version is actually a special repress on rice paper. The Blue and Pink versions had a cover with a photo glued onto it or a hand painted piece of cardboard with the band names.
- Jeromes Dream/July, 7" [EP]
- Hit the ground running Records.
- Released Spring, 1999.
- Availability: Out of Print - 500 on Black, available with green and brown sleeve.
- Jeromes Dream/Book of Dead Names, 5" [EP]
- Witching Hour Records
- Released September, 1999.
- Availability: Out of Print - 750 on Black, 112 on Red Marble.
- Seeing means more than safety, 10" [LP]
- Old Glory Records
- Released May, 2000.
- Availability: Out of Print - 1600 on Black, 400 on White.
- Jeromes Dream/Orchid, 10" Skull-Shaped Record [EP]
- Witching Hour Records
- Released May, 2000.
- Availability: Out of Print - 1000 with Black Ink, 1000 with Glow-in-the-dark Ink, 197 with Red Ink.
- Notable Characteristics: One sided 10" with both bands on one side. Jeromes Dreams' songs played from the inside-out, and vice-versa.
- Insert note for Red Pressing: "This little note is to let you know that you got a limited version...here's the info. We wanted to press 2000 of the split, but ended up with 2197 of them. So there are 1000 that are screened in just black ink, there are 1000 screened in two color, and 197 done one color in BLOOD RED ink! So this is my way to say thank you to everyone that was patient in waiting for this record. thanks Witching-Hour"
- Jeromes Dream/Usurp Synapse, 7" [EP]
- Clean Plate Records/Level Plane Records
- Release date: August, 2000.
- Availability: Out of Print - 1300 on White, 200 on Black, 20 Test Pressings on Black.
- Notable Characteristics: Some editions came with a Jeromes Dream tour button.
- V/A - Antipodes, 7" [EP]
- Featuring: The Assistant, Neil Perry, Hassan I Sabbah, Jeromes Dream, Usurp Synapse.
- Level Plane Records
- Release date: October, 2000.
- Availability: Out of Print - 200 on Red, 45 or 75 copies (conflicting info) have an alternate hand-screened cover, 25 Test Pressings on Black.
- Presents, CD [LP]
- Alone Records.
- Release date: 2000.
- Availability: Out of Print.
- Jeromes Dream/The One AM Radio, 7" [EP]
- Garbage Czar Records.
- Release Date: Winter, 2000.
- Availability: Out of Print.
- Completed 1997 - 2001 - Discography, CD [2-Set]
- Alone Records.
- Release Date: January, 2005.
- Availability: Can be ordered from many distros.
External Links and Sources