Jeromes Dream

History

Jeromes Dream began on September 13, 1997 after a short jam session between bassist Jeff Smith, guitarist Nick Antonopulous, and drummer Erik Ratensperger that was held in the basement of Antonopulus' mother's house. According to Erik Ratensperger, their first recorded material was intended to be used for a demo release, however it caught the attention of Rice Control Records, resulting in the intended demo material being released as a split album with Amalgamation.

Most of the band's music was released as splits with other artists, including other notable screamo acts such as Usurp Synapse. Their most well known split release would be their split with Orchid, a 10" record shaped of a skull, which is sought after by both collecters and fans alike, and is considered as definitive text for the genre. They toured the United States frequently, and their first proper full-length album, titled Seeing Means More Than Safety, was released in January 2000.

Their second full-length, Presents, was released on July 9, 2001, which featured a significant change in sound for the band. They would eventually break up in August that same year. Jeff Smith would later begin a career in experimental drone music by creating the band The Wind-Up Bird with Joseph Grimm. Erik Ratensperger eventually became the drummer for The Virgins, a dance punk band from New York.

Along with artists such as Orchid and Pg. 99, they are considered as one of the most influential bands of the late 1990s screamo movement. Their music has influenced many bands, such as Brighter Arrows.

In mid-2016 a person representing the band (believed to be Ratensperger) posted a previously unreleased video on the new official Jeromes Dream youtube page.

Style and live performances

The band had a unique style that set them out from other bands of their type from the time. Vocalist and bassist Jeff Smith would scream from the top of his lungs during live performances without the use of a microphone. During live shows, both Smith and Antonopulous would perform with their backs facing the audience. They always performed on the floor, and would refuse to play on stage.

Their music has been categorized as screamo, emoviolence, grindcore, spazz rock, noise rock, and math rock in the past. When asked about what genre they sounded like, Ratensperger described them as "just a hardcore band". Their first full length, Seeing Means More Than Safety, was very violent and destructive musically, and included many noise interludes composed of guitar feedback and radio samples. Their second full length, Presents, however, was much more angular musically. The vocal style also changed dramatically, having "a more traditional hardcore-shout kind of approach", as described in a review. Rumors involving vocal chord damage from relentless screaming begun to circulate, however the band has denied them in the past.

Band members