- Words Liam Cattermole
The DC club polymath discusses his new project, MOLLY’S SON, familial bonds and learning from Theo Parrish.
“My apologies, man. I definitely had a night last night,” says dreamcastmoe the morning after the Superbowl, a cough tickling the back of his throat. It was always an ambitious feat getting the Washington DC native up before noon after such a momentous moment on the American calendar. “I think more people in music need to talk about their passions with sports. It’s like taboo; we don’t want to bring the two worlds together. But I’m very much living in both worlds, you know?”
dreamcastmoe, AKA Davon Bryant-Mason, answers my call in the comfort of his living room, chilling in a home studio where he’ll be making music straight after our conversation. We’re here to talk about MOLLY’S SON: the six-track EP he released today that takes inspiration from a poem written by his mother. Across 27 minutes that charismatically cruise through sounds adjacent to DC’s kinetic clubland, the 30-year-old seeks to amend familial bonds, acknowledging his imperfections and the verity that they’ll get better with time.
Harnessed by dissonant textures and dreamcastmoe’s octave-jumping vocals, the project evokes shimmery rave futurism that fails to fall under one umbrella genre. ‘ON THE BEACH’, released as a single last month, was made in 2017, when the songwriter visited a close friend and collaborator, Benedict. Inspired by the gentle breeze and hazy evenings of Santa Monica living, they penned the warped house hops, purring basslines and glitter-like melodies not knowing that it would formulate the backbone of an EP released seven years later.
Like that waft of history that hits you when you walk into a second-hand record shop, there’s something inherently vintage about MOLLY’S SON. And still, he revamps the more traditional elements around his unique tones, elasticising intricate storytelling in the process. ‘HAND DOWN, MAN DOWN’ is certainly a highlight, as he reminisces about those underappreciated moments of joy over some Marvin Gaye-Esque funkadelia. It’s an incredibly visceral track ready for whenever the weather turns to sunnier months.
Five minutes into our interview, dreamcastmoe is interrupted by a phone call: “Sorry, I gotta take this”. Fittingly, it’s from his mum. “We still talk to each other every day,” he smiles. We go on to talk about their relationship, how it inspired MOLLY’S SON and the bustling creative community coming out of DC.
Your new project, MOLLY’S SON, was prompted by a poem written by your mother. What was it about this poem that had such a profound impact on you?
My mother and I have such a unique relationship; it took time for her to share the poem with me. Everyone’s situation in their household is different. To hear what she was dealing with was a lot. I’ll say it had a profound impact on me. We all have different interactions with our parents. Our relationship was tried and tested because she was a single mum; it was like a friendship. She was in her mid-20s and she was figuring some things out while I was figuring out how to grow up.
What is your first musical memory of her? Did she have an impact on your music tastes growing up?
The earliest memories that I have of my mum and music involve this huge stereo with 200 CDs and tapes. That was her thing; she loved to get CDs and tapes. She was also the first person to take me to church. I fell in love with the music being played there. On Sundays when she was cleaning, she’d play her music loud; the music would wake me up, for real.
The EP emerged from a desire to explore your identity as you turn 30 years old. What was your proudest moment and the biggest lesson you learnt while making it?
My interaction with others has been moulded through working out my relationship with my mother. I was able to be a better friend, I had struggled in relationships because I struggled in the relationship with my mum. That has gotten better with time, getting older and mending certain bonds allowed me to be a better and more present person. MOLLY’S SON is just acknowledging that we’re not perfect and that we get better with time.
The EP sonically is rooted in Washington DC’s club music scene. How do you feel about the State’s club culture at the moment? Is there anything going on that excites you?
I think the generation of kids coming up is so quick to want to ask a question, which is something that people my age and a little bit older didn’t do. Gen Z don’t mind not knowing. The issue that I had growing up was that I always felt like nobody wanted to show me anything. The OGs would rather see you struggle than for you to figure stuff out. If I were to run up to a DJ, I would geek out, I’d be like, ‘Yo, this is a dope record’, but you would get ignored sometimes. The kids now yearn to learn more and I think that’s gonna make a huge difference.
It’s nice that you can be a facilitator for that, as someone who’s been on the receiving end of gatekeeping. That’s a powerful thing in itself…
Honestly, that’s what I’m trying my best to do. A lot of times it’s easy to just leave and lock in what you want to do but if I really give it my all, and try to bring my folks with me I think it’s the most effective way [to create].
The singles, as with all your work, are getting great reception over here in the UK. Sherelle had you on a recent radio show. Why do you think we resonate with your music over here?
In the States, everyone yearns to be 20 years ahead of time, but honestly, a lot of the music happening now, like the raw musicality that’s in jazz and R&B, is happening in London. It is happening in a lot of other places too and it is happening here in the States, but there’s a lot of great musical talent in London.
‘ON THE BEACH’ is a groovy house jam and a great single from the project. It feels quite Theo Parrish-like at points. What were your influences on this track specifically?
I made the song in 2017. I’ve been sitting on it for a long time. I made it on one of my first trips as an adult to LA. You can hear it even in the cadence and the vocals; I was just having a really good time. I was actually staying with Benedict, whom I worked on the song with. He was living near Santa Monica, near the beach. I had never felt like I could get up and just walk to water like that. It just fits this project so well. The song has an innate bounce. It’s not trying to be house, but there’s still motion and movement to it. I think that’s what makes it work.
That’s what I think I mean by the Theo Parrish element…
100% right. It doesn’t have to be four-to-the-floor to make you move. That’s something that I want people to understand. You can quote me on this when I say that Theo in interviews will say, ‘I don’t want to hear your music, I don’t want to hear you DJ unless you’re telling a story.’ I think more artists and producers need moments like that. I took that to heart. People like him came and laid the pavement for us. He’s not trying to hear a song that he’s heard a million times before.
You kicked off your Boiler Room set with ‘L Foot, Right’, which is one of my favourite tracks of yours. I feel like it’s a song everyone can relate to at some point in their lives, not having a lot of money but still trying to satisfy their urges to let loose on the dancefloor. What was happening in your life at the time when recording this song?
Just that! I mean, I made it during the pandemic. There was a lot of shit going on, there was a lot of new feelings, in terms of like, ‘Damn am I gonna be able to do this again? I don’t care about money. Let me just have a good time because I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do this again.’ It was about me putting that energy into the world but it took on a life of its own. I have to be prepared for that and that’s dope.
Who are some up-and-coming DJs and producers from Washington DC that we should be keeping an eye on in 2024?
Check out Black Moses, who’s a producer from the area and works with a lot of artists coming up, including myself. Ruqqiyah is an amazing singer from the area. I think everyone should listen to her. I’m trying to get her on things that I’m working on.
And what’s next for dreamcastmoe? Beyond this EP, can we expect any new music or some shows over here in the UK?
I’m doing Dimensions in Croatia this August, so I’m hoping to try and line up around that. I’m also working on a project called PHLOTE, which aims to give space and create a network for independent artists who want to work together, with a focus on producers and DJs and just amplify what they’re doing.
Do you think that’s been missing in Washington, having a place where people can try and find collaborators?
I think so. Major markets like LA and New York have that; It can be a bit clicky when you travel around. What we’re trying to do with PHLOTE essentially is to create a space where people can come and work and it’s not abnormal to meet someone new and work on a song with them on the same day. We do new sessions every Wednesday. A lot of good music has come out of that room.