Patrick O’Heffernan
(Los Angeles) Dree Mon has a unique talent for making people feel good with her videos and her music. She is kinda’ funky, kinda’ rocky, kinda’ silly, and kinda’ really incisive – and always a lot of fun. She has been called the sardonic valley-girl love-child of David Bowie and Wonder Woman, which does not mean that she isn’t a prolific talent. That she most certainly is. In addition to racking up a shelf full of awards, her debut song Rebel Soul will be in the upcoming Netflix film “High Strung: Free Dance”, plus she also has songs in the TV shows Parenthood and White Collar, as well and films and web series. Her new single No Chill, was just released. Not a bad record for a woman whose career in music was an accident – literally, in a car. We were lucky enough to snag her for a quick interview as she dropped the new single.
Patrick: Dree Mon. Is your name an intentional play on words – dream on, like you want what — dream on buddy?
Dree: There is a little bit of a dual meeting. People say dream on all the time…there are naysayers all the time. My name is Dree and my last name is Patterson so for this project I wanted to come up with something new that represented my new music and my new sound that I was migrating into. Dree Mon came to me while I was brainstorming. I had looked at 200 choices. I wanted to encourage people to go for it – whatever they wanted to do.
Patrick: It is emblematic of what you do – clever, funny, thoughtful, fun
Dree: I want to make people think, but we have to have fun. I felt like in my music videos, it would be a respite from the crazy things going on the world. It makes people feel good. As far as generating thinking, each video is kind of related to a piece of my reality – art imitating life, imitating art, imitating, etc. so other people can relate.
Patrick: Your song “Rebel Soul” came out in November and created quite and impression , The lyrics in the first verse especially: I wanna spin out across the earth/I wanna shake my ass until my body hurts – Break the clocks, throw time away /Are you gonna come with, for the rest of the day ?
You paired those words with a funky bass line and created video that is an anthem against soul-killing jobs.
Dree: I feel like there is always someone in a group who is rebellious – that was me as a teen. I never wanted to do what I was told to do. When had a chance I would play hooky or get people to go the museum or to a concert instead of work. The for that song video is me trying to gather my co-workers and have a dance party. That is symbolic of taking a break from mundanity – of being a rebel out there.
Patrick: The video is really well done. Were you involved in the choreography?
Dree: Yes, I started as a dancer and began working with dance studios in school. But I ended up getting hit by a car walking across the street. It put me out of dancing for almost a year, and during that time I discovered my love for songwriting. I did eventually get back to dancing. I didn’t know anything about songwriting, I just had this raw desire to do it.
Patrick: Your new single “No Chill”, is now out. It is totally different from Rebel Soul”, but it is unmistakably your sound. I love the lines: Namaste, gonna shake my gin up with that green juice/And a splash of vermouth, There are a lot of moving parts to that song. Was it difficult to put together?
Dree: Yes, absolutely. It’s funny because it is a little bit of a stinker. Art is so subjective. I wanted to make something about having no chill – the essence of my life because I am kind of a worry wart. The concept came from that so I wanted to talk about all the things people do to relax. It is about finding you’re your way to relax. Writing songs is a happy place for me – I love letting go and working in that creative space. I wrote this song lyrically with Laura Leigh, and amazing writer, to a track created by Kent Murphy who shared the co-writing with us. We just talked about and it just kind of spilled out.
Patrick: How do you describe the Dree Mon sound?
Dree: Funky, vocal, attitude, fast with a little vibrato. With melody. To me that is really where I shine…I love melodies and from being a dancer, the rhythm which all ties it together.
Patrick: How much of your live shows are electronic?
Dree: I do all different kind of things. I play solo and full band. With the band shows it is completely organic.
Patrick: What now for Dree Mon?
Dree: I have done all kinds of different things – sung in a British voice, in a rock voice, for TV and commercials. I have lots of voices – not in my head, just in my voice. We shall see what’s next. For now. people can get “Rebel Soul” and “No Chill” at any digital store they prefer iTunes or Amazon or whatever. Look me up at Dree Mon.
Patrick O’Heffernan. Host, Music FridayLive!, Co-Host MúsicaFusionLA
Dree Mon. https://www.dreemonmusic.com/home
Rebel Soul and No Chill are available on all digital platforms and YouTube
4/5
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