Bodega Dream

Life and death loom large on Bodega Dream's appropriately titled 2nd EP, EP 2. The band balances indie rock and hip-hop with depth and passion over 4 tracks. Opening with the struggle against hopelessness anthem of “Polaroids,” frontman Darion Ray Kelley jumps back and forth between frustration and a repeated refrain to “hold on, hold on.” That frustration curdles into exhaustion on “New York Times.”
The apocalypse is coming, “The New York Times said the raging fire will get us all,” but Kelley keeps his “eyes toward the wall.” By “The Murder,” Kelley and company find sympathy with a man facing execution for a murder he may or not have committed. On the powerful closing track “Don't Shoot,” the trial of the previous track is conspicuously missing. “Guilty without a trial...just because of race.” The explosive song focuses the band's frequent obsession with space and mood into an all out call to action.

The band explains that the song “talks about our racially biased justice system. How it feels to walk down the streets of New York and be judge and sometimes sentenced before we've had the opportunity to open our mouths. These days everyone seems to be in mourning over the election and it's because of the fear the system has installed on us. We're scared of the politicians, the media, rural areas, sometimes even our neighbors. The media wants the world to believe BLM is a terrorist group, that Donald Trump's victory isn't their fault, and we should lay silently like sheep and see how it all plays out. In the end we all just end up screaming Don't Shoot. I send this with all the love we have to share because right now that's what the world needs. It's what I need and I'm sure you need.”

By Nathan Leigh, AFROPUNK Contributor - Afro Punk

Track number 17 on the Afropunk mixtape #24 titled "In the Face of Evil" - Afropunk

Track #1 on the mixtape

On November 11th, Bodega Dream released a new EP, EP 2. We had a listen of the first single off the album, “The Murder,” and we’ve been loving it! EP 2 is out now on iTunes/Apple Music and Spotify, so be sure to give it a listen. - Chic Pea

Releasing their second project today, Bodega Dream are a four-piece indie band rehashing the genre for a new tomorrow. Rooted in Miami and based in Brooklyn, Bodega Dream explore and expand upon their sound with the four-track EP2, comprising hip-hop influenced lyricism with rock and jam flavors that breathe life into unique music that defies single-genre description. A must-hear project for live music fans anywhere, but especially those tapped into the NYC scene.

Bodega Dream are celebrating the release of EP2 on November 30th at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Tickets are available here. If you’d like a pass to attend as a member of the media, we’d love to have you! You can reach out for that right here.

STREAM ON SPOTIFY - R n B Rhythms

Brooklyn’s Bodega Dream chatted with us about “The Murder” and their creative background.

Hey guys! Give our readers a little background on you all and your sound.

Darion and I (Sergio) started making music together in Miami. I was just starting to scratch the surface of looping multiple instruments to create beats and Darion would come by and start rapping and singing over them. Eventually we started writing songs based around short stories that we would create. That’s where Chronic City, our first EP, came from. We created characters that would reflect our surroundings. We played shows with me constructing the beats live playing guitar, loopers, a computer, and some keys, and Darion would layer soulful tones on top and deliver these aggressive rap verses that showed his rock influences. We decided that we had to expand on that idea and explore those elements. We started working with Fernando and Craig to help bring out a more intense, complex, and funkier rhythm section. It’s the sweat and blood that goes into writing and recording that makes a song. It’s something you can’t get from an 808.

What themes are you usually drawn to when writing lyrics? How does that influence the rest of your sound?

We love the idea of telling stories. Whether that’s in certain melodies that interact with one another or verses that reflect different characters in the same neighborhood. That’s one thing that’s always been a prevalent theme in our music, lyrically and musically. Our neighborhoods and backgrounds have always been our main inspirations. We have a track titled “Don’t Shoot”, in which Darion is rapping about our racially biased justice system. On another, he’s asking us to let go of the past by throwing away our Polaroid pictures. “The Murder” tells a story of a guy wrongfully accused of burning down a village (neighborhood), due to the past that he has, and how the majority blindly follows. We’re both from areas that are predominately hip-hop influenced. I’m from the South Bronx and Darion’s from Overtown, Florida. A lot of the lyrical themes that attract us are the things influenced from our upbringings. So we have this hip-hop culture coming from both sides, but then there are all those other aspects have changed us throughout the years. The weird high school goth stage to our current punk trap craze. And although Fernando loves A Tribe Called Quest, he’ll most definitely have a bareknuckle fight for a rare meshuggah CD. Craig lives in the lush sounds influenced by Radiohead and The National. We don’t want to hyper focus on whether we want to make straight hip-hop or straight rock and deny what makes our ears really tingle.

If you got the chance to re-score any movie with your own music, which one would you pick and why?

Life and Times in Cracktown, but only because we love Victor Vargas.

Follow Bodega Dream on Soundcloud, and grab their EP November 11th. - Saint Audio

Take a look at the latest video from Brooklyn band Bodega Dream - "Unraveling". The group - who describes themselves as "The Bastard Child of Tv on the Radio and Run the Jewels" - tell us:

"Although hip hop is the pulse and heart beat of our sound, we experiment with blending those elements with other genres such as indie rock or that weird RnB thing that Blood Orange does." 'Unraveling' appears on the group's new EP, 'Chronic City', of which they write: "It took us a year, two cities, several random jobs (all of which have been erased from our minds) and countless hours of screaming at a blank sheet of paper to create."

Members
Darion Ray Kelley - Vocalist
Sergio Edgardo Rivera - Guitar, computer, and keys
Craig Waugh - Bass and Guitar
Fernando Hoyos - Drums

Video by Frank Huang - Afro Punk

Track of the Month

"Chronic City" by Bodega Dream has been chosen by our listeners as Jamsterdam Radio's April track of the month. - Jamsterdam Radio

"Chronic City" by @BodegaDream has hit number 1 on Jamsterdam Radio! Tune in at 10am and midnight for the Top 10!! - Jay Hunt

I first heard about Bodega Dream through Dancing Tony aka The Mayor of Fun when we collaborated on a special Hip Hop does Groove on Grove night a few months ago. When they went on stage, I couldn’t do anything else but dance. They brought a huge smile on my face. I just loved their vibe. After Bodega Dream’s set, I introduced myself to Sergio and Darion and told them I would love to interview them for a post.

The issue is, they technically do not live in Jersey City and to be honest, up until a few months ago I’ve been pretty strict on only interviewing people who live or work here. That being said, lately I’ve been meeting some really talented people who perform here often, they hang out here regularly and support JC culture and small businesses! so why not? Rules are meant to be broken.

BodegaDream (18 of 18)

The guys came from Brooklyn to meet me in Van Vorst Park, we spent a wonderful afternoon together in one of the pretties parks in JC, and they even gave me my own private concert.

I am excited to also announce they will be performing at the Forever Young Festival this Saturday! You guys need to see them live!!

BodegaDream (9 of 18)

What are your names?

I am the vocalist; my name is Darion.

My name is Sergio; I play a bunch of things.

My name is Fernando, and I am the drummer.

And I am Craig; I play bass and guitar.

What is Bodega Dream?

Darion: We used to say experimental hip-hop for a while, but I think afro-punk fits us more.

Sergio: Yeah, it’s like blending our surroundings and taking those influences and using that hip-hop pulse as the foundation.

Fernando: We’re very influenced by where we live.

Craig: Nowadays, you have a sense of bands are exploring.

BodegaDream (1 of 18)

Right, it’s not like one genre anymore.

Craig: Like Kanye West, you’re not going to buy a Kanye West album and just expect hip hop. There’s industrial, there’s rock, there’s fucking reggae samples, it’s like a clusterfuck of things, and then you just give it out like, “Here’s our art.”

It’s true. How long have you guys been together?

Darion: A year and few months, but me and Sergio have been working since 2012.

Sergio: Yeah, we started writing together in 2012.

BodegaDream (4 of 18)

How did you guys meet?

Darion: We worked together in Miami.

Sergio: We were working at a café together, and I remember hearing Darion randomly singing shit. And then Craig—

Craig: They crashed at my house—they were there when I wasn’t there. And then he (Sergio) was going into places he shouldn’t have been. He stepped into my room, saw the instruments, and he was like, “Maybe you can be in a band. Do you want to be in a band?”

BodegaDream (2 of 18)

What about you?

Fernando: Any musicians’ last hope—Craigslist.

That’s hilarious.

Sergio: We had a spinal tap moment, and one of our drummers got deported, and Fernando came by, and he was like, “I’m ready guys.”

I feel a family vibe between you guys. You guys are all very different but on the same wavelength.

Fernando: We’ve only known each other for a year and some change. I feel like I’ve known these guys all my life.

Why “Bodega Dream?”

Darion: Bodega Dream comes from—

Sergio: Miguel Pinero, he’s a Puerto Rican poet.

Darion: And it’s a book, too. We were thinking of band names and then he threw the book at me and I was like, “That’s perfect.” It comes more from the poem than it does from the book, though.

BodegaDream (17 of 18)

I love it. It’s such a good name. So I saw you guys at Groove on Grove, but you’re technically not from Jersey City—what’s a Jersey City tie?

Fernando: I often come because I’m in another band. I’m always here; Jersey City is like a second home to me.

Do you guys have a favorite Jersey City hangout spot?

Fernando: All the time, Barcade, Lucky 7’s, the Lamp Post when it was over there.

Sergio: We’re not from here, but we want to move here.

A lot of people compare Jersey City to Williamsburg, how do you feel about that comparison?

Darion: Williamsburg is douchey.

I don’t like the reference because I think Jersey City is special in itself.

Fernando: I think Jersey City has a little bit of everything—culinary, music, art, it’s lovely. What I love about Jersey City is when you’re walking around, you find something interesting to look at, and it’s awesome. It’s my second home; I connect with the people.

BodegaDream (5 of 18)

You guys should move here. So what is your creative process?

Sergio: We start off as bare as possible. Usually, Darion comes in, and he’s like, “I have this one thing,” and we find it and we bring it to Fernando and Fernando is like, “Let me let it grow!” He’s watering the plants and then Craig comes in, and he’s like, “Don’t worry about it guys, get out of here,” and lays on the bass.

Fernando: I’ve been in other bands where it takes two days to create a chorus where this always felt natural coming up with these beats. I value that a lot and the connection here is awesome and makes me want to work hard.

Do you have any future plans?

Darion: We have an EP coming out in the fall, there’s going to be six songs on there. We’re going to put out a video for two of the songs.

Sergio: We’re going to try to release it by August with the video and the single. It’ll be the first time where it’s a full band because for our first EP me and Darian constructed all the beats and it was very electronic.

BodegaDream (14 of 18)

What are your musical influences?

Darion: I’m from the South, so I grew up listening to southern rappers like Lil’ Wayne. But then on the other spectrum, I love David Bowie, I love Prince, I grew up listening to Erykah Badu.

Sergio: For me, it’s very similar to Blood Orange and Prince, Radiohead, and Run the Jewels.

Fernando: I started out liking the rock from 2000. It just became repetitive, and I started branching out from that, and I started listening to the independent drummers like Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, and they’re more of like the jazz fusion. Now I’m into IDM, Intelligent Dance Music. The artists like Slow Magic, Lusine, Chvrches is along the lines, but they’re poppy too.

Craig: My first CDs were alternative rock CDs. Big bands were like Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Portishead. Now I like bands that mix it all together.

I like that there’s no genre anymore. How do people find you?

Sergio: You can google us.

Darian: We mainly use our Facebook if you guys want to contact us. - Chick Pea

Brooklyn's Bodega Dream captured the crown for Jamsterdam's track of the month for April with their track titled "Chronic City". Jamsterdam had a chance to touch base with the indie rock hip hoppers to chat about their beginnings, the process and unique inspirations.
JR: Tell our listeners a little about Bodega Dream. Where and how did you guys start up?

BD: We started writing music together in Miami. The project was initially supposed to be a straightforward conscience Hip Hop group, but slowly transitioned into a lot more musical experimentations (playing around with different genres and styles). Once we moved from Miami to Brooklyn most of our inspiration came from our new surroundings. We then decided to expand and include a full band into our sound.

JR: When googling Bodega Dream I find a book by Ernesto B. Quinonez. Are you guys named after a book based in Spanish Harlem?

BD: Yeah we are. It’s hard not to reference the book when we mention our name. The other source is from Miguel Pinero’s poem La Bodega Sold Dreams. We site the poem more often because it defines our sound and intent a little better than the book.


JR: Who would you compare your music to and who are your influences?
BD: We joke around saying all roads lead to Prince! Or when we are exhausted and feel as though we can’t continue on, someone also says, “Prince didn’t take a day off.” So obviously prince is a huge inspiration. Other influences would include TV On The Radio, The Mars Volta, Blood Orange, Bjork, Lil Wayne, OutKast, Danny Brown, and Chance the Rapper. But really I think we just sound like a bastard child of TV On The Radio and OutKast.

JR: "Chronic City" won Jamsterdam's track of the month for April. Where is Chronic City and whats the track about?

BD: Chronic City is greatly based off of Brooklyn, from the constant gentrification to the overwhelming negligence for the human condition. The Chorus “Ant Hills Piling Up”, are the new condos that are slowing eating away the cities identity. The Natives are left with rubble and that’s all they can afford and have to work with.

JR: Sounds very similar to our situation here in Toronto with "ant hills" piling up all over town. The city skyline grows along with commute times.

BD: Honestly, this can be said about most, if not all, metropolitan areas. However, even though these cities have their faults they’re like vampires and suck you in. So you want to leave, but you’re captivated and it becomes almost impossible.


JR: What is your songwriting process?
BD: We start all composition stripped down, either guitar and voice or piano and voice. Once we have the skeleton of the song fully developed we then move on to creating the proper atmosphere for the track. The songs generally go through 3 or 4 rewrites unless it gets discarded all together. Lyrically speaking we are undoubtedly influenced by the things we read, so we tend to write in a story format.

JR: What do you guys have planned for this year? Albums? Tracks?

BD: We will be releasing a video for Unraveling, the second single off our EP Chronic City, in the summer. We plan to write and record our first full length in the fall hopefully seeing a spring release date.


JR: You guys heading out on the road?
BD: We will be playing shows relentlessly in the North East area throughout the spring and summer. If all goes well, we might hit up Canada sometime this summer.

JR: Any Shout-outs?

BD: Shout-outs to Peanut, Jojo, Nathan, T’chan, Copán, Bandits on the run, Gelo, Nancy, TOBE FRESH, FOXY, Caballo Braun, The Arc, Robot Lipstick, Moms both sides 200%.

Bodega Dream topped the Jamsterdam charts back in April, listeners can tune in for the Jamsterdam Top 10 daily at 10am and midnight EST for the best new tunes they've never heard. - Jamsterdam Radio

Darion Kelley and Sergio Rivera may be on to something with their project Bodega Dream. Their recent EP entitled Chronic City is about ten minutes in length but showcases some potential.

They have been told that they sound like Chance the Rapper meets TV On The Radio. I’d say more TV On The Radio than Chance the Rapper. I would go as far as to say that they sound like Young Liars era TV On The Radio. They also infuse more hip-hop into their music and seem to take themselves a little less serious than TV On The Radio. In fact some of the music is downright playful in a good way.

The first “Gift For A Ghost (Intro)” revolves around intelligent rhymes, handclaps, piano and some low-end thunder. It surprised me how much they fit into the minute-long song and reminded me of something you might hear from Flying Lotus during one of his short cuts.

The TV On The Radio thing people have referred to happens in the first minute of “Unraveling.” It’s that dark, ominous atmosphere coupled with a driving beat they dig into. The songs get pretty wicked as they twist and contort synths. One of the guys sort of does this talk/rap thing towards the end of the song that works. Overall, “Unraveling” is a solid track and showcases some talent but the gold medal winner goes to “Chronic City.”

“Chronic City” features some straight up hip-hop and smacks you in the face with a number of different styles. It starts with a saloon-sounding playful rhyme that transitions into a dreamy atmosphere. The rhymes are full of metaphors as he talks about being covered in silver and forging material. It got as silly and unpredictable as the Eric Andre show at times but hell it's their god given right.

This appetizer of an EP leaves a lot of questions. Can the guys deliver a full-length album? Will they be able to file an adequate restraining order from the female fans? And when if ever will they achieve world domination?

My only issue with the EP is that the last two songs sound pretty different. Meld the styles effectively my friends and then you can sit back and let the money roll in. - The Equal Ground

Bodega Dream started in Miami between Wynwood and Overtown. Living between an emerging art district and a renowned ghetto is the foundation of their music. They relocated to New York and are currently playing shows. After a year of living in New York, they composed, arranged, and recorded the EP entitled Chronic City, released October 19, 2014 and is available on all major digital distributors.
The EP takes the band in a new direction. Merging Hip Hop beats and Indie Rock flare into every song while dashing out small glimpses of southern swag and soul. Chronic City is the backdrop to the bands experience in Brooklyn. Each song is a short story told through the voice of Darion Ray Kelley. - Underground Hip Hop

This past weekend I attended the Forever Young Festival in Jersey City, New Jersey to catch the Brooklyn based band “Bodega Dream.” I was more than pleased as their sound is quite pleasant to the ears. The glistening guitar (& keyboard) riffs, the bass sticking like glue, & the rolling drum fills kept my feet tapping & complimented the voice & stage presence of the lead singer, Darion Ray Kelley.

I happen to know the drummer, Fernando Hoyos, for awhile now & I must say he was always a good drummer (& extremely dedicated & passionate about music) since I’ve known him but he has dramatically improved over the years. The rest of the gang (Sergio Rivera on guitar/ keys & Craig Waugh (Bass/ Guitar) I had the pleasure of meeting at the festival and they were all very kind & easy going guys with a strong devotion to music as well. The members played around with some effects on both the vocals and guitars which added to the multi-dimensional feel. If I had to say anything else about the show… I feel they belong on a bigger stage with more powerful equipment (no offense to the festival- it was lovely.. sounded great & had great vendors & etc) but this is what I picture. When they first started they were actually too powerful for the sound equipment and blew out the power but luckily the sound guy got everything rolling again quickly.

The music is danceable yet it kind of takes you somewhere else.. on a cloud perhaps.. but this cloud is striking lightning (hence the title of the article). I really enjoyed their performance and I look forward to seeing what else they will do.

They have just finished up recording an EP & will be releasing the new songs in the upcoming months… so be on the lookout!!! - Patoirlove

Whoever started that rumor that New Yorkers aren’t friendly is full of it. The people here rock!!

Through a casual conversation I was having with a vendor I met at Atlantic Antic, I was able to discover some new music. This guy was so enthusiastic about the band, that I felt compelled to find them online when I got home. He was right. They’re pretty dope.

What I like most about this music is that it just FEELS very authentically their own. Their own sound. Their own message. Their own genre, even.

They describe their sound as one that “merges Hip Hop beats and Indie Rock flare into every song while dashing out small glimpses of southern swag and soul.” With each listen, I can hear each of these different influences more and more.

Usually when I find some new music that I like, there’s one song that just ends up on repeat. In this case, that song is “Tom Waits-Down in the hole”. Something about the way the song flows just makes me want to play it over and over. The instrumental starts off super chill, and then before long you’re nodding you head back and forth when the beat drops in.

Darion Kelley and Sergio Riveria are the men that make up Bodega Dream. Their EP, Chronic City, is available for purchase on iTunes. Check them out at their website Bodega Dream and on Facebook. - Burrow Through Brooklyn

Bodega Dream fuses psychedelic indie rock and old school hiphop on their politically charged single, “Polaroids”. The Brooklyn-based quartet originally from Miami contains some rather talented players. Darion Ray Kelley spits the pensive lyrics with a slightly aggressive air that reflects the current societal malaise many of us feel while the supporting musicality is vibrantly yet subtlety layered to draw the listener deep within. “Polaroids” is the second single from the band’s sophomore effort, EP 2. Give the new single by Bodega Dream a listen below… - Yab Yum Music