From the Spring issue of Mississauga’s magazine, Modern Mississauga

In conversation with Chris Hummel, lead singer and guitarist for the internationally renowned The Dreamboats.
They’re performing at the Mississauga’s premier performance venue The Living Arts Centre on Friday, April 29th - click here to be a part of the excellent experience.

1. You're playing a hometown show at the Living Arts Centre on April 29th and after such a tumultuous time with the pandemic, what are your feelings and emotions leading up to it?

Tons of mixed emotions leading up to this gig! Surreal being one of many. The pandemic has pushed so many of our shows back multiple times to the point where we were asking ourselves would they even happen? The fact that this is happening in a couple months is still hard to wrap our heads around. Anxious would be another feeling related to this show. It’s definitely one, if not thee biggest ticketed event we’ve promoted thus far. It’s been a very long time since we’ve performed a public show in Mississauga. Performing in front of our hometown crowd is not only the biggest honour, but a way to set the bar high for ourselves on delivering the best show experience we can give. We are proud of ourselves to hit this milestone, and appreciate all the love and support we’ve received along the way in our city. We owe this to our fans. 

2. How has the band stayed motivated through the 2+year pandemic?

The motivation has been the idea of sink or swim. A lot of our peers were going through the troubles of this pandemic alongside us. Some survived, and some didn’t. The thought of losing what we worked so hard for leading up to this point just wasn’t in the cards for us. When you love some thing as much as we love this band, you fight for it till there’s nothing left. The pandemic almost had us tap out at times, but we stayed motivated through writing and recording, talking about the future no matter how difficult it seemed, working in the stage show, and convincing ourselves that everything was going to be OK if we kept working through it, and I’m glad we did. 

3. What was it like playing in Palm Springs earlier this year after such a long absence of performing?

Our first show in Palm Springs since the pandemic was back in November 2021. 
It was such an amazing feeling getting to perform to bigger crowds during the pandemic because of the outdoor regulations allowing us to do so. It definitely spawned the idea to make the move as our regulations back home were questioned constantly. Playing Palm Springs gave us a feeling of momentum once again, something we haven’t felt for a couple years now. 

4. What’s the band’s outlook for the balance of 2022?
Our goal right now is to connect with as many bookers and event planners as possible to keep the calendar full while we plant our roots here in California. We have a few obligations back in Ontario that we are flying back and forth to until mid June 2022. After that point, we are making the effort to stay down here indefinitely. 

5. The band has been in place for several years - how have you managed to stay together and what’s the most important piece of glue that holds this band together?
Johnny and I have started The Dreamboats back in 2009. Since then there’s been a few inceptions of the band. The fact that we have attracted some of the best players that we know to join us along this journey, has definitely helped us stay motivated to keep this ship afloat. We have so much support from friends and family that we almost feel we’d be letting people down if we didn’t hold his band together. Chemistry and respect for one another has also been big reason on why this band will continue in a successful direction. Without it, I view the show as just 4 musicians making noise on stage, and we would lose what our fans have grown to love about us. 

6. What are you grateful for as a band?
Sometimes in mid conversation we stop and have to smile at each other when we realize how fortunate we are in this moment. To be able to travel, play and be creative because of this band. I’m grateful that we survived this pandemic. We are out here in this new chapter of our lives working on being the best versions of people and performers that we were meant to be. This band has been the catalyst to pursuing our dreams, all while being supported by our fans, friends and families along the way. 
We are enjoying the moment and grateful for every new experience. 

7. Is writing, performing or both on the priority list for the next 1-2 years?
Both are equally as important to us for the long term of this band. We developed a reputation as a live performing act but feel we have a lot to contribute on the creative side of things as well. It has been a tricky balance for us in the last as we know a lot of our income has come from performing making recording take a back seat at times.We have new team members that are savvy with video and audio production, we are looking forward to releasing tons of more content as well as really beefing us the show aspect of our live performance. We’ve been expanding our network by working with songwriters, producers, choreographers, and bookers. All in hopes of filling the calendar with more opportunities that allow the world to see what we’re all about. The past two years has allowed us to realize we are stronger than ever, we’re ready to rock! 

thedreamboatsbsand.com