There are artists who blur genres. And then there are artists who treat genres like raw material. Dreaming While Awake falls into the second category.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he crafts a sound at the crossroads of jazz fusion, electronic music, and funk, where danceable drum rhythms blend seamlessly with jazz-tinged harmonies. Funky bass lines intertwine with shimmering synth textures, while pop sensibilities surface beneath the complexity. The result is both infectious and harmonically curious, structured yet spontaneous.
Behind that fluidity lies relentless discipline. The spontaneity you hear is forged in the early morning, late at night, and through a pace that demands constant momentum.
You can listen to Dreaming While Awake here:
🎧 Spotify | 🍎 Apple Music | ▶️ YouTube | 🎶 SoundCloud
I wanted to learn more about the person behind the music, so I asked him a few questions.
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it before?
A mixture of jazz fusion, electronica, and funk. I’ve been told my music sounds like a combination of jazz fusion and electro house – sprinkled with some pop. I try not to get stuck in a genre. I program drums that follow a sort of dance beat, I play a lot of jazz-like chords and melodic lines that are also funky.
What instrument(s) do you play?
Keyboard synthesizer, electric bass, drums, vocals. I’m a professional bass player that plays in 7 bands here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
What track or project are you most proud of and why?
Hard to answer this, the answer changes every week. “Work Hard” is a recent piece I’m very proud of because it embodies my real life of working very hard: 50 hours a week at a corporate job and playing 5-6 rehearsals a week, usually starting my day around 7 am and getting home at 11 at night. I go to open mics and jams every week in addition to rehearsals. I don’t have much of a social life. I live for the music.
Which artists or genres have had the biggest influence on your sound?
Weather Report, Jimmy Smith, Ron Carter, Grateful Dead, Ghost, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Danzig, N.W.A, Tangerine Dream, The Clark Sisters, Joe Pass, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Chick Corea, Carlos Santana, Los Tigres del Norte.
Was there a defining moment that made you say, “I want to make music”?
When I was 5-6 years old, I remember seeing a band at a Christmas party. I don’t remember what genre or where it was, but it planted the seed for me. It was a very deep memory. My music teachers in high school were highly influential on my life – Tom Lilienthal and Mark Peabody from the San Rafael High School music program in Northern California.
Do you have a ritual or habit that helps you get into a creative zone?
Waking up early. Having a cup of coffee. Playing with a drum beat. Getting on the keyboard synthesizer and thinking about jazz grooves and jazz lines which flow nicely. Playing with polyrhythms and trying to come up with patterns that make sense or sound good, building on that. Really making sure I am not distracted. Blocking off my entire morning. I can only do this one day a week. The rest of the week I work on social media and artwork.
What’s something surprising people don’t usually know about you as an artist?
I am also a programmer and game designer. I work in technical sales and I am a practicing Nichiren Buddhist.
Do you have any surprising musical tastes outside your main genre?
Many styles of Latin music, Rai music (Cheb Mami), Persian music (Black Cats, Susan Rochan, Andy), cabaret, showtunes, jazz standards, musicals, classical and opera.
How do you handle creative blocks?
Try to get inspired by taking in new scenery or new experiences. Going to see shows, getting out in nature, travelling all helps me with my creativity. To create one must take in.
Describe your music in three words that aren’t music-related.
Spontaneous. Colorful. Charged.
What strikes me most about Dreaming While Awake is not just the genre fusion. It’s the stamina and the commitment: fifty-hour work weeks, rehearsals, open mics, seven bands and early mornings dedicated to groove experiments.
And yet, the music he describes is spontaneous and colorful. That paradox is beautiful. Discipline creating freedom. Structure enabling improvisation.
Some artists chase balance. Others accept intensity as the price of expression. Dreaming While Awake seems to have chosen the latter, and built a sonic universe out of it.
Thank you, Dreaming While Awake, for sharing your journey and your creative world with such openness.
Follow Dreaming While Awake on Instagram here.
— Spacey Panda
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