Daydream believers

The members of 7th Source are truly living out a dream. The band evolved from a dream that lead singer/guitarist Rollin Smith had, which he interprets as meaning that he should play music."There were all these people holding up signs,” Smith says, describing his dream. “All the signs said ‘1st Source,’ or ‘2nd Source.’ They all had different directions. The seventh one said [to] pursue this music thing.

“I guess it means follow your dreams, and don’t let anyone get in the way.”

Smith, who has been in several local bands, teamed up once again with drummer Tony Cassidy, a former band mate in Dark Intent. After their first bassist didn’t work out, Cassidy and Smith brought in Jimmie Jones about three months ago to man the low end.

The members of 7th Source say they try to keep some of that dreamlike feel in each of their songs.

“Every song written has an ethereal-type feel to them,” Jones said. “Somewhere between Godsmack and Stain’d.”

Introspective lyrics are also part of the band’s repertoire. They say they try to write from the perspective of a person’s inner feelings on different events or periods of time in a person’s life.

“More or less what the brain’s thinking when it happens,” Cassidy says.

The band says it is important to them that their lyrics make the audience think.

“Going out there, you see how music can affect people,” Cassidy said.

“If you have something important to say in your song, you’d like to get their attention,” Smith says. “We’re more than just a jukebox.”

Leaving a lasting impression is also one of the band’s goals.

“You want people to say weeks later, ‘Hey, remember 7th Source?’ “ Jones says.

Despite the heavy nature of the lyrics and sound, 7th Source doesn’t trap itself in its own image. While listening to a few songs off of the band’s upcoming CD, the band members messed around playing air guitar and performing short, over-the-top lip syncs. The band members say they give a pretty energetic rock show, too.

“It’s a pretty straight rock show,” Jones says. “Tony looks like Spider-Man back there. Rollin and I have fun jumping around.”

“It’s pretty positive,” Cassidy says.

“And we haven’t ever been booed,” Jones says, laughing.

The fact that the band members still have fun listening to their own music is somewhat surprising considering what the band just went through to record it. After a 16-hour drive to Palm Springs, Calif., 7th Source immediately went to work recording the band’s new album, Of Nightmares and Daydreams. They spent the next week going to sleep about 5 a.m. and waking up at 9 a.m. The waking hours were spent almost entirely in the studio. Then they got to turn around and drive back to Reno. When interviewed last Thursday, the band members were still recovering from their weeklong trek in the California desert.

“We crammed about 80 hours of work into six days,” Jones says.

The band had originally intended to record just three songs, which probably would have made the trip easier, but they ended up with eight songs ready for the album.

It just goes to show, even when living out a dream, things aren’t always easy.