ABOUT US
Dome Dwellers is a neo-psychedelic math-rock-infused space-cult based out of Denton, TX; formed in the fall of 2012 by Michael J. Slack, David Gore, and Cullen Dean. Cutting their teeth early on house shows and local DIY festivals, Dome Dwellers quickly developed a devoted local following, and after years of unrelenting and bombastically unrivaled live shows, were able to grow that following throughout Texas and beyond.
Dubbed “Art Warriors” by THRWD Magazine, the music of Dome Dwellers takes listeners on a sonic space-ride spanning the musical spectrum; bouncing from melodically melancholic, to contagiously danceable, careening haphazardly between soulful and whimsical all in the course of a few songs. The band holds a kinship with rock bands of yore – holding the same angst-ridden, flowery, explosive, bleeding-heart, full-speed-ahead-into-the-sun energy of a band like Queen, while remaining sonically contemporary. The result is music that is powerful, confident, and even playful, but most importantly comes from a deeply genuine and heartfelt place.
With heavily-effected angular guitar, powerful melodic bass, punchy drums, versatile vocals and a collage of effect-tinged sounds, Dome Dwellers music doesn’t merely seek to fit in. Instead, they strive to carve out a space of its own while remaining within the tried-and-true structures of pop and rock music. Walking a fine line between experimentation and accessibility, the band has settled into a sweet spot. Dome Dwellers is “a rock ‘n’ roll band with a confident flair, a reaffirmation that the genre never died; it’s just evolved.” – Dallas Observer, 2015
Dome Dwellers has two previous releases, “Maybe I Should Have Some Pride” (2013) and “Ivory Tower” (2015), and has recorded multiple live video sessions. Three singles, “Way It Goes”, “When I Cave”, and “21 Days” (2021) have been added to the list ahead of the soon-to-be-released, full-length album, It’s Just Us.
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Current Lineup:
Michael J. Slack - guitar & vocals, David Gore - drums & percussion, Cullen Dean - bass, Matt McNabb - keyboards
“IT’S JUST US” - THE NEW ALBUM
It’s Just Us is Dome Dwellers’ new unreleased full-length album. It’s 9 songs in length with a total run time of 40 minutes and 59 seconds. All songs were written and performed by Dome Dwellers. It’s Just Us was recorded and mixed by Evan Kleinecke at 5th Street Studios in Austin, TX, and self-produced by Dome Dwellers. The album was mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters in Los Angeles, CA for Digital, CD, and MFiT, with the ability to master for vinyl at a future date. Cover art was created by the artist Yu Maeda, and the back cover and album insert was designed by band member Michael J. Slack. Additionally, looping animated videos were created using the album and single cover artwork by Michael.
AUDIO & VIDEO
ALBUM ART & DESIGN
FRONT COVER
BACK COVER
INSERT ART & LINER NOTES (formatted for vinyl)
ABOUT THE ALBUM
For Dome Dwellers, It’s Just Us was an exercise in reinvention – an opportunity to explore new creative frontiers. An album of firsts. Their first full-length album recorded in a proper studio. Their first album where recording and writing happened concurrently. Their first album where Dome Dwellers worked with professionals at every step. This album of firsts is best exemplified in the album cover painted by Yu Maeda.
The pulpy retro sci-fi inspired album artwork of It’s Just Us, with its giant Kaiju space monster is a mythologizing of very real struggles for the band. The two small astronauts on the bottom right next to the geodesic dome outpost are representative of bandmates, David and Michael, setting out to make an album as a two-piece but with sonic dreams of something much larger. The space monster at the center of the record is the unknown; the uncharted territory that lay ahead for them in making this record and the immense undertaking it would be.
Prior to entering the studio, Dome Dwellers went from a three piece band to a duo with only guitar, vocals, and drums. When they first entered 5th Street Studios in Austin, TX, those were the only parts written. They knew from day one that they wanted something more orchestrated and fully realized in the final product. Sam Chown, the Toronto > Austin > Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist and songwriter behind SHMU and other psych/experimental acts (Zorch, Vinyl Williams) had taken interest in the band and wanted to help Dome Dwellers take their next release to new sonic heights. Sam introduced the band to Evan Kleinecke, a long-trusted collaborator and recording/mixing engineer that had worked on many of Sam’s previous releases. David and Michael drove down to Austin over many long weekends and recorded the core components of their songs. What followed was a transformative period of collaborating with other musicians, experimental recording techniques, composing new parts, and reimagining what Dome Dwellers could be in the future.
Bass duties on the record were a shared effort split three ways. Cullen Dean, the band’s previous (and once again current) bassist appears on three songs. As the record was made, Adam Sewell was added to Dome Dwellers’ live band and recorded bass on another five tracks. The ninth and final song, “Wide Awake”, features the masterful fretless bass playing of friend and collaborator of the band, Alex Browne. Vocal harmonies, extra guitar, and synth accompaniment were meticulously composed by Michael at home and recorded in studio. Additionally, the band brought in Mad Whit (Sailor Poon, Whit) to sing harmonies on “When I Cave”, and Joel Coronado (SHMU, Pleasure Venom) to play flute on “Wide Awake”.
The resulting record is sonically rich and full of surprises. Parts can range from light and airy, playful and punchy to somber and contemplative. Massive dueling guitar leads are offset by delicate balladry all within the same track. Guitar tone varies wildly with effect-rich soundscapes fleshed out by meticulous accompaniment, all grounded by precise drum and bass. The unifying factor across a colorful and chaotic record is a strong adherence to vocal melody, hook, and groove. Progressive song structure is downplayed by a laid back vocal approach and catchy melody, resulting in casual effortlessness to songs that are difficult to perform.
“The eternal question has always been why -- Are we here, why are we even alive”, from the third track “Fragments of Infinity” could be an accurate album synopsis for an album that asks the big questions. Lyrical topics range from growing up in your 20’s, figuring out your priorities and values, finding your place in the world, personal growth, mental health, and dealing with the death of loved ones.
On the whole, the album It’s Just Us tells a story of how two friends set out to create an album together with a rough sketch of an idea of what that might be. The result is a fully realized creative endeavor that they can be proud of for many years to come.
THE SINGLES
During the Spring and Summer of 2021, Dome Dwellers released three singles off of It’s Just Us. “Way It Goes”, “When I Cave”, and “21 Days” brought Dome Dwellers back on the map, and generated a decent amount of buzz in the press both locally and across the internet. Additionally, “21 Days” was added to BIRP.fm’s July 2021 Playlist which gave the band an additional boost in the form of new fans and attention from PR agencies. The three singles have generated a total of over 26K streams and 16K unique listeners on Spotify since April 20th, 2021.
Below you can find links to those singles, looping animated single covers, and a selection of press they recieved.
21 DAYS
WHEN I CAVE
WAY IT GOES
SELECTED PRESS FOR THE SINGLES
“(21 Days) is mythic music, impossible and impressive. From there we dive into an interstellar jam from another dimension . . . At the core of the track is an alien riff on the guitar backed up with primordial and raw drums. The energy is kept at maximum and never dips below heroic . . Any ears familiar with math rock might be surprised when the crooning vocals emerge. Unexpected they may be but they quickly make themselves very welcome . . . The peaks are monstrous, the valleys are gorgeous vistas. Dome Dwellers are a band that will live in your head and heart for days after the first listen.”
“In April, Dome Dwellers broke their studio silence and released the first of a series of three singles beginning with “Way It Goes.” The song instantly showed a slightly new direction for the band. Gone was the distortion in favor of a polished atmosphere of spacey sounds. It was as if Dome Dwellers had finally replaced the needle on a worn-out record player and we were finally hearing them clearly.”
“Dome Dwellers is gleefully divergent, artfully weird and dreadfully cool. The track (Way It Goes) with it’s bending, sliding, picking guitars and potent swirling combinations of whiling and winding bass and fervent drumming feels confrontational and, well, computational in a way. The musicality offers shock and awe and the vocal aesthetic, indie, sort of experimental and broadly theatrical brings it all to a new level of, well, inspired sort of throw back 70’s proto punkery. ”
“Holy guitar magic Batman! The psychedelic indie masters in Dome Dwellers have truly outdone themselves with their latest opus, “When I Cave.” This track is almost like two different songs in one. The first half is a fairly catchy indie bop with an infectious hook, the latter half is a truly epic, fuzzed-out trip to another dimension; complete with dueling guitar and synth magic that pulls your ears into wondrous new sonic territory.”
“A vibe, that literally blew me away, I’m so so so crazy about these phenomenal electric guitar licks. Yeah, it might sound a little bit weird and crazy but this is actually math rock . . . Check their latest release Way It Goes on Spotify and feel the infectious guitar riffs! You won’t regret it”
“Way It Goes” starts mesmerizing you immediately – a seemingly impossible guitar creation comes out of nowhere. As if that wasn’t enough, they eventually move into faerie dust synth splashes and mind-numbing math rock tapping. It’s ultra creative and the perfect amount spastic; we can’t say we’ve ever heard anything quite like it.”
“There’s something about this track (Way It Goes) that completely catches you off guard from the offset. It has the same shimmering freshness as Animal Collective and a dusting of jarring uniqueness that you find with bands like Crystal Castles. The cleverly chosen guitar effects and bold synth sounds provide another dimension on top of the relatable indie-equse vocals.”
“(Dome Dwellers) remind you that there’s been a fuckton of great albums released over the course of the last 20 years . . . There’s a little bit of Cold War Kids in there, a hint of MGMTs early days, british indie, what came out of San Francisco in the 00s.. Its all compacted into a short and pleasant sightseeing tour of what you might have missed”
“Dome Dwellers are pointing one possible road towards the future. But, it’s one cut up into treacherous terrain. It involves the ability to play rock with mathematical precision, to add the occasional Freddie Mercury falsetto, and to possess a fair deal of humor about the whole thing. ”
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Winner: Best Guitarist (Michael J. Slack) - 2017 Dallas Observer Music Awards
Nominated: Best Rock Act - 2017 Dallas Observer Music Awards
Nominated: Best Indie/Rock Act - 2016 Denton Art and Music Awards
BANDS PLAYED WITH
Kaleo / SALES / Summer Salt / Jonathan Tyler / Dark Rooms / Slothrust / Islands / Spendtime Palace / MOTHXR / Cymbals Eat Guitars / Brazen Youth / ISHI / Bobby Sessions / Gringo Star / Leopold and His Fiction / The Palms / Superhumanoids / TEEN / Oh Pep! / Botany / Palm / Hikes / Consider the Source / Playboy Man Baby Calliope Musicals / The Life and Times
GALLERY
MUSIC & MEDIA
Spotify | Apple Music | Youtube | Bandcamp
COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY
LIVE VIDEO SESSIONS
CONTACT
Connect with Dome Dwellers
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Soundcloud
Booking + Management + Press
domedwellersband@gmail.com