This week we have fallen in love with Dictator’s brand new track ‘Hide and Seek’. It has already been played on stations like Radio X and we guarantee it will be played on more top stations. We’ve been lucky enough to chat with the band about their new track.
We’ve been a fan of Dictator for a while now but when we heard this track we were blown away. Let’s just say we’ve had it on repeat since the release. It captures a massive amount of raw emotion throughout the track that you don’t hear bands do often. You automatically feel a connection to the song and move up and down with the song. It’s outstanding and we already can’t wait to hear what’s next from the band.
Here’s what the band had to say:
You’ve just released ‘Hide and Seek’, how has the reaction been to the track so far?
I’ll be honest, we had fairly low expectations for this song, not because we don’t think its good but just because it’s 6 minutes long. However its vastly exceeded those expectations so far. None of our previous releases have connected with the listener like this has, the people who like it REALLY seem to like it. Someone even tweeted us that they cried whilst listening to it! We’re not saying we are trying to make you all cry but I think invoking any kind of an emotional reaction is all an artist can ever ask for. Also at time of writing this I’ve just found out it was given a spin or RadioX! Not bad for a 6 minute long song that makes you cry.
What was the process behind writing ‘Hide and Seek’?
Michael is our main songwriter, he was away on holiday and id been teasing him that he better write a banger whilst he was away, not actually expecting him to though!
With the song itself the process is always the same. Michael writes the structure of a song then takes it to the rest of us, we all feedback what we do/don’t like, he refines it then we all add our individual parts. Usually though he leaves the lyrics till last, sometimes until we’re actually in the studio but with this one I think he had pretty much the whole song in less than hour.
Who are the bands biggest influences?
We started the band using Gorillaz as a kind of template to what we wanted to do, in terms of how they could so fluidly switch between genre’s and sound. And also in how they were so open to collaborating with other artists, not just in the music world but with other artistic mediums. Individually, it varies from Massive Attack, The Kinks, London Grammar, Prince, Beastie Boys. We are trying to bring all of that to table too which I hope you can hear in future releases.
How have you found being a band during lockdown?
We’ve been surprisingly lucky during lockdown, thanks to the emergence of a super supportive community on social media I think we’ve grown faster as band than we maybe might have. It has also allowed us the time to work on other areas of the band that sometimes get neglected. We’ve been getting into home production, video editing, learning new instruments and reading up on the ‘business’ aspect of the industry. Getting into the Studio has been a nightmare though, we just had to cancel a full weekend session because unfortunately Michael caught Covid (selfish). He’s all recovered now though and we’ve another session booked!
What can we expect from Dictator in the future?
We like to keep you all guessing so expect some Musical left turns! and there will be plenty more music released before the year has ended, other than that I’m going to keep my cards close to my chest but rest assured there is exciting things going on behind the scenes at DicHQ and when the time’s right and the world has opened up a bit further, we’ll let you all know.
What other up and coming artists are you listening to at the moment?
We’re lucky enough to be from West Lothian (Who ever thought they’d say that?) and right now there is some Mega Exciting Music from here:
Mark Sharp and The Bicycle Thieves, Silvi, The Katuns are just some of our favourites. Further afield we really liked the debut from La Club Royale and are excited to hear what they do next. Joshua Grant is causing scenes and is a great lad, We love the production of Edinburgh artist Fourth Daughter and another named Zildjian Pinky. Our bassist Joe plays in another band called The Tropicana’s who are worth checking out.
Keep up to date with Dictator via their social media accounts:
Facebook: @dictvtor
Instagram: @dictatorband
Twitter: @dictator_band
TikTok: @dictatorband
Timeless Music Promotions 
Leave a comment