Keith Center is really into community. Be it art, charity, what have you, collaborating locally is something the lead singer of Northern Virginia band the Dreamscapes Project values.
For proof, look no further than the group’s Twelve Days Project.
The Twelve Days Project is a collaborative multimedia effort that features the music of the Dreamscapes Project, includes local artists and benefits area charitable organizations.
“The idea of trying to bring a community together started being a really strong theme for us,” Center said during lunch recently at Velocity Five in Arlington. He’s dressed in a red long-sleeved shirt rolled up to his elbows, his head topped with a small brown fedora. Center’s day job as a Web developer brings him to the area from Reston.
The way the Twelve Days Project works is like this: The Dreamscapes Project releases a new song every month in 2010. Simultaneously, a local artist debuts a “reimagining” of the song. Recent releases have inspired things like poetry, film, remixes and paintings from local artists.
“It was really giving the songs to artists and just saying, ‘Create something,’ ” said Center, 33. “Basically what we’ve done is create this virtual installation piece.”
In addition to the artistic side of the project, the band also performs a monthly fundraising show that benefits a local charity. On Friday, the band plays Fireflies in Del Ray, with proceeds going to the Future of Music Coalition. There is no cover: The band will donate its fee to the FMC, and contributions from patrons are welcomed. Previous beneficiaries include N Street Village, Food and Friends, Pink Jams, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Dance4Peace. According to the band’s publicist, the group has raised nearly $4,000.
If you go
The Dreamscapes Project
Where: Fireflies, 1501 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Info: No cover; 703-548-3355; thedreamscapesproject.com. Benefits the Future of Music Coalition (futureofmusic.org).
On July 23, the group will play at the State Theatre in Falls Church, with the Sitar Arts Center as the beneficiary. At the end of the run of single online releases, the band will have 12 tracks, recorded at various locations, including Inner Ear Studios in Arlington. Center said he is unsure if and how the band might release the collection in album form. He’d like to figure out away to include the artistic interpretations in the release as well. Each release is available free online for a month, then costs a pay-what-you-can rate.
“It’s been rewarding,” Center said. “It’s a nice sense of having to focus one thing in terms of a piece of art.”
Center said he felt a project such as this best represents the experiential nature of the band. While the group’s music can best be described as folk rock, members aren’t afraid of taking risks.
“We have music that is very different,” Center said. “Our music in general tends to be a little more eccentric. A lot more artsy. We realized that the way we release our music is really the way everyone else releases their music. We started to think of music in ways that was a little bit more in line with what the music actually is, doing something that was eccentric and artsy in its own way.”
