Meet Madeline Eckhart | Co-founder of DreamStates”

We had the good fortune of connecting with Madeline Eckhart and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Madeline, what do you attribute your success to?
Doing the thing. Not giving up. In a very real sense, allowing myself to be alive and present for everything that’s happened thus far.

For a long time I earnestly considered I’d be in the “27 club,” which is a grim sort of gallows joke about how many musicians and artists take their own lives at 27. I’ve had depression my whole life. When I was younger, I denied it. When I was assaulted in college, it became unavoidable.

So I did the thing of going to therapy and getting psychiatric help.

Now, it’s still present, but I can reason with it. I can have discussions with it. It’s no longer a deep whirlpool that’ll suck me in at a moment’s notice. Now, it’s more like a lake; I can see quite clearly where the bottom is, but I’m in much less danger of sinking that far down.

You gotta be alive to experience life. You gotta paint to be a painter, you gotta make some kinda noise to be a musician or an actor. You don’t have to be good right away, at anything, but you have to do it, or you’ll never even be “ok” at it. You don’t have to do it at anyone else’s pace, or in any way but yours, either. But you gotta do it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I feel like what sets DreamStates apart from others is our approach to songwriting. While I write a good amount, what i would say the process boils down to is Natalie and I in the back room focused on our DAW (digital audio workshop), one of us, often her, plugging some chords or notes in, and seeing where that takes us. The other editorializes a bit, maybe alters the progression a little, maybe changes the bass line a smidge. Sometimes, lyrics happen before or in the middle of the “charting” process, but usually we have a musical skeleton on which to lay our words. Having a rhythm and a general progression can do a lot to influence your lyrical choices, and it’s important to let the song say what it wants to rather than try and force words down its throat. Somewhere in that combination of actions words and fun lies our secret.

At the same time, I could say what sets DreamStates apart is our stagecraft. When we take our songs to a live setting, we strategically choose which instruments to play on what songs, which dances to incorporate, what songs fit the mood of the venue, etc. Jo, whom i mentioned earlier, puts together a light cuesheet and swaps our can lights over to various color schemes and shifting patterns for each song. There’s a lot of moving parts, including ourselves, and on top of that, we have very, very solid harmonization. So many of our songs feature vocal harmony, and it really rounds out the sound overall in a fantastic way.

On the THIRD hand, what sets us apart is that we aren’t just a band. We’re advocates for our community. All four of us are trans and that cannot be separated from our performances or our songwriting. All the struggles, all the joy, all the self-realization comes as part of that. For a long time there was a feeling amongst trans folk that being trans means not using your voice to create anymore. This came out of either a fear of not passing, or for trans men, having to re-learn vocal chords that stretch due to testosterone. It can be scary and hard, and moreso when there aren’t any examples of people doing it and doing it loud. So here we are. Doing it, and doing it loud.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Here’s the thing. All my friends are from the area, lol.

IF one of my friends from out of state, let’s say one from Michigan (love You Viv), came to the area, there are definitely a number of things I’d want to show her.

Let’s start with a day in Cleveland. We’re gonna go to the Rock Hall because of course we’re going to the Rock Hall. Then we’re gonna hit up lunch, there are way too many good places for me to list just one. Cleveland has good food. We’re gonna go to the Great Lakes Science Center because I don’t care how old I am, it’s awesome. We could even see an iMax movie if we felt like it. If they DIDN’T feel like being a child for a bit we could go to No Class, which is an awesome little queer nightspot that is definitely more *adult* of a space, and catch a concert.

Day two, we’re gonna take it easy, maybe just stay at home until the evening, but then we’d go to Dave and Buster’s. Arcades are fun in small doses.

Day three and four, we’re gonna go to the metroparks. There’s just so much pretty nature in the area not to get some hiking in while she’s here, and walking paths that suit a bunch of different activity levels.

Day five and six, we’re hitting Akron up, baby. I’m talkin’ Zubs, I’m talkin’ Buzzbin, I’m talkin’ drinks and karaoke at Square, I’m not talkin’ Annabelle’s because that’s closed but maybe we’ll party in the parking lot anyway. We’re gonna go to Barley House and drink and smoke cloves like college kids until we ultimately regret drinking and smoking cloves like we were college kids because we are now in our mid to late 30s. We’re gonna wander around in DORA spaces and make the townies reconsider making it legal to give two trans women beer and set them loose in the streets. White girl wasted? We’re gonna be the whole damn white girl wasteland.

And then on day seven we’ll hit a spa.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It might be a little bit of nepotism here, but my boyfriend Jo Heil really deserves all the praise and attention from everyone in the world. He used to be a UCC pastor before being separated from that congregation. He now works at Planned Parenthood helping to take care of and educate a lot of guys, who might be bashful to ask some of their questions to women. He’s a background vocalist for my and Natalie’s band; he does amazing work with the kids at Margie’s Hope. And finally, he’s going back to school to get a certificate in Community Health Work, at 40. There’s so much brain to pick there, I can’t help but suggest him.

Website: https://dreamstates.carrd.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maddydreem/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrWrRTcy7gzhAnD5jjLqcMg