Whether it’s film, TV, or gaming, the sound involved in any media is one of the most important factors in fully immersing you in the experience. It takes a special person or people to understand the project and bring the thoughts and feelings to life via music, be it for a moment or an entire soundtrack. It’s why I was so glad to hear from Dream A Lot, the duo behind the moving and emotive music found on PlayStation’s 30th Anniversary trailer, Netflix’s Missing You, Fool Me Once, and a score of projects besides.
I had the opportunity to pick their brains regarding how the PlayStation 30th trailer came to be, what their process looks like, and what’s in store for them in the future!
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| Due to this being a written interview, some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. |
The PlayStation 30th Anniversary Trailer, Netflix and So Much More Ahead
Self-described as a duo that ‘combines Artistry and boutique music production’, Dream A Lot is an award-winning duo that has been making waves in the film and TV scene for a while now. The recent PlayStation 30th Anniversary trailer shows they’ve dipped their toes in the gaming scene, and after speaking to them below, I feel like it’s far from the last time, and hope to see them get a full chance at scoring/organizing the music for much more.
Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me! For those unaware, would you mind telling us who you both are and what you do, please?
Dream A Lot consists of Composer/Producer Gus Crawford Collins and Singer/Songwriter Kim Hayden.
And how did you come to end up here as a career?
We have both been musicians from a very early age. Kim’s background has been in live performance, having been a finalist on The Voice – this led her to become a full-time singer/songwriter. Gus’s background has also been in live performance – having run his own commercial studio for years, Gus’s initial introduction to the world of sync was through a company he set up to create music for advertising/shorts and live events.
Subsequently, Gus and Kim met at his studio in 2016 but didn’t create Dream A Lot until mid-way through Covid when the world stopped for everybody and they actually had the time to work together on creating some music with sync in mind, both being huge fans of music with visuals.
With you two having slightly different responsibilities in Dream A Lot, with your own website stating Gus is a Composer/Producer and Kim is a Singer/Songwriter, how do you deal with differences in opinion on how best to approach projects?
We think it actually benefits us having different backgrounds, as we approach tracks/projects from different angles, and through this process, we have learned it seems to meet quite well in the middle.
You were the duo responsible for the soundtrack to the incredible and emotional PlayStation 30th Anniversary trailer. How did that happen?
Yes, that’s us, and we are so incredibly grateful for having landed this one. ‘Dreams’ is an interesting one as it was initially placed in the ‘Unsung Hero’ movie trailer in 2024 which won a ‘Golden Trailer Award’ for, soon after we got approached by Sony for the PlayStation 30th Anniversary trailer which we were so stoked about.
Would you mind walking us through the process of how you developed the music?
When creating any ‘Dream A Lot’ reimagined / original / trailerized cover we always find it important to find the emotion and tone within the track. ‘Dreams’ by ‘The Cranberries’ is oozing with emotion and tone already which we found quite daunting to take on initially but we threw ourselves into it and we are so pleased with how it turned out.
Were you shown an early version of the PlayStation 30th Anniversary trailer, or were you working blindly?
With the trailer world, it’s very cool as we always work blindly with any trailer so to see the music marry with visuals afterward is a magical moment. The editors rely solely upon drawing inspiration from the cues we give to them.
How many versions of the trailer music were there at the end?
Amazingly there was only one…this varies from project to project but in this case, SIE felt it sat in perfectly. We have been requested by our listeners to make an extended version which we plan to do very soon ;).
Was there a lot of back and forth between yourselves and Sony/PlayStation?
Luckily the track sat in with this epic trailer so incredibly well, that we really felt it was a match made in heaven and luckily for us, Sony thought so too.
With such a huge project with so much significance to so many people, did you feel the pressure of what you were undertaking?
Naturally, the pressure was daunting being such a huge trailer, but with this one, we had to just rely on the music working its magic to take people on that nostalgic journey. We also felt so grateful that the track really was showcased so well within this trailer. Hats off to the music supervisor on this trailer as we really feel it worked so well and for PlayStation fans too they seemed to have fallen in love with it.
And how do you feel now, seeing the reaction to the PlayStation trailer, knowing you’re both a huge part of that?
It is overwhelming to see the love for this trailer and that we have really helped to bring people’s nostalgia back to them from the last 30 years which we feel is super cool! We are Millennials also so we really felt that journey in this trailer. we are always so grateful for any love we receive for our music.
How does creating music for gaming differ from your other work in TV & film? How does your approach change?
Across the board we love to just create music we feel always represents us as artists and really push hard on our sound, however, gaming allows us to be even more atmospheric and stretch out ideas even more seeing as there is not as much dialogue to cut in between.
Are you both gamers? If so, what do you play in your free time?
Yes, we both love games, Kim has been a huge Crash Bandicoot fan since the 90s so for her to see this in the trailer was very exciting for her, Gus has loved Call of Duty since back in the day too, and was super excited to see this one in there.
What was the biggest challenge you faced whilst working on the PlayStation 30th Anniversary trailer soundtrack?
The biggest challenge was really making sure we paid homage to such an incredible song and at the same time completely reimagined it to really deliver on the nostalgia!
What was the idea and concept behind your work on the trailer?
The idea and concept was to really tap into the nostalgia that would be brought back whilst reeling in the years through the various games that have spanned across 30th years! To really create such an important moment in PlayStation history! In terms of the composition we wanted to really harness an abundance of atmosphere whilst remaining upbeat and positive yet all threaded together with a certain ambiance!
And what emotions were you trying to convey?
We feel that we achieved the emotions that we were trying to hit…never an easy feat but we were aiming for nostalgia mainly, followed by hope, excitement, belief, and achievement, all brought together in a building of atmosphere into a big glorious back end!!
And talking of your work in film, you’ve had a busy few months with the trailer and also your work on the Netflix hit ‘Missing You’. Did the stark difference in tone and genre between the trailer and this leave you with any creative whiplash?
Very good question, we have been working with Netflix for a while now so we love getting into the dark realm with these styles of trailers, it’s always good to have a combination of genres. We love a challenge.
You’ve done a lot of work for Netflix now, especially thrillers, is this going to become a mainstay for you, or would you like to branch out to other genres?
We absolutely love working with Netflix, the dark/thriller tracks are a lot of fun to create but in the gaming world, we definitely see more on the horizon for us. Dreamy style tracks we love creating also, it’s all about taking the viewer/listener on a journey with the visuals and once we have done this we feel we’ve done our job well.
And talking of different genres, you’ve also contributed to The Traitors, Love Island (US and UK), Golden Bachelor, and Celeb Big Brother. What does Reality TV ask of you that other work doesn’t?
Yes, we love working with reality TV shows also, as there are always tones of raw emotion attached to reality TV shows. We find emotional takes on songs can marry well with dramatic scenes within and bring emotion to very raw moments.
What would be a dream project for you both?
We really love working across the board ….it keeps things spicy and always challenges you, being more specific though:
- GAMING – The dream would be to create the soundtrack for a game that will live for many decades to come.
- FILM – We are currently manifesting a huge Movie Soundtrack which would be incredible.
- TV – We have really found a nice home with TV that we don’t want to get thrown out of anytime soon!
What upcoming projects can we look forward to hearing more of you on?
We are so excited to announce that we have our debut Dream A Lot Live show in Dublin on July 27th, 2025 on Whelan’s Main Stage, we are also planning some UK dates. An album is certainly on the cards also.
Is there anything else either of you would like to add?
Anyone who is reading please follow us on all major platforms to follow our journey and we look forward to connecting with more Dreamers on this exciting journey.
For more Thumb Wars Interviews, check out what three factors stop The First Berserker: Khazan being just another Soulslike, or how Dying Light: The Beast may feature an achievement/trophy no-one wants.
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Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
