dreamcastmoe opened 2025 with a clear intention: to stay grounded, focused and creatively free. Based in Washington D.C.—a city steeped in politics and contradictions—he’s carving out space for self-care and sonic exploration. “The music itself is supposed to be a gateway,” he says, reflecting on the year. That gateway is personal and political, drawing from the streets of D.C., his own daily rituals and the lessons found in simply being present. With his new project, The Lost Tape, Vol. 3, out now via UK label Rhythm Section INTL, dreamcastmoe continues to show just how far his music can travel while staying rooted at home.
Beyond his recorded work, dreamcastmoe has earned a reputation for captivating live performances that blend raw emotion with playful improvisation. His distinctive voice carries a vulnerability that invites listeners into his world. Drawing inspiration from unexpected sources like Bernie Mac, NBA 2K and vintage 45s, his sound is both nostalgic and forward-thinking. Whether experimenting with lo-fi interludes or collaborating with longtime friends like WiFiGawd and BLaCkMoses, dreamcastmoe’s approach remains rooted in authenticity, community and an unshakable commitment to artistic freedom.
We caught up with dreamcastmoe to chat about his brand-new tape, inspirations, collaborations and his hometown of D.C..
How are you? How’s 2025 been so far?
dreamcastmoe: You know, the music itself is supposed to be a gateway for people to explore and to step out of their norm. I live in the heart of politics worldwide, Washington DC. There’s always a political story and a narrative. And for me, just being Devon is like—that’s what I need to focus on: being healthy, waking up, moving my body and going to work on some music. So, that’s what the start of 2025 has been like for me. It’s really just like this very sharp focus on the things that make me the best version of myself.
Tell us more about the name dreamcastmoe. Where did it originate from?
dreamcastmoe: Very straightforward answer. My cousin growing up had a Dreamcast and he lived out in Maryland. I couldn’t afford it, and my mom wouldn’t buy it for me. She was like, “No.” So I would go to visit my cousin and just play the Dreamcast, which had all these crazy games like Crazy Taxi. It was the first time I played NBA 2K, which is one of my favourite game series. I would just nerd out and play.
Then when I went home, I had nothing but time to think about all the things I wish I’d played while I was at his house. I was so obsessed with the system. Obviously, it got overshadowed by the PS2, but it was a beautiful system. It was also the first one I had used at that age where I could get online.
Dreamcast had an online platform called Dream Arena, and that was so cool to me. I was like “Oh, I like can chat and post things up?” That was something I thought was next level. As I got older, I also realised that Dreamcast shorthand is short for DC. After a while, I added “Mo,” because Mo is shorthand for, you know, “Hey, Bob or Mo.” Mo is just a name for somebody that you don’t know. Mo could be anybody in DC. But I’m from DC and and that’s me.
DC feels deeply woven into your sound, even as it morphs across genres. What is it about DC—its neighborhoods, voices, histories—that continues to shape your sonic blueprint?
dreamcastmoe: The history is just so rich. There’s a specific experience in living in this town that helps to shape people. It’s so close to downtown Washington DC, but then within 10 minutes you can be within, you know, fingers’ touch of a neighbourhood that most people tell you not to walk through. So it really teaches you how to be a global citizen, within DC first, and that’s the perspective that I have. DC has really shaped me into the man that I am today, all of the positives and the negatives that I’ve been able to encounter. When I travel around the world, there’s nothing that is too big or too small for me to be able to connect to or reach out to because, like, I’ve sort of seen it all here, you know.
You’ve previously mentioned Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye as vocal inspirations. What do you hear in their voices that you try to embody or reinterpret in your own?
dreamcastmoe: I don’t want to just say “pain,” but I hear the phases of life through their voices. I hear the highs, the peaks and the valleys of the things they have gone through. Their voicing, their vocal arrangement and just the content that they’re talking about. They’re like deep lovers—both artists—and that’s really who I am. Romantically, when I’m in a romantic relationship, I just love to love. I think love brings out the best in people and it can also bring out the worst.
When you’re able to be that vulnerable about what’s going on in your life and you’re able to share a part of yourself that most people are struggling to identify and understand on their own. So, as artists, we’re able to share that and allow people to reflect through our music what their situation is like.
I think that’s what is so powerful about Donnie Hathaway and Marvin Gaye. You know, the artist that was in a lot of those Donnie tracks is Roberta Flack—may she rest in peace. Those artists, they’re deep lovers, man. I can just sort of simply end it there, but you know, I think that’s just the big part of what makes their voices so intriguing to me.
You’ve also cited NBA 2K and Bernie Mac among your influences. How do those less obvious cultural references seep into your work, maybe in rhythm, mood, or humor?
dreamcastmoe: I think that when you’re creating, there has to be a level of playfulness within the creation process that keeps a person honest and transparent. And that, for me, comes out within my gaming, within my writing and just the things that I’m looking at. Like, I’m not embarrassed to say during COVID I was doom scrolling. And so a lot of the interludes and things that I were listening to, or would come across, are the interludes for this tape. And you can only get those interludes if you buy directly from Bandcamp, and if you buy the vinyl. Make sure that’s in the print, that people know you can only get those bits and pieces that are really true to who I am, and to who the people that I interact with, if you get the full project there.
Your project, The Lost Tape, Vol. 3 released on Rhythm Section INTL. How did this connection with Peckham and Bradley Zero first come about, and what made this the right time for a record collaboration?
dreamcastmoe: Absolutely, our connection is a friendship first and foremost. It turned into a working relationship. But I met Bradley years ago at a dinner in DC before he was DJing there and we’ve really been able to build a true friendship over the years, and even travel internationally together on a few trips. I would say that the reason that the tape is coming out right now is because Bradley has been a big supporter of The Lost Tapes as they’ve come out. I think right now is a good time to show people, show the world, that projects are great when you’re able to work with your friends, and they’re so much better when you’re just being yourself, you know?
What were you listening to—or going through—when you were making this record?
dreamcastmoe: A little bit of everything. I’d say a lot of the folks in the city; Wi-Fi God, would be one of them, BLackMoses, SabBabii on more modern hip-hop side of things, but a lot of 45s that I would get on PPU (People’s Potential Unlimited). I would get these PPU quick press 45s from close friends of mine there, these very funky, just gritty 45s that simultaneously have all the elements of writing of a pop song. Uku Kuut is a guy I am super obsessed with. He’s from Estonia, he’s no longer with us, but him and his mother Maryn E. Coote.
Just records that sound a little messy, you know, but when you listen to it, you’re like, I gotta keep playing this a few times. I’m still trying to pick up bits and pieces as I’m listening the second and third time.
We’re huge fans of “at molly’s request” which you released earlier this year. Can you talk us through how that track came together—from the Tabi Bonney intro to the co-production with BLaCkMoses and Wifi Gawd, to Jeremy G’s guitar?
dreamcastmoe: I think the hook came first. We were hearing the sample and the loop and we were like, “Okay, how do we, you know, turn this into a song?” So, I did a couple takes and pretty much laid over the original instrumental that we were able to come up with. That was in connection with Wi-Fi God, who is secretly one of the best R&B producers you’ve never heard of because he only makes trap music. So that’s something you hear in this interview first; you got to tap in with WifiGawd if you want some beautiful tunes. Man, he’s just like an all-around savant. He’s just dope. Our history goes back years, we were in elementary school together. That’s where we first met one another, so the connection on this song is so crazy.
Getting Tabi was the last part of the song during the mixing and we like invited Tabi to the studio and he came through and he got a chance to listen to the record and we were like, “Man, I would love to get an intro intro from you on this part, you know, on this record.”
That was more so a shout out to just his history and longevity within music in DC and he’s been able to move into so many different spaces now, but he was a really big example for me as an artist growing up. Him popping off allowed for me to say I could do music and it doesn’t have to necessarily be go- go, it doesn’t have to necessarily be hip-hop and boom bap and trap, but I could just be myself. That was one of the main reasons we had him on the top of the song.
Jeremy just was able to play some beautiful guitar post production that allowed for a lot of things to sort of come together. After we had gotten the arrangement of the song together, we really needed something to bridge the last bit of the song and create some sort of layer in a way that was appropriate.
Walk us through a moment from the tape that came together unexpectedly. What parallels do you see between the scenes in DC and Peckham, and why do you think the DC–London link has been so creatively fruitful for you?
dreamcastmoe: I think there’s a musical freedom between both spaces. I think London obviously has a very specific diaspora of immigrants who have made London music what it is today. I’m speaking from the outside looking in, so excuse me, but personally from what I’ve seen there are so many people from all over the world who make London music exactly why it’s so brilliant. You know, like the London jazz scene and what they are able to produce in terms of creatives like Kokoroko. It’s a global sound that was honed in London and I feel the same way in DC. In DC, there were so many different sounds and so many different backgrounds of people that I grew up around. These different styles of music were able to help build my ear and allow me to be the person that I am.
So I would say that’s how those two places can mirror one another and why I feel like I feel so comfortable just being myself in London because they appreciate people being themselves. When you see artists in London, they’re a reflection of their ancestral past along with the future that they’re trying to create.
You’ve worked with scene-shaping labels like People’s Potential Unlimited, Future Times and now Rhythm Section. How have those partnerships influenced your approach to recording and releasing music?
dreamcastmoe: Understanding that there’s so much flexibility in working with your neighbouring labels and scenes instead of trying to go directly for the majors.
I’ve gained so much from working with my community of people just trying to put good music out. That was the core. Future Times, PPU, Ghostly and now Rhythm Section are all people who have just wanted to put out quality music.
Their whole goal was not to, at the end of the day, take an artist and change them and their sound to make a profit. It was to take some really good music, put it out and get it to the people who were playing records. That was the goal. And that has been my stance on music. I just want to get the good music into good people’s hands. That’s it.
Your live performances have been widely praised. How do you approach performing differently than recording? Is there a separate “stage version” of you?
dreamcastmoe: I think there’s an excitement and raw energy I get from being on stage that you don’t get anywhere else. I think, on the record, you’re getting a very raw, sometimes freestyle version, but for the most part, when it’s live, you’re getting 120% of my vocals and the energy that I’m coming into that performance with.
Community seems central to your work. Who are some of the lesser-known DC artists or groups that deserve more attention right now?
dreamcastmoe: I say check out Hochi Runs which is headed by Amal, who is one third of Black Rave Culture out of Washington DC. He is not even in his late 20s yet and he’s already turning into one of the premier underground electronic producers in DC. He’s also a global citizen. He’s from Kenya, he’s spent his childhood in DC but understands Global Sound and he’s also a part of an up and coming group in BRC.
Ruqqiyah on her own, Wi-FiGawd. So many indie bands in the area that are amazing, so many punk bands I can’t name them all, but I would say just go to Bandcamp and check out, you know, artists who are based in the area and come to some shows—support them locally. I would say that’s how you really tap into the DC music scene.
Is there a genre or musical style you’ve never explored but are itching to try? A space you haven’t stepped into yet that might surprise fans?
dreamcastmoe: I think there’s a chance for me one day to do some liquid drum and bass. That’s not something that I listen to on my own, but I have so many friends who play drum and bass and are incredible at it, but I’ve never thought of laying my vocals on it just yet.
I’m really into cumbia. I love cumbia. I was just like digging and was like damn. I even tried to incorporate one of the rhythms from it on the Sound Is Like Water tape.
How do you hope The Lost Tape, Vol. 3 makes people feel? Is there a message or mood you hope sticks with the listener after the last track fades?
dreamcastmoe: Freedom of expression. That is it. When you think of The Lost Tape series, I want people to think of living in the moment, recording in the moment, and getting that music out, understanding my place and presence in the creative space is just hopefully allowing that next generation of folks to say, “Man, do what you want to do. Put the music out that you want to put out. Like, you don’t have to follow what’s hot out here.” You know what I’m saying? And like, just be yourself and work with your friends. Like, go and cook up with your friends as much as possible.
Listen to ‘The Lost Tape, Vol. 3’ below.