Dream Demon features San Diegan Scott Mercado (aka Manuok) and others from different bands up and down the coast: Ben from LA's Summer Darling, Mike and John from Seattle's He Whose Ox Is Gored and Reader, and Robert Cheek from By Sunlight. Their debut single "Hell" was released in 2020.
"We're releasing one of four completed EPs that'll make up a double vinyl," said Mercado in October 2020. "Ahead of that, I made a fun video to go along with it. Overall, the album will be mixed with ambient to hard rock music, ranging from The For Carnation, to Can, to Tortoise, to Sunny Day Real Estate, to Hum. But really, it's a mix of By Sunlight, Summer Darling, and Manuok."
The Dream Demon 1 EP was followed in February 2021 by Dream Demon 2. Mercado says of the latter, “It starts with one of the best songs I've done, Salton Sea.” EP3 dropped at the end of April, while EP4 followed in July.