ON OUR RADAR: SLEEP HOUSE
Square One Magazine had the chance to have a chat with Sleep House on the past, present and future of the band.
Q: CONGRATS ON THE NEW SINGLE! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO FINALLY HAVE IT OUT?
A: Thank you! It feels amazing to finally show everyone what we’ve been working on all this time.
Q:HOW DID YOU GUYS MEET? HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN EACH OTHER?
A: Adam and Nick met in a study hall period during their freshman year of high school. Adam was looking to form a band and found out Nick played the drums. Once those two were together, Nick got his brother Evan to play the bass, and Adam got his best friend and former bandmate Nick G. to come in as a vocalist. At first Nick G. was only gonna be a singer, but a few practices in was when he started to play the guitar for the band as well.
Q: HOW DID SLEEP HOUSE COME TO BE?
A: We were nameless for our first few months as a band, so every time we went out and played an open mic we had a different name! Eventually we spent a couple days in an instagram group chat just sending name idea after name idea, and Sleep House was the one that stuck.
Q: WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES?
A: Our influences constantly change as our music taste evolves, but the fundamental ones would have to be The Beatles, The Strokes, and Vampire Weekend.
Q:IF YOU DIDN’T BECOME MUSICIANS, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING RIGHT NOW?
A: It’s hard to think about...We’d definitely all still be working in the music industry in some way, whether it be as a producer or a manager, etc.
Q: IF YOU COULD DO A COLLAB WITH ANYONE, WHO WOULD IT BE?
A: If we got in the studio with Frank Ocean we’d definitely make something incredible. His voice is like no other, and his songwriting abilities are completely unmatched. We think everything would gel together pretty well.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR DREAM TOUR LINEUP?
A: If we ever got the opportunity to tour with The Strokes that’d be incredible. They’ve inspired us so much, if we got to share a stage with them it’d be surreal.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE? WHO WRITES?
A: Every song’s writing process is a bit different in some way. Most of the time Adam or Nick G. will come in with an idea ready to get worked on, but we’ve also had songs like “Dizzy” where we pretty much wrote it as we recorded it.
Q: WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE LYRICS FROM EVERYTHING YOU’VE WRITTEN?
A: Adam’s favorite lyrics at the moment are probably, “although i’ll give myself a try, i still won’t see myself”.
Q: IS THERE A SPECIFIC TOPIC THAT YOU GUYS LIKE WRITING ABOUT?
A: Whatever’s relevant in my life, I typically try to write about. It definitely has evolved, the topics I write about, since we first started which is really cool. (Adam)
Q: WHAT’S YOUR PREFERENCE: VINYL RECORDS, CASSETTES, CDS OR DOWNLOADS? AND WHY?
A: Streaming is obviously what we use the most in our daily lives, but each of us have some hefty record collections as well. There’s just something cool about being able to hold your favorite records, plus sometimes the sound quality sounds a bit improved compared to streaming.
Q: FAVORITE SHOW MEMORY?
A: One of our favorites was when we were touring the east coast with Hate Drugs in the spring. It was our last show on the tour in Florida and our fans threw roses on the stage while we were performing. It was the first time we ever experienced something like that, plus the energy in that room was just so vibrant. We’ll never forget that show.
Q: HOW DID YOU GET COMFORTABLE WITH PERFORMING?
A: Just playing a ton of shows honestly. The Hate Drugs tour is when we got really comfortable because we did all the shows in 1 week. Plus watching them and how they work an audience really inspired us to get out of our shells.
Q: IS THERE ANY ADVICE OR TIPS THAT HAVE HELPED YOU GUYS WHEN PERFORMING LIVE?
A: Just play live shows as much as you can. Every single show we get a little bit more comfortable.
Q: WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON FOR SLEEP HOUSE?
A: We’re setting a goal to make 2020 the biggest year for Sleep House. We’ve always been very ambitious, and we’re lucky to have such an amazing group of talented and passionate people to work with, it really feels like the sky's the limit to where we can go. Expect more shows, more music, more development, and an overall step up in everything we do.