Sleeping at Last make me happy ... I hope this interview with singer/guitarist, Ryan makes you happy also ...FOR THE BENEFIT OF THOSE UNFAMILIAR WITH SLEEPING AT LAST, COULD YOU INTRODUCE THE BAND? Sure! My name is Ryan, I sing, play Guitar and Piano - My brother, Chad plays the Drums and our friend Dan plays Bass and Keyboards.
WHEN YOU [CHAD AND RYAN] WERE GROWING UP WAS FORMING A BAND SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO DO? DID YOU GROW UP IN A MUSICAL HOUSEHOLD? WHICH BANDS INFLUENCED YOU AND INSPIRED YOU TO FORM A BAND? Chad and I found our passion for music at different times. I became really interested in being in a band when I was about 13 years old and started playing guitar and soon after that, gave singing a shot. Within the first couple of years, I fell in love with songwriting, and a little while after I started playing music, my brother took up the drums. We didn't really grow up in a musical household, but we did grow up with a lot of support for whatever we chose to do, whether it was hockey (my brother originally wanted to be a hockey player - but fell in love with drums instead) or an animator (which is what I wanted to do) or being in a band. Our parents have always gone out of their way to support us. As for which bands influenced us early on - Sunny Day Real Estate, Radiohead, U2, etc.
YOU PLAYED THIS YEARS CORNERSTONE FESTIVAL, DID IT ALL GO WELL? HOW DID THE AUDIENCES REACT TO THE SONGS FROM THE NEW ALBUM? DID YOU GET A CHANCE TO SEE ANY OF THE OTHER PERFORMANCES, WHICH BANDS WERE YOU MOST IMPRESSED BY? It was a lot of fun - thanks for asking! This was our 5th Cornerstone and it's always a good opportunity, and this year, we were especially excited because we had just released our new record, Keep No Score. The audience was extremely kind and encouraging towards our new songs, thankfully! We had fun, as for bands we got to catch, Anathallo are great, The Myriad always plays well, a band called Edison Glass played great. We didn't get to catch a lot, but those bands played awesome.
KEEP NO SCORE WAS RELEASED LAST MONTH, HOW IS THE ALBUM DIFFERENT TO YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASE GHOSTS? HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU'VE PROGRESSED MUSICALLY? Well, we couldn't have had more fun making this new record, which resulted in, Ii believe, our most sincere and intimate record yet. Another big difference is that there's a lot of strings on this record, We decided early on that we wanted strings to play a large part of Keep No Score and they became more of a main instrument this time around. As for how we feel we've musically progressed, I think that we're just more comfortable than ever before, with our abilities to express what we're trying to express, musically and lyrically.
WHICH DO YOU FEEL ARE THE STAND OUT TRACKS ON THIS NEW RECORD? WHICH SONGS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? I'm not sure, but I guess at the moment, 'Dreamlife' and maybe 'Umbrellas', I don't know, it's cliche to say they're "all our children" and we can't choose, but it's true, I'm proud of each of them for different reasons.
SOME BANDS, WHEN WRITING NEW MATERIAL STEER CLEAR OF LISTENING TO ANY MUSIC TO ENSURE THEY PRODUCE A TRULY ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE RECORD, IS THIS SOMETHING YOU'VE PUT INTO PRACTISE? DO YOU CHANGE YOUR LISTENING PATTERNS WHEN YOU'RE WRITING NEW SONGS? That's a good question! Well, for the last year or so, i've been on this sort of musical diet [haha] I sort of got burned out of music in general and noticed that the only music that really resonates with me, tended to be older jazz singers, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, etc. So I haven't really been listening to much outside of music from around them. While we were recording, I think because of time in general, we didn't listen to anything, When we had a break, we wanted to hear quietness, But each of us are very conscious of what goes into our heads throughout recording and writing process.
IS WRITING SONGS A COLLECTIVE OR INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY WITH SLEEPING AT LAST? I write the songs on my own and when I feel like the bone structure is there and ready, we all sit down and start shaping it and adding weight to it together. Sometimes i'll have a pretty clear idea as to what needs to be done for the song, and other times the foundation is there and we explore ways to built it up.
YOU HAVE AN OBVIOUS PASSION FOR YOUR FAITH, YET UNLIKE A LOT OF "CHRISTIAN-ROCK" ARTISTS YOU DONT SEEM TO FOCUS ON CHRISTIANITY IN ALL OF YOUR SONGS, WAS THIS A CONSCIOUS DECISION ON BEHALF OF THE BAND TO KEEP YOUR FAITH SEPERATE FROM YOUR MUSIC? From when we started we decided that we wanted to write about things that matter to us, an audio autobiography, [haha] and faith is a big part of our lives, so it naturally comes through in the songs, and that's what we've always strived for, to be honest and open about who we are, and to let that be displayed naturally in our music. We've always intended our music to be for anyone who cares to listen, whatever they believe in and whoever they are.
YOU'VE TOURED EXTENSIVELY WITHIN THE USA, HAVE YOU EVER VISITED EUROPEAN SHORES? IS THIS SOMETHING YOU PLAN ON DOING IN THE FUTURE? We cannot wait to tour in Europe and that is definitely a goal that we are so anxious to reach. We did have the wonderful opportunity to live in London for a month and a half, a few years ago during the mixing of our last record Ghosts, Alan Moulder mixed it and we were blessed enough to have our first visit to London. It was amazing and we can't wait to come back to Europe to explore, hopefully in the near future, as soon as we get the chance, we'll be jumping on it!
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE SONG TO PERFORM LIVE? That changes all the time, but 'Envelopes' is currently lots of fun to play, but they're all fun to play.
THE MUSIC SCENE TODAY IS VERY PETTY, AND ARTISTS ARE LOVED AND LOATHED ON A REGULAR BASIS BY FANS AND AUDIENCES ALIKE, HOW THEN DO YOU GO ABOUT ACHIEVING LONGEVITY? It's very true, being in music [or entertainment in general] is so competitive and so petty, like you said, and it's easy to get caught up in all of that, but i think in the last few years we've been realizing that unless our music is personal and honest, it's not worth making. As long as we're enjoying what we're doing and believe in what we're putting out, we're really happy.
WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU'VE ACHIEVED AS A BAND? WHAT DO YOU STILL HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH? We're really blessed and thankful to be able to do this with our lives, we love it. We hope to continue to make music that means something to us for as long as we can, and we hope that somehow, whomever listens will be able to find hope and understanding in our songs.
They have beautiful, soaring, relaxing, sweeping melodies ...
Listen to them at www.myspace.com/sleepingatlast
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