Sleep Weather spent a few nights out on the road in July alongside Orlando’s own Kinder Than Wolves after they played their own record release show on the 12th, and tomorrow night they’ll be live at Smith’s Olde Bar with their buddies in Blurry. You’ll have to keep an eye out on their Facebook for more dates that’ll be popping up as well. So while you wait for the next time you can catch these indie rockers from Atlanta, check out what they had to say when their latest LP, summer activities and more.
Kendra: What personally drew you to want to be in a band?
Chris Branigan: I guess for me more than anything else, was experiencing music growing up and understanding later how much it influenced, shaped and helped me and the idea of giving that to other people has always really attracted me in a way that’s hard to describe. But ya know, the basic stuff. Pushing out our creative energy. There’s a weird thrill to knowing that other people have an insight into the deeper parts of yourself through music. And travel. We all want to travel and get out. We talk about it a lot.
Kendra: Are there any other aspects of the industry you can see yourself being involved in down the line?
Chris: Honestly not really. I’ve been really into labels and I guess the aesthetic of record labels have always been an interest of mine, but I’m not sure I’d ever pursue it. A couple of us have talked about starting a podcast with the subject having something to do with the scene. That would be rad.
Kendra: Last we heard from you guys, it was back in 2014 when you dropped your EP. What were you guys doing in between then and now?
Hunter Rawls: Writing mostly. We spent a solid year crafting “Lake Joy” in our hometown (Warner Robins, GA), traveled to Silver Bullet Studios (Burlington, CT) summer of 2015 to record, then we all moved into a house together in Atlanta. Now we have a proper rehearsal space and have been booking as many shows as possible, as well as working on new material.
Kendra; Did you go through anything big in those two years that may’ve attributed to your lyrical and musical growth for your latest LP, Lake Joy?
Hunter: Two of us had relationships that shaped and influenced a lot of the lyrical quality of the record. The lyrics also kind of acted as a homage to the town we grew up in. A guy we went to high school with committed suicide during the time of writing the record, and so that was sort of the catapult for the title track and certain core elements of the record lyrically. As far as the music goes, it was a culmination of learning to collaborate properly, getting to know our instruments and gear, many shitty shows, a lot of help and support from Chris Teti (Silver Bullet Studios), and ultimately just getting to know each other better.
Kendra: Since it’s summer now and there are a lot of things to do and places to go…if you had to compare Lake Joy to a summer activity/place, which would it be and why?
Chris: To be honest Lake Joy and Sleep Weather in general for us is like the antithesis to summer. It makes a lot more sense to listen to when it’s cold and uncomfortable. I’ve always hated summer personally.
Kendra: Going back to when you wanted to start a band, who were some of your influences when it came to playing live? Like who did you try and emulate when you were starting out?
Hunter: The main influence for us as a band is probably Modest Mouse. We’ve all independently drawn a lot of influence from them for a long time, and still subconsciously draw from them today. Tool was a big deal for a couple of us as well.
Kendra: Lastly, what else can we expect from you guys for the rest of 2016?
Hunter: We’re mostly trying to book as many shows as possible and hopefully get out of the South East. There’s new material that we’ve been working on and we have plans for a possible split, as well as a new music video. We’re keeping our options open.
