BY ABBY SAMUELSON
Emerging from the city of brotherly love, Sleep House had established their alternative pop rock music within the walls of their high school in early 2016. The band’s edgy and unconventional style draws listeners in from all across the nation, boasting over 100k streams on their song “Her”. Sleep House has continued to expand their musical portfolio with their recent releases “Don’t You Cry” and “Pano-319”, and with many more to come. The band is excited to share their new single “Stephanie” on February 14, 2020. We had the chance for an exclusive interview with the band to dive deeper into their latest release!
What inspired you to write “Stephanie”?
Sleep House: “Stephanie is a real personal one and it’s just about the mix of agony and infatuation that you can feel towards someone who doesn’t love you the same way as they used to.”
How does being in a band make your personal lives flourish? How does the band community add to your life?
SH: “We really just have the band to make music, but the bands we have met and played with since we’ve started have been huge influences on us. It’s always so cool to meet other artists and connect in a way that our friends from home, for example, don’t really get. “
What were some obstacles you came across while writing “Stephanie”?
SH: “Stephanie was difficult to write from the beginning because I was writing it while I was going through those exact emotions. It’s a lot easier to write about something that you’ve felt in the past but when you’re going through something and write about it as you are dealing with it, it can be hard to get a solid perspective on how you feel. The song went through a substantial amount of changes through the recording process as well but I think it couldn’t have ended up any other way and while I always get nervous with these emotions coming out and stuff, we’re all so proud of how it turned out.“
What are hardships you come across while being in the band itself?
SH: “I would say the hardest part about being in a band, and even just being a musician, is that you always strive for absolute perfection but that doesn’t exist. With everything from the music quality, to the stats of your songs, to the crowd sizes, you always strive for more and more. The highs of getting those things are amazing but when you don’t reach the outcomes you expect, it can really take a toll on you. Releasing any art that you put your heart and soul into is really hard but you have to push through and keep going if you really want any of your music to be heard.”
What are you looking forward to/what are your goals as a band?
SH: “We really just want to make this passion that we have for making music and performing live into our way of living. We all love doing this more than anything else and want to reach as many people as we can with our music.”
What were the beginnings of the band like?
SH: “As musicians, we all clicked together really well very quickly and since G$ and I knew each other for a while and Nick and Evan were brothers, we kind of were able to all clique together faster. Writing in the beginning was tough since we were really trying to figure out who we were and, to be honest, we still are.”
Who are some top influencers that inspire you to create music? What about them drives your creativity?
SH: “A lot of the artists who inspire as are John Mayer, The Strokes, Vampire Weekend, and Hippo Campus, just to name a few. I think all of the artists we listen to have never been afraid to change their sound and do something different or unique and we really try to obtain that with our music.”