Sister Sleep - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the opportunity to interview Sister Sleep. We discussed how they started the band, musical influences, covering My Chemical Romance, what to expect from their upcoming music, and more. Check it out below.
First, thanks for the interview.
Of course! Thanks so much for having us!
Can you tell me how you started the band for those who may be unfamiliar with it? How did you become interested in music?
Yeah! So really it all starts with an old band that I (Jamie) and a few of the members of Sister Sleep (Kit, Chase and James) were in called "The Keepsake". We all were already close friends, but we decided to put that project to rest in 2020. We stayed close, in contact and were still writing music, but with a much more specific direction, message and aesthetic. We wanted a fresh start. The first songs we wrote and recorded became the "Wraith and Rosary" EP, our first release. Riley and Matty would join officially in the next 1-2 years, we knew we wanted an official drummer and second guitarist. And thus, here we are haha.
And as for me, music has always been a huge thing that means a lot, but I think it really became something special for me when I was in middle school upon finding blink-182 and Green Day. That snowballed into discovering My Chemical Romance/The Used and that turned to me finding Silverstein, Chiodos, Alesana etc. This was when I started writing for myself and pushing to start a band of my own one day. It's really all I know how to do haha.
You released your most recent EP last year. It has a cover of My Chemical Romance’s “The Ghost of You”. What made you decide to record a cover of that particular MCR song?
With last year being the 20 year anniversary of "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" we desperately wanted to celebrate a band and album that meant a lot to us. First off, "The Ghost of You" is a massive song from them, but less obvious than a song like "Helena" or "I'm Not Okay" but also, considering the type of song it is, it gives us a lot of room to change things to fit our vibe, while also staying close enough to the original and paying tribute to a great song that millions of people love. Another bonus reason? It very much made sense thematically to be on the EP "Phantom Threads" with concepts of ghosts, underlying emotions, hidden pain etc. It all fell into place really.
Your band draws from a few influences. I think MCR is probably one of them. Who are some of your biggest influences and how did they contribute to you finding your sound?
Gosh, there are so many. I'll list off a handful that we could all probably agree on. (Besides MCR haha) Silverstein, The Used, Bring Me the Horizon, Chiodos, Badflower, Creeper. We knew we wanted to take the influences of our youth, give it a fresh, modern spin and maybe combine some vibes and sounds that you don't hear super often. We love theatrics, vocal harmonies and we love a catchy chorus, but we also adore going heavier, panic chords and just throwing in a dash of dissonance. We never want anyone to be able to guess for certain the type of song we're gonna do. It's one thing we love about a band like Silverstein that truly can do whatever they want at this point and it's great. That level of artistic freedom, while also staying consistent is fantastic and definitely a goal of ours.
You’re currently working on new music. When do you think we’ll hear some of those songs? What can listeners expect?
We are, yes! It's our big focus this year and we've been going nonstop so far. We may have something out this summer hopefully, so keep your eyes and ears open!
Have you been trying anything new sonically or during the writing process? If so, what is it and how’s it going?
We all have grown so much as writers in the past few years and it really shows in the new music. We are definitely trying new things, while still staying true the sound we are building. Hopefully there will be more vocals from Kit and Matty as well (or even James for that matter) we really wanna push ourselves to new heights with the next release. We’re all super excited.
Is there any chance that you’ll release a physical version of some of your music anytime soon such as cassettes, vinyl, or CDs? How important would it be to your band to have some physical releases?
We have been tossing around the idea! Hopefully we will do something like that, I've noticed a lot of folks asking for it. So if the demand is there, we wanna make it happen! Hopefully an online store will be live in the coming months as well.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Thanks again for having us! I guess just be sure to follow us on social media everywhere: @sistersleepband Be sure to tell your friends about us and spread the word. We've got a lot in store. 🖤 Also trans rights are human rights 🏳️⚧️
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