Sleep Room formed around 2003, and hail from around the home counties, namely Reading, Guildford, Wokingham and Bracknell. Don't ever go to Bracknell. Seriously. Don't.
Sleep Room are a four piece alternative rock band, and along with a string of gigs under their belt, have knocked out two EP's, the most recent, 'Shut Windows, Draw Curtains' hailed as there masterpiece of twisting melodies and epic soundscapes.
The band's ambition is to produce music which is original, emotional, and technical, blending strong melodies with unique structures, striving to create something different without being alienating.
Nigel Weston and Ryan Cook formed the band in the summer of 2004 after meeting on the Berkshire music website Josaka. After a number of lousy auditions, they finally hit gold with drummer Richard King and the band began to write and forge music.
With a new bass player onboard, the band were finally ready. Cook and Weston's fascination with conspiracy theories and political scandal lead them to read about the CIA and their alleged involvement with extreme mind control methods used on kidnapped members of the public. In one document the author refers to 'Sleep Rooms', a specialised cell in which the hostage would be held, and be subjected to sensory deprivation, often leading to complete erasure of the persons mind. Sounds could then be played in association with certain tasks and actions, to result in the 'patient' responding as if by a remote control. In the bands eyes this was not a million miles away from how the media works with society. Sleep Room was born.
In the winter of 2004, Sleep Room played their first gig - The Grey Horse in Kingston. It went extremely well, and despite the nerves they attracted more attention than the headline act, and it was clear they needed to produce some work on recording.
The following summer, with a few more gigs under their belt, Sleep Room finished writing their first EP - 'Rats May Dream of Maze'. Recorded and mixed in a day, it was fairly basic and not very well produced, but the band finally had an album in their hand. Featuring live favourites such as 'Video' and 'Hearing Sunlight', the EP attracted mixed opinion from the media, winning demo of the week on C4's Planet Sound, but not going down as well with Josaka's reviewer Joel Priest. Taking the criticism on the chin, Sleep Room set about tightening up the loose bolts, and began saving their pennies to enter a proper recording studio.
A string of gigs finished a good year for Sleep Room, but alas things were not working out with the bass player. It was clear Nigel, Ryan and Richard were moving Sleep Room's direction towards more alternative and challenging music, and becoming good friends in the process. Sadly, the bassist conflicted technically and socially and Sleep Room were forced to let him go.
Now Sleep Room were not being held back, progress was steady. New tunes were already forming, and with the new found freedom came more inspiration and creativity. In a few weeks the band had tripled their catalogue of songs, and it wasn't long before new bass player Dave Treasure was taken on board. With a solid mind for rhythm and a yearning for creativity, Dave and the band bonded magnificently and soon had the quality of material for a second recording.
Leaving the live scene behind, Sleep Room concentrated on producing tracks of the highest standard. It was clear they needed to do the songs justice and fork out the dosh for getting the job done properly this time around. After much searching, Sleep Room met with Lewis Childs and Earth Terminal. A mutual respect was formed, and the band agreed he was the man for the job.
All the music and vocals for 'Shut Windows, Draw Curtains' were recorded in one day. Lewis enjoyed working with the band so much that the working 'day' stretched long into the night and early hours of the morning. The band returned two weeks later to tighten up any mistakes and mix the album. Another day of hard work, Sleep Room and Lewis had finished the album. Both were delighted with the quality of what they had achieved in such a short space of time. Musically, the album was far more advanced than their previous recording, the songs more technical and diverse, the structures more intricate and detailed, the performances more professional and polished. Most importantly, the record was produced and mixed exquisitely by Lewis, and the band were ever so proud of their achievement. Let loose into Sleep Rooms fan base, the reaction was quite staggering. It was clear Sleep Room had developed into a solid and skilful band, created their own sound and produced an array of emotional, imaginative, and accomplished pieces of music.
The EP finished and duplicated, Sleep Room were ready to hit the live scene once more, and after packing out a few of the venues in and around reading, Sleep Room found themselves developing their sound. A stack of new material was screaming to be recorded, so they returned to Lewis Childs at Earth Terminal for their biggest project to date.
'It Still Moves All The Same', the title taken from Galileo's subversive response to the Pope when told to retract his ideology of the earth revolving around the sun, featured some of their most ambitious music so far. Greeted with rave reviews on music sites, and even airplay on BBC Berkshire, the album was hailed as a great triumph of interlocking guitars, challenging structures and moving vocals.
Update
2007 saw yet more change for the band including the departure of Dave Treasure and a series of bassless gigs as a 3 piece. Although this modified line up allowed the band to continue to write and play live, it still felt that the warmth of Sleep Room's music needed a full complement of frequencies to realise it's full potential.
In Spring 2008 the founder members of Sleep Room hooked up with the newest and brightest member of the band - Alex Bowen. Alex's "get stuck in" attitude and bass playing ability has revived the Sleep Room sound in an incredibly short space of time, boosting new material to new levels of grandeur and adding a welcome slant on old material.
Sleep Room continue their plans for world domination!
Details of more events can be found on www.readingfringefestival.com. They include one off special events from Oxfam Records, Old Orleans and The Global Cafe and Fringe themed versions of the towns host of regular music nights like Bohemian Showcase at Deja Vue and Wicked Boy Promotes at the Face Bar. Look out especially for the Accesible to the Max DJ night at the Global Cafe which is run by COMET, an organization run by and for adults with learning difficulties
Theres only 7 days till the print deadline for the Reading Fringe Festival programmes which will be distributed to the 20,000 early arrivals at the Reading Festival Campsite and also industry and media types staying in the towns hotels with nothing to do until the main festival starts. So, if you are running an event between 21st and 27th August please consider adding it to the the Fringe roster. Together the events will have more impact.
ha! it scares the shit out of us too! so much that can go wrong but hey... we take the risk!! twas nice to see another band using vocal effects! we're not the only ones. really liked you sound.... it was HUGE! nice song craftwork too... some really haunting chord changes, loved it!
"At last a follow up to Janette Mason's sparkling debut as leader. Alien Left Hand ....was well worth the wait…” Production **** Performance**** -- BBC Music Magazine
“…an album fizzing with fresh ideas and delights, an exhilarating musical journey .. with brilliantly original writing and inspired playing…” -- Helen Mayhew
"Every track from the rhythmic ‘NY Cab Ride’ and restless ‘4 Wheel Drive’ to the brooding ‘Mae’s Song’ has a terrific hook but it’s the way Mason switches tempo and moods that makes ALH great fun. " -- Diva Magazine
Dear Sleeproom, like the pschadelic neo Radiohead vibe. If you dig electro in any of its bastardised forms, then please head for GIN and TRONIK at Plug n Play, this Saturday 23 August, 8-3. By seedsofdoubt at 2008-08-08
Hey Hey!!!!!! - been a while since we dropped by - didn't want to negect you. Things have been pretty hectic of late on this side of the screen - hence the quiet from us. - But we're trying to make ammends...
Hope things are well with you and your world on your side of the screen - drop by and drop us a line anytime you wish - nothing like a little dash of the spirit of community here on myspace.
Anyways - Just thought we'd say 'ello'.
Keep in touch and keep us in the loop!
Much love
Sarah and James
The Dark Poets -------x------ Touch the screen....and feel the love from the other side....
BTW - We're really proud to have released our new 'Vs' album - reviews have been really good so far. Gary Lucas Vs The Dark Poets "Beyond the pale" is released on Some Bizzare records
OUT NOW SBZ092 CD - AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE INCLUDING - IN STORE, AMAZON AND ITUNES....blah blah blah - you'll find it...it's on general release in the UK - So wherever you are you can track it down- we're trying to keep the price low too - so check it out and see if you can grab your copy.
there's a myspace site with a few tracks from the album - let us know if you like what you hear.
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hey whats up? i wanted to show you this site, it shows you if anyone has a crush on you and tells you who it is. i just tried it and i cant believe what it said.
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