Hi I'm Otto, I'm Alex, I'm Tim & we're sleepmakeswaves.
A lot's happened since our last release. It’s a crazier, darker world... it's warmer, some of it's on fire, and everyone’s been busy.
Busy with just keeping on... in a time defined by corporate power and the relentless monetisation of every aspect of life.
Seems obvious to say, but it bears repeating because bands appear frozen in time, frozen in the form of their records... or play lists...
We're different now & we've got more going on personally & collectively than the freewheeling road dogging band we were in the past.
It's damn hard keeping the artist ship afloat, when being an artist doesn’t mean what it used to.
And we know we're rubbish on social media, but we've been keeping our heads down and working hard on new material. It's taking shape.
Songs are written, and it's now time to make some announcements... to put it simply: sleepmakeswaves are back.
We've made adjustments, we've modified our touring, and we've learned over the years from some wonderful producers... so we've moved into a self-sufficient creative production process.
Everything you’ll hear soon will have been written, recorded, mixed and produced by the band.
Every song has been an experiment in how far we can push ourselves creatively and sonically... because what else is there?
There's so much going on all the time, why do people need more?
We've set ourselves the challenge of answering that question every day we've worked on our material.
And we wanted to work harder than ever to justify it in an age of limitless novelty.
With all that said, we're thrilled to announce we're releasing a trilogy of 3 unique EPs this year.
Each will convey something specific about where we’ve headed artistically over the last two years.
When we created this collection of songs, rather than jam them all together, we wanted to highlight how each of them fit together in a unique way
So these records will be released with special packaging and art, designed by our long time friend and collaborator James Stuart.
The EPs will be available as separate vinyl records for collectors, and as a full-length CD for those of you who enjoy the smooth sounds of the compact disc.
We're producing all of these as a one-time limited edition release & we're happy to be using recycled materials to produce these physical products wherever possible, as well as offsetting the carbon footprint for the other merch packages available from our website.
It’s been a long time coming. If you're still here, we hope you understand how grateful we are to have your support after all these years. We're proud and excited to share this with you, and we want to thank our dear friend and manager Mike for sticking with us to see this through. That's it from us.
More news soon. hoo roo.
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UPDATE: JAN 24
Thanks for triple j for premiering 'Cascades' on Home & Hosed last night and to everyone who tuned in for the kind words.
If you missed it, you can request it via triple j @triplej on social media or 0439 75 7555 - and let them know what you think!
We're excited today to reveal the record title for the EP trilogy project "these are not your dreams."
'these are not your dreams' refers to how modern life is rubbish and the internet is invading our brains. It's control through disorientation and the manipulation of 'your dreams.'
All digital & physical music will be released together on Friday 15 May.
However the record will be released digitally to fans in 3 parts, during February, April & May, followed by 3 vinyl records and a full-length CD.
We'll also be releasing singles publicly along the way.
The EP titles & release timings are here:
EP1 - No Safe Place - out now
EP2 - Out of Hours - releases May
EP3 - Not an Exit - releases July
We'll share more news about the project and the artwork as it develops.
In the meantime, you can listen to the first single 'Cascades' & check out the pre-order options right here.
Live shows? Certainly. Stay tuned.
- team SMW
'these are not your dreams' Australia tour May/June - tickets & details at www.sleepmakeswaves.com/tour
UPDATE 20 MARCH 2020:
Hey everyone,
Our heart goes out to all of you sharing in the anxiety and disruption caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide. Having been fortunate enough to travel widely over the years, we send big love not only to our Australian fans but also our friends in Asia, NZ, greater Europe and America. SMW and our team are all doing our best to remain calm and rational while also taking the pandemic seriously.
An unfortunate consequence of this is that we cannot proceed with our Australian tour this year. It's not only that the Australian Government directives render events unfeasible - we also believe that it's our duty to minimise community transmission of the disease in Australia. Our hearts are heavy making this call, but we firmly believe it's the right thing to do. Our intent is to reschedule the shows and to retain Rolo Tomassi on the lineup, but that could be a long way off, potentially even as late as 2021. Any tickets bought will be valid for the new dates and we'll announce details as soon as we can.
We also need to push back the release date of the EP trilogy to July 17, as some of this music still needs to be recorded and produced. Otto has just returned home to a two-week stint in quarantine, and it's not out of the question that someone else in SMW could find themselves in a similar situation. Giving ourselves this extra time to complete the recordings means we can deliver them to you without any serious creative compromises. We are aware that some of you have already paid for these releases, so this decision is not made lightly and we do appreciate your patience.
In light of this, the first EP 'No Safe Place' is now streaming online in full at sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com
The economic impacts of this pandemic will be vast. For musicians specifically, the cancellation of live shows is a necessary evil that puts the main income stream of any given indie band on ice. This also has flow on effects through the live music economy, as we are just one of a number of bands that can no longer provide work to our tour manager, live mix engineer, guitar techs, light operator, backline/production spec providers, etc. You get the picture.
If you want to support bands and artists, Bandcamp is waiving their merchant fee for 24 hours from 6pm Sydney time (12am PST and 7am GMT) so please hop online and do your buying there.
If you want to support the wider industry, please make a donation to supportact.org.au or buy our tour manager's fundraiser t-shirt "RIP LIVE MUSIC 2020" imprintmerch.com.au/pages/backstage-darling
It's taken a disease to remind us that we are all human and that we have to work together. We encourage you to find that part of yourself that can stay cool under pressure while not ignoring or dismissing the gravity of the situation we are in. If you are in a position to stay home, please do so for the sake of minimising transmission in the community. But don't forget that "social distancing" does not mean social isolation. Reach out to your friends and family, so we can all be resilient as a community.
Cheers,
Alex, Otto & Tim
