SLEEPAZOID

Writer: Joseph Maranta

Images: Joshua Nai - @0ojin_ / @joshnai.mov

Summer is beginning to rear its head. 

Despite the pessimism induced by sweaty leather couches, iron-branding seatbelts and sweaty morning wake-ups, the anticipation of what’s to come remains a beacon of optimism. 

Clocking off from work at 3pm, their hilly walk home is arduous to say the least. The mental fuzz induced by hours of customer service is only amplified by the sweltering humidity and the incessant burning of lactic acid in their legs. 

But today’s trek is different. The sensation of sweat dripping down their forearms has been replaced by sporadic spine shivers and goosebumps. The air feels static, the wind has become ominous and birds migrate with a newfound sense of urgency. 

Once home, they shower and prepare themselves for the show. Their window is cranked slightly ajar for a full 4D experience as the first strike of lightning emerges amid a scattered black and blue sky. The initial shock factor of the deafening crack mitigated by the ensuing downpour of heavy rain.

As droplets seep through their window they sink further into bliss. The chaos of nature subdues their mind, a feeling of earned comfort envelops them, flooding their brain with endorphins. 

They don’t understand why they feel such comfort during violent storms, but they don’t waste time on introspection. It feels like a primal thrill, a rush of adrenaline knowing that despite the danger thrown at them by nature, they've found refuge in a safe cave.

But if nothing else, the storm provides a break.

There’s no reason to be productive, no reason to socialise and ironically no reason to hide. 

Naarm quintet Sleepazoid possesses a similarly uncanny feeling of comfort in chaos. 

Cutting through their coalescence of grunge, post-punk, and most recently shoegaze, is a polish which is testament to their passion and authenticity. Comprising of Nette France (vocals + guitar), Luca Soprano (drums), Josef Pabis (bass), George Inglis (guitar) and Jim Duong (guitar), the Naarm quintet weave a sense of familiarity and safety within their raw, unbridled energy.

JOE: Awesome to see you guys in Brisbane! Have you been able to find a favourite venue here?

SLEEPAZOID: Crowbar for sure. 

LUCA: Partly because we played there but also the room itself is great. 

NETTE: I know it’s a historic venue in Brisbane because of The Zoo. I remembered seeing pictures of all these iconic acts like WAAX the last time I was there, so it was so cool to play there knowing its history. 

JOE: What’s been your favourite set from BIGSOUND?

GEORGE: I saw Claudio Rabe on the Open Stage, they’re a Madagascan trio, it was a crazy, crazy show. 

NETTE: I caught some Spikefuck which I loved, that was really sick. 

LUCA: I really liked Lucky. They had a great energy about them, they toe the line between all of those pocket alternative genres. Very tight rhythm sections and Lucky herself is a hell of a singer as well as being a great songwriter. 

JOE: How did you all meet each other in the first place?

NETTE: Joe and I moved from Canberra to Melbourne together, and we’d been talking for a while about creating a new band after touring with our old band Sputnik Sweetheart for a while. When you start releasing music at a young age you can sometimes outgrow it, but when you play live people obviously want to hear the music you’ve put out.

So the idea of a fresh slate can become appealing artistically.

We first met Luca to have a jam with him, and he happened to have a studio with George so the four of us started jamming and there was such good creative energy. We wrote our first song RATS which was on our first EP as a quartet, which George recorded and produced. 

Jim plays with Luca in another group, and when Jim joined it felt as if we’d found the missing piece of the puzzle. 

LUCA: I had an inkling that Jim would fit perfectly. Jim and I’s other band is a HipHop / RnB sort of thing. But we had a five minute punk jam in between rehearsals one day and I was like I have the band for you, come with me. 

JIM: We were talking about IDLES actually, that's how it all started. 

JOE: You officially announced Sleepazoid via Instagram in September, but how long had the concept of this band been around for?

LUCA: We’ve been doing Sleepazoid for about a year before that first post. 

NETTE: We’d been writing, refining and finding our sound without any external influence or noise for so long. But around September of last year is when we started writing and recording our debut EP running with the dogs. That’s when we felt ready to start releasing, we felt like we had that creative vision ready. 

GEORGE: We were absolutely itching to play gigs by then, but we waited until it was right. 

LUCA: Recording a good song is a validating feeling on its own, but until you show people it’s hard to know whether or not it’ll go well. But I think all the hard work has gloriously paid off. 

NETTE: It’s so nice to take that time to find your own sound, without the feeling of expectation.

JOE: You’ve played over 25 shows since November, in addition to releasing a debut EP and most recently a new single. The past 9 months must feel like a blur for you all. 

NETTE: Yeah it really has. But between writing, recording, playing shows and travelling - there’s been a lot of diversity in what we’ve done as a band. It hasn’t felt like Groundhog Day too often, it feels like every day, week and month is something new. We’re loving the journey. 

GEORGE: We’ve worked towards each show too, prepared for them specifically. 

LUCA: I think we’re pretty dialled in on that. Through research and playing music for such a long time, we’ve learnt how to prepare for any sort of situation that we might run into, whether it’s a small room, big room or whatever. 

NETTE: We recently had to change our stage plot because of challenges with on-stage volume. I have quite soft vocals so we needed more control over the mix in the room. So I’m now on stage right while Joe is left and then Jim and George can face each other in the centre. 

LUCA: It’s a bit of V-formation, so we have a tunnel through the middle with pedalboards facing each other - so we have duelling guitarists now. I think harmonically and melodically, they bear a big responsibility for making our sound so cinematic and lush. So it’s nice having that big sonic texture in the middle.

GEORGE: You can hear Nette’s vocals now too. 

JOE: The textures and guitar wash in your latest single, 3AM, stand out compared to the sound of your last project. Do you think 3AM is indicative of where your sound will evolve towards?

JIM: Yeah, I think we’ve found that if you make the quiet parts quieter, the loud parts become louder. 

JOSEF: The effect of not playing — missing a beat or coming in slightly later, is very interesting. 

LUCA: Yeah, using silence as an instrument. Because we have three guitars, we can plug in and out those sounds as we go, so it adds a big dynamic for us. 

JOE: It seems like a very fun song to play, would you say it’s your favourite track to perform live?

NETTE: It’s fun but I wouldn’t say it's the funnest. 

GEORGE: It’d be my favourite. The reception has been so good since we’ve released it, so seeing the audience enjoying it so much and singing the words back to us, that’s why I enjoy it so much. 

NETTE: We’ve been road testing some new tracks and that’s been fun as well since it’s new for us. But the whole set is fun because it’s quite dynamic. There are some songs that are heavy and some that are softer. I think we’re more comfortable with our writing as a group and we’re more comfortable in our roles as well as with experimenting - so it means we’ve been able to build our set in a way that offers lots of fun moments. 

JOE: Are there any projects you’re building towards, with 3AM?

NETTE: We have a new EP coming out! But at the moment, we’re just building towards our next single New Age. But yeah EP number two is the focus, so we’re just building the world for that now, 3AM is just the taste. 

LUCA: There’s a little bit more than just music coming along with those things too. 

GEORGE: I’d say it’s definitely cohesive. 

JOE: This is unrelated to your music, but around the time your first EP dropped I remember scrolling Instagram and seeing an AFL ad featuring Sleepazoid as the stars of the show. How did you manage to land that?

NETTE: That was all thanks to our booking agent, Kim. The original band had to drop out at the last minute, and Kim was like “Hey there’s a random thing that needs to happen - if you’re keen you’re doing it tomorrow”. 

JOE: It’s a different type of footy, but as Canberrans you and Josef must be stoked about the Raiders.

NETTE: Ohh yes, okay yeah. No, that's big. I was just in Ireland and my friend Ian is a huge fan of the Raiders, so he’s flying back from Ireland to watch their first game in the finals. 

JOSEF: I’m not a football person but it is sick that Canberra are the Minor Premiers. 

JOE: You had the honour of being the opening act for Faye Webster for the duration of her Australian tour earlier this year, what was that experience like?

JIM: It was humbling. I’m still not used to all the screams, it was so loud. 

LUCA: 2000 people telling you 'good job' is a crazy thing. 

NETTE: Faye’s fans are so dedicated and passionate. They all got to the show so early even though sonically we’re pretty different to Faye Webster. We weren’t sure on how it was going to translate, but the crowd were down for anything it felt. 

JIM: It was total encouragement. 

LUCA: We were freaking out a little bit before night one at The Forum. We’re the only opener for a massive headliner so we only expected about a quarter of the room to be filled, but I reckon we played to no less than 1500 people every night. The second show at The Enmore Theatre was completely full from memory. Even the mezzanine there. Shoutout to Faye Webster’s fans, they’re the best. 

JOE: I figure that Nette and Josef left Canberra in part because of how incredible the Melbourne music scene is, but if each of you had to leave Melbourne to join the scene of another city, which city would you choose?

JOSEF: Oooh, can we answer for each other?

JOE: Of course. 

JOSEF: Nette would move to Lisbon. 

LUCA: Joe would probably go to Berlin. 

JOSEF: Where would George go? I could see him in Switzerland, I don’t know why. 

LUCA: I think George would throw down in the UK, he’d have fun there. The UK music scene is very up his alley. 

JOSEF: Luca would love to go to Italy. 

NETTE: Luca would move to Lisbon with me. 

LUCA: I would definitely, but I’d also way rather go to Berlin because it’s so much fun. 

JOSEF: Jim might also like Lisbon. He’d go somewhere chill and tranquil, maybe like the Azores. 

LUCA: As long as he can rock and relax. I think Lisbon is a good place for that, so I guess we’re all moving to Portugal.

JOE: Just finally, from your time together as a band what’s been your favourite experience so far?

GEORGE: There’s been so many, but mine would be playing on the St Kilda festival stage. It was so windy, but playing songs, seeing people enjoying the music and just having the ocean right in front of you, that was really nice. 

LUCA: Recording the new EP. We drove up to Tugura on the Central Coast, and our producer has a live-in studio so we just spent the week making music together. 

JIM: Hmm, everything? 

It’s just been wild, it’s been a blur. Very grateful for everything that’s happened and all the opportunities we’ve had so far. 

NETTE: This might be coming from a nostalgic and sentimental place, but any of the moments from recording running with the dogs where we had a breakthrough moment where something came together. It was a real testament to our ability to work together and trust one another. Those memories are very fond to me. 

JOSEF: Mine would be those Faye Webster shows. Honest to god it was so sick. Absolute highlight, life-changing. A year ago we were talking to each other about how amazing it’d be to play at The Forum, and we got to play it twice and then we got to fly to The Enmore to play a show. It was crazy. 

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