SLEEPING

Words: Keeley Thompson

Images: Flynn Hemsley (@flynnhemsley)

The enthusiastic wanderers skip along the coastline, tiptoeing around mangrove roots and shellfish while shallow water kisses their warm ankles. Heat-flushed cheeks make room for warm smiles as the group of friends reach their destination; a quiet cove where mossy rocks surround a swimming hole, and a tired (yet unbelievably sturdy) rope swing sways in the breeze.

This is Sleeping.

Warm and cool (but definitely not cold), Brisbane band Sleeping create soulful indie rock/pop music that sounds like how lemon sorbet tastes, fresh rain on hot grass smells, or finding shade on a hot day feels.

A collaborative collage of Brisbane creatives, Sleeping is the musical project of Lucy Dron (vocals), Benja King (bass), Erik Berg (guitar), Marcus Warren (guitar), Patrick Irwin (drums), Sebastian Martin-Wallace (sax) and Jacob Brocco (keys).

Sleeping understands simplicity without predictability and pays homage to the joys in micro-moments - like a warm coffee in the winter sun, or the first shower after a festival.

KEELEY: So tell me the Sleeping story. How did you all come together?

MARCUS: Eric and I played in different bands to begin with. We started to bond throughout our own individual musical journeys and decided to combine forces.

ERIK: We’d talked about creating our own band for ages and at some point we both didn’t have too much going on (for once) and wrote a song.

MARCUS: Sleeping was solely a recording project until Benja, our bass player and long time legend joined the team.

ERIK: Technically we’ve been a band for four years now. In the beginning it was just me and Marcus. After that Benja and Patrick jumped on. We realised we were only at about 65% of our capacity without a real singer so that’s when we recruited (or perhaps, cornered) Lucy after seeing her at a gig once.

KEELEY: How have you found you’ve changed or progressed as a band (and individuals) throughout the years?

MARCUS: It’s definitely built resilience.

ERIK: For me at the beginning, Sleeping was my chance to use ‘leftover’ ideas from other projects, so it was a bit strange starting from writing independently to then writing together. Having Lucy and the full band has really helped us find our sound as time has gone on. From the first single to now, it’s clear our sound has changed, but I think we’re still true to the original vision.

KEELEY: And do you have a clear vision you work towards with Sleeping or does it come of its own accord?

MARCUS: We all write music as individuals, so often we’ll write a song that we think would work well for the band and come together to make it a ‘real song’ for lack of a better term.

ERIK: Yeah, I think that while not all our songs sound the same, there’s something that makes it inherently Sleeping. I think the main vision is to stick with our indie-rock with a hint of jazz. I really want to hold onto our indie-rock roots because I still want to play a pentatonic once in a while.

KEELEY: So where do you get inspiration from as individuals and as a collective?

MARCUS: I’m firmly inspired by the 60’s and 70’s classic rock era (Beatles etc). But also more modern artists like Pond, Tame Impala, Mac Demarco. Erik actually introduced me to Steely Dan and I haven’t looked back since.

LUCY: As a singer, Julian Casablancas from The Strokes has always been my main inspiration, along with Amy Winehouse. For this project it’s been really cool to broaden my singing repertoire. With Sleeping I’ve definitely learnt to approach singing from a more relaxed, reserved way than maybe I used to.

ERIK: I’m pretty similar to Marcus. I grew up listening to a lot of jazz and swing but I started playing more classic blues like Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Again, more modern artists like Tame and King Gizzard are obviously inspirations for me too.

MARCUS: Erik studied jazz guitar at JMI (Jazz Music Institute) which rubbed off on me because I was like “wait, that’s really cool”. Erik started teaching me what he knew and with Lucy bringing a Hiatus Kaiyote kind of vibe, we started to move into the neo-soul space a bit more as a band.

KEELEY: Do you find your relationship with music changes depending on the project?

LUCY: Mine definitely is. My solo stuff is very dark and moody whereas with Sleeping it’s kind of like a more chill alter-ego, which has been a really interesting muscle to exercise.

ERIK: For me this band has been really easy, for some reason. We’re lucky to have such a good group of people and I think the passion for just hanging out and making music is really the core of what we do. I think sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the ‘why’ and get stuck on all the other things that come with being a creative/in the creative scene, but it’s really always about the music. I think (for me at least) with Sleeping, I haven’t lost sight of that.

MARCUS: I definitely agree with what Erik said. I think we all take inspiration from each other and that kind of gives me the energy and drive to keep going.

KEELEY: What’s your go-to cocktail order?

LUCY: Espresso martini.

KEELEY: Correct answer.

MARCUS: I second that.

ERIK: Nah fuck it, I’d go for a Margarita or an Old Fashioned or something. It depends where we are or what time it is.

LUCY: Oh shout out to Bloody Mary’s too.

KEELEY: How do you navigate life as a creative, both within the music scene and in the greater context of the world?

ERIK: I think as you get older (particularly as a musician), your perspective shifts a lot. When I was young I kind of expected things to come a little bit easier. It’s really easy to fall into that mindset that there’s not enough success to go around.

As you get older you realise what your priorities are. But it takes a long time to get there, and it’s easy to get jaded by it all. But you figure it out so long as your heart stays in the right place.

LUCY: My relationship with music changes all the time. I was super all-or-nothing with my creativity for a long time, so I’ve often found myself questioning whether I should continue or not. I’m trying to reach a point where I do it for the love and the outlet, and if success comes along the way then that’s a bonus, but it’s not everything.

It can be rough when you put your whole identity into something though. I’m still figuring it out, but I’m getting there.

KEELEY: Success and fulfilment are two sides of the same coin in regards to achievements. How do you define these two things?

LUCY: To me, fulfilment is something that’s always attainable if you detach from material targets or pre-determined metrics and just enjoy what you’re doing regardless of the outcome. Success is hard to define. It’s less about myself and more about having my music heard and connected to.

ERIK: Success is tough because you can set the bar at a certain place and think that when you get there you’ll be happy and fulfilled. But the goal posts will continuously shift and the pressure kills enjoyment. It’s important to understand fulfilment in the small things too, because if the expectation is always sky-high, you’ll never be fulfilled.

I find fulfilment in the fact that I get to have an outlet that I’m passionate about, and I get to do it with friends. Not everyone can say that. It’s important to appreciate the wins when you do get them, no matter how small, because you won’t win every time.

MARCUS: For me, fulfilment comes from making the art for art's sake and that’s what brings me joy.

KEELEY: If you were showing someone around Meanjin (Brisbane), where would you take them?

ERIK: I’d take them to Kim Thanh Hot Bread for a Bahn Mi for sure. It’s the perfect amount of sketchy but so tasty and I think that that’s authentically Brisbane.

MARCUS: Middle Store in West End.

ERIK: He’s getting paid to say that.

LUCY: Ric’s, probably.

ERIK: Oh we’d need a time machine too so you could go to Ric’s in 2017.

KEELEY: Dream rider?

LUCY: Jamison and coke.

ERIK: Fried chicken and champagne.

MARCUS: A masseuse.

ERIK: Oh shit, now we’re talking.

KEELEY: You’re on a road trip with your mates. You’re on aux. What are you playing?

ERIK: I’d start with Can't Buy a Thrill by Steely Dan. Then I’d do The Royal Scam and then I’d do Aja.

KEELEY: So only Steely Dan? Nice.

LUCY: I’d probably do some Doja. I’d probably vibe out in a separate car to the boys if I could too.

MARCUS: Let’s figure out what the other members would play too.

ERIK: I think Benny would put on Katy Lied.

MARCUS: We can’t play only Steely Dan hahahaha.

ERIK: Patty would probably put on Foo Fighters.

Actually, that’s the way to get the car ride started. Bitta’ Fooey’s with the windows down? Hell yeah.

MARCUS: Jacob would do Pavement and The Strokes.

LUCY: I have no idea what Seb would play, he’s a bit of an enigma.

KEELEY: You’ve made it to the end of the interview alive! What’s coming next for Sleeping?

LUCY: We’ve got a song coming out on the 30th of November called Focus.

MARCUS: Yeah along with a music video and an album.

ERIK: We’re really proud of ourselves with this one. Throughout the creation of our songs we’ve been doing this sneaky thing where we book Airbnb’s and take out all the furniture, record the songs then put it all back, but I think we were always a few centimetres off. It’s funny to think of the Airbnb owner coming home and everything’s just slightly off.

So yeah, album soon! Single even sooner.

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