Hear first single “Something” from El Paso-based dreampop
trio’s Chris Common (Minus The Bear, Chelsea Wolfe) produced EP now.
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Sleepspent (L-R): Cecilia
Otero, Josh Mendoza, Austin North. Photo credit: Jon-Carlo
Diaz.
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& SHARE
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About Sleepspent
21-year-old songwriter and guitarist, Austin North began performing as a UC
San Diego student before eventually returning to his hometown of El Paso to
form Sleepspent with friend and
co-writer, Aaron Quintanilla.
The band, now a trio including Cecilia Otero on bass and Josh
Mendoza on drums, will release its Chris
Common (Minus The Bear, Chelsea Wolfe, Le Butcherettes)-produced debut EP “It’s Better If You Don’t Speak Or Think” via Slow Start Records on May 4th,
2018.
North’s knack for creating music that is bathed in atmosphere (think Slowdive mixed with a more reverb-y Radiohead, led by a guitarist with an
effects pedal fetish) that doesn’t lean away from authentic lyricism and
captivating vocal performances (think Jeff
Buckley) is proven on “It’s Better
If You Don’t Speak Or Think”.
“We’re also definitely inspired by shoegaze and dreampop,”
North says, elaborating on Sleepspent’s
sound. “That can be heard in the alternate tunings used throughout our music as
well as the melodic chord progressions and melodies.”
And though he’s young, North also takes influence from future hall-of-famers like The Cure and The Smiths – two more acts with definitive “sounds” that have never
sacrificed art for artifice.
North’s formative years studying jazz guitar wraps it all up in a solid
technical foundation, too, but ultimately, Sleepspent
songs exist to make you feel.
“They’re more about whatever emotion and feeling they
bring about in people,” North says.
“I write them to make people feel and interpret my own musings rather than to
have them be relatable.”
“A lot of the songs on the EP center around a feeling
of confusion and a sense of isolation, and ‘Something’
is a prime example of that,” North
continues, referring to the EP’s first single.
The song evolved from a North demo into a Sleepspent
signature song that features a kind of indie version of the “wall of sound,”
which was created by North alone and
then re-created in the studio.
“‘Something’
came to be all in one night by myself,” North
affirms. “I recorded the demo with some odd recording techniques, like blindly
playing random notes in the same key over multiple tracks in order to get a
very noisy and chaotic sound that we recreated later.”
Interestingly, the demo recording’s closely mic’d acoustic
guitar tracks, augmented by an ebow, have survived through to the final track.
“We also used an air organ, which was a dream to play
in the studio while recreating a synthesizer I had used in the demo,” North says.
For all of the obsessing over gear and studio
experimentation, Sleepspent is also
quickly gaining a reputation in El Paso as a formidable live act.
Sleepspent has already been nominated as a ‘Best Band in the
City’ by The City Magazine in El
Paso, who called the trio “completely captivating, live and through your
speakers.” As Sleepspent’s local
following has grown, the group has become a go-to local act to support
nationally touring artists, and has also begun to hit the road itself.
Sleepspent will announce more live performances as the release
date of “It’s Better If You Don’t Speak
Or Think” nears.
“It’s Better If You Don’t Speak Or
Think,” the debut EP by Sleepspent, arrives on May 4th, 2018 via Slow Start Records. Austin North is available for interviews.
Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
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Sleepspent – Live
04/07/2018: Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
04/14/2018: El Paso, TX @ Low Brow Palace (Slow Start Records Showcase, Acoustic) (TIX)
05/04/2018: El Paso, TX @ Low Brow Palace (Record Release Show)
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Sleepspent
“It’s Better If You Don’t Speak Or Think”
EP
(Slow Start Records)
May 4th, 2018
Track Listing:
01. Something (LISTEN)
2. Roots
3. Come Smile With Me
4. Stars
5. Cracking
6. What's The Rush?
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Sleepspent Links
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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
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