Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Wide Awake With LOZ From WHILE SHE SLEEPS
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Oh, so it looks like you guys have an incredible
- 0:02Speaker 1: rum with shows at the moment.
- 0:04Speaker 2: How's everything We're going? Honestly, can't complain, you know, just
- 0:12Speaker 2: played a load of summer festivals in the UK and Europe.
- 0:17Speaker 3: Yeah, and literally played some of the biggest crowds we've
- 0:20Speaker 3: played to as a band so far. So yeah, not
- 0:23Speaker 3: complaining feels great and having a lot of fun.
- 0:26Speaker 2: Yeah, And they have.
- 0:28Speaker 1: Been like, you see the crowds that you walk out to,
- 0:31Speaker 1: how do you get amped up for that and actually
- 0:33Speaker 1: prepare yourself to walk out to that many people?
- 0:37Speaker 3: I mean, you know, we just love playing live, so
- 0:42Speaker 3: naturally the energy that we can feel from the crowd
- 0:46Speaker 3: ready to watch us play is sort of initially what
- 0:49Speaker 3: gets us going, you know, when we're backstage warming up
- 0:51Speaker 3: and we know we're going to walk out there. You know,
- 0:54Speaker 3: I think for a lot of years we were just
- 0:57Speaker 3: in disbelief that people are that many people come and
- 1:00Speaker 3: check out our show, you know, and it's it's very humbling,
- 1:04Speaker 3: you know, to know that that people love our band
- 1:07Speaker 3: and we're still after all these years, still still playing
- 1:11Speaker 3: shows and you know, getting.
- 1:13Speaker 2: Up to the level that we are now.
- 1:14Speaker 3: It's it feels very special and something that we've worked
- 1:16Speaker 3: very hard on. And yeah, like getting ready to walk
- 1:20Speaker 3: out onto these festivals, you just yeah, you can really
- 1:24Speaker 3: feel the energy.
- 1:25Speaker 2: It's it's amazing.
- 1:27Speaker 1: Yeah, that's cool.
- 1:27Speaker 2: That's good.
- 1:28Speaker 1: It has to be the most intoxicating feeling. I guess,
- 1:31Speaker 1: well that guy ready.
- 1:34Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's a there's a lot. There's a
- 1:36Speaker 2: lot to do in a band.
- 1:37Speaker 3: Especially like how the sort of industry works nowadays and
- 1:41Speaker 3: how things get consistently changing. And but the one thing
- 1:46Speaker 3: that that sort of keeps me going is definitely getting
- 1:49Speaker 3: out there and playing live. Like like you said, there's
- 1:51Speaker 3: no better feeling and it never gets old.
- 1:54Speaker 1: Yeah, you know that's awesome. And you guys are Juno
- 1:57Speaker 1: and Bark on the OUDSI leg of your tour for
- 1:59Speaker 1: Self Help in September with Stick to Your Guns, Ocean
- 2:02Speaker 1: Sleeper and Boundaries. First of all, thank you so much
- 2:05Speaker 1: for bringing back Stick to Your Guns because I love them.
- 2:07Speaker 2: So it's.
- 2:10Speaker 1: Something that's unique to the land of us that you're
- 2:13Speaker 1: looking forward to.
- 2:15Speaker 2: Uh, drop bears, all right.
- 2:18Speaker 1: We've got no short.
- 2:22Speaker 2: Do you know what I feel like?
- 2:23Speaker 3: There's there's a lot of similarities between the UK and
- 2:27Speaker 3: Australia obviously, you know, you get a lot nicer weather.
- 2:31Speaker 2: But you know, I think that when we get over
- 2:33Speaker 2: there and.
- 2:33Speaker 3: Meet people, you know, it's almost like it feels like
- 2:36Speaker 3: a bit of a second home. Like people are always
- 2:38Speaker 3: really up for up for a good old rock show,
- 2:41Speaker 3: and and you know, we're always met with people being
- 2:45Speaker 3: so welcoming and up for us being there and playing live.
- 2:48Speaker 2: And you've got a great music scene, so.
- 2:51Speaker 3: Yeah, just there's tons of similarities and we just love
- 2:53Speaker 3: getting over there and meeting our fan base and just
- 2:56Speaker 3: sort of walking around enjoying different spots. And yeah, it's
- 3:00Speaker 3: always been, like I say, it's always been a place
- 3:02Speaker 3: we've loved and it's just great that we're getting out
- 3:05Speaker 3: to Australia more frequently now. You know, it really really
- 3:08Speaker 3: feels like, you know, there's a space for our band
- 3:11Speaker 3: over there in Australia, and like I say, we love
- 3:13Speaker 3: it so for us, it's it's perfect.
- 3:17Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true. And I guess we are generally just
- 3:19Speaker 1: grateful that you guys are willing to jump on a
- 3:21Speaker 1: plane and fly all this way over just to come
- 3:23Speaker 1: play for us. So I'm glad that you feel at home.
- 3:27Speaker 2: No like legitimately, it's always worth it. You know that.
- 3:31Speaker 2: I hate flying just the long, the long haul flights.
- 3:35Speaker 2: You know, it's just so like.
- 3:38Speaker 3: You're tired, you jet, like you're aching, you know, you're
- 3:41Speaker 3: sharing a space with that many people for that long.
- 3:44Speaker 3: It's not something that I really enjoy. But it's also
- 3:47Speaker 3: not something that I would give up.
- 3:48Speaker 2: You know. I love getting out to Australia.
- 3:50Speaker 3: Like I say, so, it's worth the It's worth the
- 3:53Speaker 3: shitty flights to be out there.
- 3:55Speaker 1: So yeah, completely, it's not natural, but it's totally worth it.
- 3:59Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it. As you guys.
- 4:02Speaker 1: Released the new album self how earlier this year, how
- 4:06Speaker 1: are you feeling it has been received and how have
- 4:07Speaker 1: the crowds been reacting to her. Are you getting lots
- 4:09Speaker 1: of singing back or has been going?
- 4:12Speaker 2: Yeah?
- 4:13Speaker 3: I think I think initially people there were a lot
- 4:15Speaker 3: of fans of Baty Sleeps that that definitely sort of
- 4:20Speaker 3: open their eyes a little bit to the fact that
- 4:22Speaker 3: it did ruffle a few feathers, you know, like, but
- 4:25Speaker 3: we we knew that going into it, that it was
- 4:28Speaker 3: a bit of a change of direction for us. I
- 4:30Speaker 3: think now that people have.
- 4:32Speaker 2: Had a chance to hear some of those songs live
- 4:37Speaker 2: alongside things that we've written before.
- 4:41Speaker 3: I think that the opinion anyone that was sort of
- 4:44Speaker 3: doubting in a sense has sort of been silenced.
- 4:47Speaker 2: I feel like the new material.
- 4:49Speaker 3: Works very well alongside our older stuff, but also, you know,
- 4:54Speaker 3: keeps things fresh. I think, you know, I I grew
- 5:00Speaker 3: up listening to two thousands of metal core you know,
- 5:03Speaker 3: that's what made me fall in love with wanting to
- 5:05Speaker 3: be in a band, really and I think for a
- 5:06Speaker 3: little bit, you know, it became a bit of a
- 5:09Speaker 3: dirty word, like it's a very oversaturated market in a
- 5:13Speaker 3: sense that you only have to, you know, get onto
- 5:17Speaker 3: streaming platforms and you can find fifty odd bands that
- 5:20Speaker 3: you'd probably listened to in a metalcore genre and that
- 5:23Speaker 3: you know, for a little you know, for me, that
- 5:26Speaker 3: feels a little easy now, you know, I think lots
- 5:30Speaker 3: of people know how to write good metalcore songs, and
- 5:32Speaker 3: there's tons of bands doing it. So for us, we
- 5:35Speaker 3: wanted to do something that just did not like, didn't
- 5:38Speaker 3: follow any trends at all, and felt like something new
- 5:42Speaker 3: and really fresh. So kind of on purpose, we kind
- 5:47Speaker 3: of took a bit of a turn away from just
- 5:50Speaker 3: you know, heavy riffs and screaming and wanted to try
- 5:53Speaker 3: and branch out and make things interesting, keep our fan
- 5:56Speaker 3: base on its toes, and I think that does that.
- 6:00Speaker 3: I don't think it sounds like anyone else out there.
- 6:02Speaker 3: I think it's interesting. It's got some new elements, and
- 6:07Speaker 3: I think, strangely there's a bit of britpopping there as well.
- 6:10Speaker 3: It sounds like and some of the time it sounds
- 6:13Speaker 3: like it's it's from the nineties, you know, britpop era.
- 6:16Speaker 2: So we're stot and how it turns out.
- 6:18Speaker 3: And like I said, people now that were that had
- 6:20Speaker 3: any doubts, I think of now they've had a chance
- 6:22Speaker 3: to digest the record and listening to the songs in
- 6:26Speaker 3: a live set against like sort of next to our
- 6:30Speaker 3: previous work if you like.
- 6:32Speaker 2: Yeah, I think people are just like I kind of
- 6:34Speaker 2: get it now. So we're stouts and.
- 6:36Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, we wanted to ruffle a few feathers on purpose,
- 6:41Speaker 3: so have some fun with it.
- 6:43Speaker 1: It's worth doing that these days because you're always going
- 6:45Speaker 1: to have your og fans that I'll love you for everything.
- 6:47Speaker 1: You'll always have the people that are going, fuck this,
- 6:49Speaker 1: I don't like it. But being able to actually do
- 6:52Speaker 1: what you're staying true to yourself and being able to
- 6:54Speaker 1: more fight that is like being successful and moving forward.
- 6:57Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, for sure.
- 7:01Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to talk about the film clips a
- 7:03Speaker 1: little bit that you've released as well. Sorry, the title
- 7:06Speaker 1: track self. Hell, you watch that film clip and there's
- 7:09Speaker 1: so much going on. It's quirky, it's fun, there's people
- 7:11Speaker 1: running around everywhere. But the lyrics are heavy, and it's like,
- 7:15Speaker 1: if you're actually listening, you're like, wow, yeah, that's that's
- 7:17Speaker 1: actually a heavy song, so kind of like what the
- 7:20Speaker 1: album is about. So it's kind of like how people
- 7:23Speaker 1: are dealing with mental health and it's kind of like,
- 7:25Speaker 1: look at this shiny thing.
- 7:29Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that lyrically.
- 7:34Speaker 3: You know, I've always been quite nihilistic, you know. I
- 7:37Speaker 3: think that's from where I'm from. It's from in the
- 7:40Speaker 3: Yorkshire sense. In the UK, it's very you know, people
- 7:44Speaker 3: find it funny to be quite.
- 7:45Speaker 2: Doom and gloom.
- 7:46Speaker 3: Everything's sort of crap, you know, And I think sort
- 7:49Speaker 3: of writing in that sense is a way of us
- 7:52Speaker 3: engaging with our fan base to sort of let everyone
- 7:54Speaker 3: know like you're not alone in the sort of feelings
- 7:58Speaker 3: and struggles and emotions, like we all go through ups
- 8:01Speaker 3: and downs.
- 8:02Speaker 2: But I think that we always wanted to We always
- 8:07Speaker 2: wanted to give a positive message.
- 8:08Speaker 3: So I think it's about acknowledging sort of the darker
- 8:13Speaker 3: side of things, but also having fun with it in
- 8:15Speaker 3: terms of.
- 8:15Speaker 2: Like, oh oh, they are.
- 8:21Speaker 3: Just just just having fun with it, in terms of like,
- 8:23Speaker 3: you know, life can be a bit shitty sometimes, but
- 8:27Speaker 3: you know, we're at a rock show, so we're all
- 8:30Speaker 3: in this together. You know, we all share these these
- 8:33Speaker 3: these feelings and emotions, so let's just you know, understand
- 8:37Speaker 3: that and just have as much fun as possible while
- 8:40Speaker 3: we can. You know, you don't know what's around the corner.
- 8:45Speaker 3: You don't know what life's going to throw at you.
- 8:46Speaker 3: So I think that when people come to see our band,
- 8:49Speaker 3: it is released like it is for us on stage,
- 8:52Speaker 3: you know, to be able to get up there and
- 8:53Speaker 3: get rid of all that negative energy.
- 8:55Speaker 2: And have fun. Yeah, and we always want to leave
- 8:59Speaker 2: people with a positive message of unity.
- 9:03Speaker 3: I guess, you know, like feeling like you belong. I
- 9:05Speaker 3: think that's what the music industry did for me. You know,
- 9:07Speaker 3: when I got into sort of new metal and metalcore
- 9:09Speaker 3: when I was a kid, I felt like I was
- 9:11Speaker 3: part of this this community that gave me a space
- 9:14Speaker 3: to go and marsh and you know, feel feel a
- 9:17Speaker 3: bit free. And you know, so I think those those
- 9:22Speaker 3: are the elements that we want to bring to our
- 9:23Speaker 3: live show and those, you know, the lyrical content goes
- 9:26Speaker 3: alongside with that.
- 9:27Speaker 2: You know, we're all we all go through it, so
- 9:30Speaker 2: let's just fucking have some fun, you know.
- 9:33Speaker 3: And I think that, like you were referencing the video
- 9:36Speaker 3: for self Hell, I feel like we've been having so
- 9:40Speaker 3: much fun on stage over the last few years. We're
- 9:42Speaker 3: not just an angry sort of metal band. But I
- 9:45Speaker 3: feel like when we put out self Hell, it was
- 9:49Speaker 3: kind of more more relative to the to the fund
- 9:55Speaker 3: that we're actually having in a life sense now, and
- 9:57Speaker 3: we wanted to show that, you know, we're not just
- 9:59Speaker 3: an angry metal it's about you know, bringing in a
- 10:02Speaker 3: bit of that new metal flavor and just just having fun.
- 10:05Speaker 3: And yeah, so so it feels like that video feels
- 10:09Speaker 3: like more, you know, more along the lines of what
- 10:11Speaker 3: we're like as a band, more more to the day now.
- 10:16Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 10:16Speaker 1: Cool, That's awesome, And it's such an important to stand
- 10:20Speaker 1: as well. And I think having you guys at the
- 10:21Speaker 1: forefront is such a big fan base and going yo,
- 10:24Speaker 1: mental health is a thing, but we got this. We're
- 10:26Speaker 1: all gonna be okay, let's have some fun. And that's
- 10:28Speaker 1: it's nice to hear. It's really nice to you.
- 10:31Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great. I saw a video.
- 10:34Speaker 1: Recently of all these starts coming out enjoying you guys
- 10:37Speaker 1: on stage with silent speaks, and the crowd just went
- 10:39Speaker 1: fucking mental. And even after all these years, it's still
- 10:44Speaker 1: like everyone just fucking loves it. Are playing like a
- 10:48Speaker 1: wholesome moment like that every night with malevolence later on
- 10:51Speaker 1: in the tour.
- 10:53Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that, you know, there is there's some
- 10:57Speaker 3: fun camaraderie with Sheffield bands, you know. And when we
- 11:02Speaker 3: had Alex Taylor from The Level and it's join us
- 11:04Speaker 3: for the song down off the new record, it just
- 11:06Speaker 3: felt like a no brainer. You know, the band doing
- 11:08Speaker 3: really well, we've been palsed for for a while and yeah,
- 11:13Speaker 3: like it's you know, with a band like being with
- 11:15Speaker 3: the Horizon, you know, it's it's sometimes hard to sort
- 11:19Speaker 3: of bump into each other at festivals and stuff. So
- 11:22Speaker 3: when it when it makes sense, it does feel really
- 11:24Speaker 3: like a special moment, you know. So yeah, just again,
- 11:27Speaker 3: just it's just fun to do, and yeah, there'll definitely
- 11:31Speaker 3: be some more in the future.
- 11:33Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome. So you guys have been a band
- 11:36Speaker 1: for quite a long time now, which is a big
- 11:40Speaker 1: fait these days. What would you say is a key
- 11:42Speaker 1: to a healthy relationship in a band? Like, how do
- 11:44Speaker 1: you sustain something for that long successfully?
- 11:50Speaker 2: I think there's a there's a couple of different things, really.
- 11:53Speaker 3: I think that you know, like you say, we've been
- 11:55Speaker 3: a band for a long time and without you know, compromise.
- 12:00Speaker 3: You know, a lot of bands, you know, fold under
- 12:03Speaker 3: the fact that people aren't able to compromise. So I
- 12:06Speaker 3: think being able to compromise and and share the workload,
- 12:10Speaker 3: if you like, and find what people's strengths are is
- 12:13Speaker 3: always going to be a.
- 12:15Speaker 2: Positive thing for your band.
- 12:16Speaker 3: And I think that when I joined while She sleeps,
- 12:20Speaker 3: the determination to sort of get where we wanted to
- 12:23Speaker 3: be is felt across five people, and that that can
- 12:26Speaker 3: be hard to find, you know, when you first start
- 12:28Speaker 3: a band, you know, members change and no member change
- 12:33Speaker 3: and people's opinions and things like that change. And we've
- 12:36Speaker 3: just sort of worked through it, you know, compromise where
- 12:40Speaker 3: we can and.
- 12:42Speaker 2: I can't think of the word. There's a word that
- 12:44Speaker 2: I'm trying to look for.
- 12:47Speaker 3: It's not determination or anything like that, but it's like
- 12:51Speaker 3: we all had the same vision. You know, we all
- 12:53Speaker 3: wanted the exact same thing, and it's to have longevity
- 12:57Speaker 3: in a band, and you know, we're all striving for
- 12:59Speaker 3: the same goal. So I think those things what keep
- 13:02Speaker 3: us going, you know. Yeah, it can it can be
- 13:06Speaker 3: tough being in a band for that many years. You know,
- 13:08Speaker 3: it's like a family. Sometimes you really annoy each other
- 13:10Speaker 3: or fiss each other off, but then it's all love
- 13:13Speaker 3: at the end of the day.
- 13:14Speaker 2: So yeah, I love I love my guys in my band.
- 13:16Speaker 2: And then yeah, without.
- 13:17Speaker 3: Their dedication to the same goals as I have, and
- 13:21Speaker 3: we won't be where we are.
- 13:22Speaker 1: So yeah, absolutely, And it is very rare to see,
- 13:26Speaker 1: Like I think you came in a couple of years
- 13:27Speaker 1: after being started and then that's it, Like that's a rarity. Sorry, Yeah,
- 13:32Speaker 1: hats off to you guys. All right, well, so I
- 13:35Speaker 1: got that, but it was really awesome to make You've
- 13:37Speaker 1: been lovely. Fans can get tickets to your show through
- 13:41Speaker 1: ticket Master on the audi leg of the tour in September.
- 13:45Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely stoked to be returning and stoke to
- 13:48Speaker 3: Have the lineup that we've got coming out, so yeah,
- 13:50Speaker 3: we'll see everyone then and can't wait.