by danielle holian
photo courtesy of sleep house
Sleep House is a four-piece outfit based out of the Philadelphia/South Jersey region. The band formed during their freshman year in high school in 2016. Bonding over the likes of musical artists of The Strokes, Hippo Campus, and John Mayer, this led the combination of two former bandmates and two brothers to begin writing music and playing at local open mics.
To date, they have released two EP's independently, multiple singles, and have toured the east coast. They have recently released their brand new single “Funny, Funny” which encapsulates the feelings of uncertainty and irony that most people have felt over the past year towards themselves and society. In many ways, this new single marks a glimpse at what is yet to come from the band.
We caught up with Sleep House to discuss all things music below.
Who or what are your musical influences as a band?
Sleep House: “The Beatles have always been a foundational influence for us, along with bands like The Strokes and Hippo Campus.”
What inspired your latest single “Funny, Funny?”
SH: “The inspiration came mostly from what was going on in the world for the past year and a half. Mental health, world events, what’s going on in our daily lives etc. It’s an observation on right now.”
Can you describe what your songwriting process is like? And how do you divide the creative process between you?
SH: “Our process has always been really free-flowing. An idea could start with Adam or G$ bringing something to the four of us, or we start jamming something random in the middle of practice, or we just crank out something new in Logic together. Whatever we’re making usually determines what each of us are gonna do, and it’s never the same which makes it a lot of fun.”
How has your sound, taste and energy progressed since the band began?
SH: “I think it’s really progressed with our age. We started when we were 15 years old and all of us had been doing music before that. It’s like the root of Sleep House started when we were 15, and every year we add more influences and life experiences into our sound that make it grow. Now that we’re a bit older we definitely have gotten comfortable being ourselves in every aspect of the band.”
What would you say was your biggest challenge breaking into the music industry?
SH: “Starting out at 15-16 years old and trying to get gigs and figure out how to get there [laughs]. We felt like we had to act more mature than how we really were when it came to playing gigs or talking to people in the industry cause we didn’t want to come off as just a group of kids.”
What do you want the listeners to take away from your music?
SH: “We’re music lovers first and foremost, so everything we make is for the love of the music. We love songs that can transport us back to a time in our life or a specific memory, we hope our songs can provide that feeling as well.”
And finally, what's one fun fact about the band for our readers?
SH: “Adam is 6’4.”