- The Sleepers' Signals -

ATTENTION SINGERS: THE SLEEPERS WANT YOUR LUNGS!

2010-12-15T03:45:00.000-08:00

Established prog/alt rock band seeking new voice.

Some of our influences: Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave, Sigur Ros, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Mars Volta, Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey, Boris, Soundgargen, Joy Division, Queens of the Stone Age

While we have one foot firmly cemented in 'rock music', we aim to constantly evolve and spread into many directions and genres so we are looking for someone who is versatile and open minded.

We want someone who is:

- Aged 20 - 28
- Committed and dedicated
- Willing to go the extra mile creatively
- Passionate. Someone who devours music (old and new)
- Open to taking and giving direction

- Ability to play an instrument a plus
- Previous band experience preferable
- Vocal training preferable
- Please, no fake accents.

Lead vocal role:
- Perform live
- Write melodies, lyrics and songs.
- Record
- Help with promotional and admin duties
- Time away from work for touring

AUDITIONS WILL BE HELD FROM DEC 17th ONWARDS.

PLEASE SEND US A RECORDING OF YOURSELF, A LIST OF INFLUENCES, A SHORT BIO AND YOUR CONTACT DETAILS TO:
thesleepersdreamspace@gmail.com

OR CONTACT US VIA OUR FACEBOOK PAGE.

My Goodbye

2010-11-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

Making music (in and outside of The Sleepers) has always been a cathartic exercise for me. But in the last two years I have been grappling with personal circumstances which have sadly made that catharsis more and more elusive.

At the beginning of 2009 my family suffered through a tragic situation (my closest friend and bandmate, Nicolai was there for support at the drop of a hat.) I was also retrenched – a week before A Signal Path was launched, no less. I have spent the better part of these last two years trying to juggle finding decent work, freelancing, singing and handling band administration. It’s been a mad scramble to find my footing again, on every level.

I won’t divulge every last reason why I’ve decided to bow out: I don’t think you – the reader, the audience, the fan – need to know every single one. But to every last person touched by the music of The Sleepers: I am sorry if you are saddened by my leaving.

I hope the voice and ideas of someone else out there will fit in with this awesome music and group of talented and passionate musicians. I sincerely hope the new vocalist will bless the band with the talent, tenacity and resources necessary to take them to new heights.

As for myself, I will be carrying on with Tape Hiss and Sparkle, but will probably only play now and again. I’ll also be going back to punishing some canvasses and then punishing your eyes with them too.

To Jordi, Nicolai, Carly, Adam, Steve, Chris and all the fans, friends and families that have supported me as the lead singer of this band, I thank you for the past seven years. It’s been a GREAT honour to sing for you. I would like to thank you SO much for listening. You have all made me feel incredibly blessed.

Simon

One Crucible Remakes

2010-11-29T04:06:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone is feeling sufficiently fresh after the long weekend at Synergy. Thanks to all who came and watched us play what was, to us, one of our best shows ever.

As those of you who have read this month’s LMG will know, we have some sad news. Simon Tamblyn is stepping down as vocalist for The Sleepers to pursue other adventures. Simon has been an integral part of the band for the past seven years and his immense creative talent, dedication and hard work has helped shape the band and its members. We are sad to see him go but wish him the best of luck in his future pursuits.

This isn't the end of the Sleepers, this is really just the beginning of a new chapter. Our intention for The Sleepers has always been to constantly evolve and we see this as another opportunity to do just that. We will be holding auditions for a new vocalist, while at the same time exploring other musical avenues. Keep an ear to the ground and an eye on what this new and exciting future holds.

With Love,

The Sleepers

Sacrificial Lambs

2010-10-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

Hello Lambs,

It's that time of year again. Halloween time. Candy time. Silly outfit time. Strange time signature time...

I know, I know, one too many.

Just letting you know we are working hard this year to some interesting covers.

We look forward to subjecting you with a mixed bag of candy coated covers. mmm. candy...

More clues and exciting news about the show on the 30th on the way...

In the meantime - Look! A Poster!

Take Aways

2010-09-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

I have decided that with time allowing... Every show I will print a couple of big versions of the poster for that show and sell them on the night. So if you are there, and enjoyed the show, why not take home something to remember it.

We can also sign it for you if you ask nicely...

Below - the poster for this week's show.

Warmth

2010-08-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Friends,

As we leave a surprisingly short winter ( although I have a feeling the beginning of spring will be later than the official 1st September ) yet as always, it has been a period of growth for the band.

We've always been a band of opposites: Quiet / Loud, Fast / Slow, Melancholy / Optimistic, Positive / Sinister ( You get the picture ). This polar dynamic is starting to reflect itself in some of our new material. We are pushing in both directions and I for one am really happy with the results. I wish some benefactor would just pay for us to spend 6 months recording our mountain of material ( We would require rent, food allowance if anyone is feeling generous! )

Our performances of late have personally felt like some of the best and most emotionally charged shows we have ever played and we will be playing more and more of the new material we have been working on. So let us know what you think.

Expect some songs to be bigger and badder, expect some to be smaller and softer.

Open your heart and your ears and expect to be challenged.

With Love,

Adam

Your Beautiful Mug

2010-08-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

Phew! What a crazy last few weeks. I have business coming out of my ears. But luckily for you this benefits you (the reader, dare we say, fan) greatly. There's a little taste of things to come for you, which will be downloadable. I hope you're as excited as I am. We'll let you know when that's done. Oh, and obviously, WHAT it is.

We've had some really great support these last few shows, we thank you. Tonightwedie and We Set Sail at ROAR was ama-zing zing as Nic's mentioned! And last Friday (20th Aug) was YourLMG's celebration of their 40th issue. What a great mag! So glad to have them around as they are a pillar in the Cape Town rock scene. The night was stellar! Some mercilessly beautiful blues from Natasha Meister; We Set Sail sent me to the stars and Sidecar Fire conjured up images of driving at night next to lakes in the rain... crazy cool. And we played last, just after midnight. We had tonnes of fun!

This weekend we're also heading into Durbanville and we'd like to see your beautiful mug there. We'll be popping eardrums at Blizzards, get directions here. We'll be there with New Mustangs and Taxi Violence. We haven't jammed with the boys from TV in ages and we're pretty stoked to share a stage with them again.

I've also been working on my solo lo-fi alt folk project, Tape Hiss and Sparkle. And I've released my first album, For You In Your Cubicle for download. I hope you enjoy it!

Lastly - but definitely not least - Jordi (who sadly left The Sleepers last year) has also been busy. Check out his band Anaphys, it will leave you gasping for air.

Over. Out.

Sy

Ivy In The Machine

2010-08-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

all of us on the earth
here's the feeling that you'll never get anything
here's the feeling that you've got the world in your hands
as the innocent parasites grow
as the shadows lock away the dawn
the skeletons of progress
with all of us on this earth

i have been guilty of greed and sin
mother will eat all of her children but
humanity will be here 'til then so
look at the ivy in the machine

we're just sinking stone
buildings grown out to the bone
we're just sinking stone
with all of us on the earth

i will nurse and haunt you
i will build and break you
i am order
i am chaos
i'm your mother
and i will be here until the end

Thumb caught under Hammer of the Gods

2010-08-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

As we keep saying we’ve been working very hard writing new songs, recording and video-ing over the past few months. Yet we still find time to play shows. Amazing. How do we do it?!

We played 2 shows over the past few weeks: Aandklas in Stellenbosch on the 31^st of July and ROAR in Observatory this past Friday the 13^th.

On Saturday the 31^st Adam and I met up to give our beloved pedalboards a bit of a spring clean. While re-velcro-ing a pedal I managed to snip into the index finger of my fretting hand with a pair of scissors. Adam, lovingly supplied me with a plaster. I checked after we’d played to see if it had stopped bleeding. It hadn’t. \m/Metal!

It was nice to be at Stellenbosch again after a very long time. This was our first show at Aandklas (organised by Silent Tendency), which is a pretty cool place (complete with exterior murals of local bands painted on walls and good food). I’d definitely hangout there if I lived closer.

We opened for Versus the Wolf (formerly New Altum) and the Pinkertons who each turned in great performances. The turnout was ok considering Metalfest was taking place next door at Klein Liebertas.

The show was significant in that it was the debut performance of One Antler Stag, one of the new ones. ‘n treffer inderdaad! It seemed to get a pretty good response which was nice.

__________________

Adam and I spent most of Friday the 13^th at producer Dirk Hugo’s house doing final overdubs for a song we’ve been recording. It’s always fun twisting knobs, pulling levers and hearing new sounds. More on that later, though (wink).

Later I arrived at ROAR with severe tooth ache. You see, I’ve been putting off having my wisdom teeth removed mainly so that I don’t miss shows while recovering. Lately, tho, it’s becoming more and more difficult to block out the pain in my jaw. Luckily the doctor behind the bar prescribed tequila. And I owe her a debt of gratitude. I was blissfully painless for most of the evening.

Given that it was Friday the 13^th and that the names of the bands that playing were The Sleepers, We Set Sail and Tonight We Die, it was deemed appropriate to theme the evening around the original Friday the 13^th myth. The date first became associated with bad luck via reports from sailors of the disappearances of ships at sea on this date through the years.

It was nice to see Tonight We Die again. The last time I saw them play was at Observatory Cool Runnings - not Runningz, or Rootz, but Cool Runnings – Yes, that long ago. I was quite fond of that place. It was quite a hub. We played many a good sweaty show there. Anyway, Tonight We Die did a good job of rousing a generous serving of delicious ROAR audience members. It was nice to see a lot of new faces as well as people we hadn’t seen out in ages.

Next on stage was We Set Sail, Adam and Steve’s ‘other’ band. :) Trinity, their trumpeter who was celebrating her recent birthday, donned a ship captain’s hat. I’m glad to say that they are definitely catching on with a lot of people - a lot of dancing and cheering.

By the time we played this were hot and sticky.... in a good way. Marné, We Set Sail guitarist, even joined us on stage for a bit of Restriction.

Now before this turns into a damn gig review I’ll just say that we played our pantses off, that once again we played One Antler Stag and debuted another new one called Tributaries. These 2 songs are particular favourites of mine. So one else seemed to mind them either. Great, I think we made some new fans. Sweet!

If you’d like to see what part of me I damage next, before I reach the stage, come see us at The LMG 40^th Issue Party at Zula Bar this Friday the 20^th along with Sidecar Fire, We Set Sail and Natasha Meister.

The signal is sent.

Nic out.

Friday The 13th at ROAR

2010-08-04T04:56:00.000-07:00

A Hi-Hat Full Of Cheesecake

2010-07-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

Two weeks have past. Three practices, one Mercury show, a drum recording and a long overdue blog. While being a very busy fortnight we were bombarded by chocolate muffins, doughnuts, cheesecake and beer to up our sugar levels and help us with our challenging ways.

First practice: a pre show practice. Having decided on a set for the upcoming show with Isochronous at Mercury that Friday, we were on our way. As it turns out we made a great choice as we had an incredible show. Along with having great sound and lighting, we filmed and recorded our performance (in 360 degrees) for your pleasure, which should be released in the not too distant future. Thank you to those who came through. (See if you can spot yourself in the photo)

After all was said and done it was back to recording drums at our friends, Stefan Wyeth and Liz Vogt, for two of our newest songs, The Fear and Sophie (Thanks to Antonio Manuel from Gandalfs/ROAR for lending us some microphones). Wooden floors, tall ceilings, tea, hotdogs and a microphone in the hall way, not much more a drummer could want. An update will be on its way soon.

Having played the show and gotten the drum tracks recorded it was time to start working on three new songs that we had been practicing over the past couple of weeks. Some new challenges and a slight shift in direction. With my own crib notes, cell phone recordings and a one mic recording I knew I had no excuse to mess it up, but alas I was incorrect. Luckily with the help of the guys and the above mentioned sweets and chocolates we were able to work through all three and they should be done really soon. Although the songs all sound really great, Tributaries is starting to become a new favourite of mine, but that is for you to find out..

Hope to see you all at our next show in Stellenbosch, this Saturday 31 July at Aandklas with Versus The Wolf and The Pinkerton

Much love

SGJ

Wodin's Day Practise and The Bar One Stone

2010-07-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

Well first of all. Steve picked Nic and I up and we arrived a little early outside Kill City Blues. We were kindly verbally accosted by the drunk bergie and then were kindly let in to the practice rooms. Phew!

Discussions for a setlist this Friday at Mercury with Isochronous was a serious matter of contention. But a meaty set was furiously whipped up.

We also discussed recording drums on Thursday and Friday with our friend Stefan Wyeth in a wooden-floored room in our friend’s Observatory house. Which is sounding very cool apparently.

Then Nic Rixx came in to say hi. And then Steve’s packet of chips fell over. And I was sad. Because I love chips.

The Bar One Stone

I believe certain objects adopt you. I believe they find you and assist you with work or annoy you or just give you some sympathy. When we were recording A Signal Path in 2008, the Bar One Stone found me and helped me.

It was an ungainly looking geological nugget. It resembled a Bar One chocolate bar. Or rather the last bite left of one. There was a stoney toffee centre enveloped in an obsidian dark chocolate.

When we started recording I built a little coccoon in the RockitDog Studios with some black sheets and black bags. All the while I was behind that microphone I was clutching the Bar One Stone. It supported me... grounded me.

Alas the Bar One Stone has since left me to give someone else the support it so expertly gives out. I enjoyed our time together and thank it for it's support.

Soon My Pretties, Soon...

2010-07-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that we've been working on new music at Kill City Blues rehearsal studios. And some of you have asked us over a beer or two at our shows about any upcoming releases.

And we have good news: Yes, there will be releases in the near future. We are in the preparatory stages of working with acclaimed Cape Town producer Dirk Hugo, who has worked with some of South Africa's freshest artists, like Blk Jks, Righard Kapp and Benguela. Sonically our work with Hugo is leaning towards the experimental and cinematic.

At the same time our friend, the talented sound engineer Stefan Wyeth will assist us in recording some of the songs we’ve written since our first album, A Signal Path. These will be produced by our own talented Nicolai Roos.

In other news, as you may know, our bassist Jordi Reddy sadly departed from The Sleepers camp last year to finish his Phd in Bio-Mechanical Engineering - but you can still catch him with his awesome band Anaphys. His replacement, our high-school friend Chris Truter, has filled Jordi's very large 30Hz shoes and he really shines on the newer tracks.

All in all the new songs are firming and strengthening some areas The Sleepers have explored as well as excavating newer pastures. We are mining those hills!

Simon

The Sleepers

Rehearsal Diary #0

2010-07-04T05:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 30th June -

Final set of secret instrumental rehearsals surrounding new material.

Ploughed through a belcher of an anthem from the quill of Adam. The kind of song you'd play while watching a mammoth gore and puncture a giant metal swan filled with toxic waste. Sign your pain waivers now.

We also began working on another great exotic and dusty composition from Nicolai, freshly arranged and extended by Adam and myself. Steve ended up turning the tables on us, being the only one capable of handling it's intricate opening rhythm so far.. which is not supposed to happen!

The Sleepers Posters

2010-07-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Many people have asked where they could get prints of The Sleepers posters from some of our shows. Well, the good news is that you can look at them all here.

Email us to order prints at A4 / A3 or A2. (Some posters won't be available at A2)

More exciting and limited merchandise to follow in the future.

I leave you with the poster for our next show with Isochronous.

See you there.

Look what I found in a lost folder...

2010-07-01T01:10:00.001-07:00

- simon

The Sleepers & Verona Walls Easter Tour.

2010-04-09T03:27:00.000-07:00

This past February we had our first adventure up country. It was
fantastic but we were crammed into a blue combi from Cape Town to
Joburg for 19 hours. Now, this past Easter, just as finger-shaped
bruises on throats start to fade, we jumped into 3 cars with our
friends Verona Walls for a 2 date mini-tour up the East coast, dodging
kamikaze truck drivers and stuffing ourselves with Dagwood burgers
along the way.

Simon and I had flu and our conditions were temporarily worsened by
our arrival in East London. The place is nice enough but one cannot
help feeling like someone is walking over your grave. Even Steve, who
was born there, had no explanation for this curious atmosphere. Due to
the Easter time-warp and roadblocks afflicting our national roads we
had missed sound check.

Our first show was at the Art Theatre Club we shared a bill with a
number of local metal bands (whose names have escape us all it seems,
very sorry) and Horse The Band from the U.S. We arrived in time to
catch the first bands. One guitarist had the uncanny ability to sound
like the death phone ring tones from Metalocalypse. Us, Verona Walls
and Horse The Band played well amid technical difficulties and dealt
in our own ways with some who didn't know what to make of the
'not-metal'.

Not feeling well afterwards, I passed out almost immediately at our
backpackers while the rest made merry into the early hours. I woke up
the next morning feeling sickly and tender. I must have had one
Dagwood too many. We soon said fair well to East London.

Hours and hours later, we arrived at the doorstep of Cameron, owner of
Jester's, the next venue. Cameron kindly let us stay the night in his
big home. He's a fantastic host and great guy.
Jesters is awesome (great selection of potent shooters). Nearby i was
amused to see a club called Dagwood. While Dear Martyr very capably warmed
the crowd, Verona were preparing themselves for their performance by
sampling said shooters, pacing and crawling on the floor. Their set,
including a guest appearance by Simon, was so tight and full of energy
I was gobsmacked. Riding the wave they created, we played well. Marne
(Verona guitarist) joined us on stage for his favourite song
'Restriction'. He took photos sang and mooned the crowd. Speaking of
the crowd, we were surprised by their warm response. P.E really seems
to be full of friendly people. I hope to be back there soon.

After the show the partying started. Memorable moments include:

-A stop off at an Engen where Marne attempted to steal a Debonair's
Pizza delivery scooter.
-A terrible collision involving me, a shoe, a crying, one-legged
homeless man, an Engen bathroom and it's colourful contents.
-Much time spent beer funneling and absinthe lighting.
-Steve cling-wrapping a sleeping Adam's legs together.

At some point most of us passed out, have exhausted our quaffs, while
others went off to the beach to freeze their asses off.
Saturday next morning we had breakfast at a diner (I had my last
Dagwood) before heading home.

Arriving back at Kill City that evening, everyone off-loaded gear and
went for an end-of-tour drink at the Shack - except for me. I was
barefoot ever since the Engen bathroom incident and I managed to cut
both my feet open stepping on glass on the pavement outside Mercury. I
went home - barefoot and beerless, though ready to do it all over
again.

Much love,
Nic

The Fear Will Unite Us

2010-03-16T00:11:00.001-07:00

Constantly let it out
don't you ever fold
Cut the rope relentlessly
drive it to the ground
An aftermath, a dreaded peak
drive it to the ground

Snakes in our path
Pearls catch the light
Needles point south
Mirror's shards reunite
You and I
we are fine

Scattered papers, torn curtains
You're all that's left now
Broken windows, the door's open
The walls are bare now

A rusted buried blade
A flower's broken vase
Taught wires over broken steel

The Sleepers First National Tour Round-up

2010-02-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

Ok. So we know a lot of you want to know all the details of how our first tour went.
It went exceptionally well. I think all of us were quite surprised at all the love we were shown and the warm crowd responses from Gauteng and Kwazulu Natal. Secondly, we had no technical problems, nothing was broken and we all arrived back home intact.
On the way up we very nearly ran out of petrol. That was pretty scary. But luckily, Winburg (a tiny little village next to the highway on the way into Gauteng) has a petrol station. The very friendly petrol attendant found it quite exciting helping fill up for a band.
Oh yes, and then after the petrol debacle, we encountered a storm. THE STORM. It seemed to follow us, we had about 10m visibility all the way into Gauteng and it carried on for 3 hours. And yes, the five Capetonians in the kombi were very frightened by the loud lights in the sky. Jislaaik.
On the Thursday we played with the mighty Isochronous at Tings ‘n’ Times in Hatfield, Pretoria. The place was packed to the rafters, and the boys from Isochronous kindly let us play an encore. The crowd was insane... Pretoria we love you! Sound was great, it was boiling hot outside, we sold some cd’s partied afterwards... all in all we had an awesome night.
Friday saw us playing with The Uncut at The Bohemian – a really cool little club catering to the students from UJ. But on the way there we got lost. Seriously lost. We ended up in Fordsburg (and drove past Barney Simon Avenue, who we later found out was named after the playwright, and not the DJ... sadness) somewhere in the industrial area, which really didn’t look like there were any clubs there. But luckily we phoned a friend who eventually guided us to the club. And when we got there... delicious pizzas! Black Label quarts! We felt right at home. This night was probably the most intimate of the shows and we played two encores! The Uncut also rocked our socks off and we’ll be sure to hook up with them again.
The Saturday saw us play a small show for the cast of a play at Parktown Girls High School. The very very talented girls are using two of our songs for a play they’re doing in March, and we were very excited to see what they were up to. We sat down and chatted with the girls and they showed us some hilarious improvising skills! They made us feel really welcome and we felt like total rockstars!
Straight after that we pulled through to Back2Basix for our last show in Gauteng. We played with our stablemates, Heroes Wear Red. We had some awesome sound, had a great turn out and had a great send off from the Jozi locals.
So the next week saw us do a bit of promotion, visiting Highveld stereo and UJFM for some interviews and disc spinning. We visited some music stores, comic stores... but mostly we were stuck in traffic. Sadly, Michaela our photographer had some pressing work to tend to back in the Mother City and had to leave the tour before our KZN leg. We had a little braai with the guys from Isochronous, got a bit silly and got ready to drive through to KZN on the Thursday - sans Michaela. Stayed over at Ladysmith on the way and arrived in a mighty humid Durban on the Friday. We stayed wet and sweaty for the next 36 hours.
We headed through to Umhlanga to the slick Boogie’s Diner and had an awesome night with Kissed By Katie and The Otherwise. The next day we got a little lost (again!) but not too badly, and we went to some more music stores and had some much needed breakfast in the Pavilion Mall. We then packed all our gear and headed through to Burn. There was a storm brewing and it was breathtaking to watch from Burn’s roof. We saw some familiar faces from Umhlanga (C.R.A.C.K. and The Otherwise FTW!). We played a rocking set and met some really interesting Durbanites! Juggernaught and Grynd Rodd Muse broke the stage with a deft precision and so ended our night in Durban. We stood outside on the roof for a little while to cool down in the rain, drinking in the end of our tour. Satisfied and tired we got into our blue kombi and said goodbye to Durban. Steve drove us out for the first few hours, I fell asleep on the backseat. We took turns driving for the next 19 hours back home. When we arrived we were five blissed out and tired guys, happy to be home.

Hands upon the wheel...

2010-02-06T00:32:00.000-08:00

So, we arrived in Gauteng on Wednesday night, having driven the last 300kms through one of the most terrifying electrical storms we've ever seen. Now, I know a lot of you Jozi fans are scoffing at the Capetonians being scared of a little thunder... but seriously, this was crazy. We had 10m visibility in front of us, with big fat rain drops and lightning and crazy truck drivers doing stunt driving it seemed in the middle of the tempest. Oh... and we almost ran out of petrol... almost... thank you Winburg for having a petrol station.

So far, both shows we've played have been awesome! Tings on Thurs in Hatfield with Isochronous was electric, and The Bo' with The Uncut was off the hook. We've gotten some really warm responses from the twin cities. Thanks to Mike from Tuks FM and Alexia and Grant at UJFM for some hilarious interviews.

And yes... we have a GPS... and yes, we managed to still get horribly, horribly lost. But not because of the little device, but good ol' human error.

Tonight will be our last show in Gauteng with our Headline Artists stable-mates Heroes Wear Red... we're going to go big, if you're in the area come for the party!

Next week sees us taking to Umhlanga at Boogie's on the Friday with The Otherwise, and Burn Nightclub in Durban on the Saturday with Grynd Rodd Muse and Juggernaught.

We'll keep you updated with some more tour antics, spread the word, if you've got friends JHB/DBN, tell them about us.

Keep safe.

Simon

The Sleepers.

IMPENDING TOUR!!!

2010-01-11T02:12:00.000-08:00

So we're off to Jo'burg, Tswane, Bloem, Pietermaritzburg and Durban in February. If you have family, friends or enemies up country, let them know where we are. We're getting briefed on all our dates tomorrow, so we'll let you know where we are at all times. At the moment, we'll be playing Hatfield's famous Tings and Times on Thursday the 4th of Feb with musical cousins, Isochronous... and we're playing the following night at The Bohemian. We can finally meet all those cool peeps who we've been chatting to over the internets all these years! Hurrah!

We'll be leaving the Cape of Good Hope on the 1st, giving us about a day to settle and give me time to warm up the pipes. And then we'll arrive back home about two weeks later. kief!

And just watch us get lost without the mountain... and especially with those new crazy intersections. I'm talking to you JOZI!!!

A Crucible Remakes

2009-12-18T01:53:00.000-08:00

like a crow's waiting cry
spiralling over highways
between the reeds
one stony eye
venerates the turmoil
within your soul
a deeper heat
encircles your dreams there
but purity is what we seek
one crucible remakes me

these times are trying
we're walking through fire

senseless everyday the wasted time
the baptist's body is tired
i'm a philistine one stupid fool
please cleanse me with fire
as a floating leaf
as a razor's plea
cleanse me with fire
but purity is what we seek
one crucible remakes me

these times are trying
we're walking through fire
we will find release here tonight
as we're walking through fire

held up my hands cupped the wind
one step to another leads
one blur of time burnt within
and all is beautiful

with our feet on fire
we are gold
with our feet on fire
we are
we are gold
all is all

all is all
is now remade
is purified
we'll find release tonight we will find release

Jordi

2009-11-11T01:28:00.000-08:00

With a heavy heart we would like to announce the departure of Jordi
Reddy from The Sleepers.

Jordi has been studying towards his Masters degree in Biomedical
Engineering, working on artificial artery design and testing. This is
something that obviously requires a tremendous amount of focus and
dedication.

His decision to leave the band comes with the realisation of the
pressure that awaits him next year, when he will be doing his PhD,
which involves the development of synthetic heart valves. He says
that, although he’d like to carry on, he feels it’s better to bow out
now than be unable to give the attention he feels the band deserves.

Though we are deeply saddened to lose him, we fully support him and
wish him the best of luck with his studies.

Jordi has been a member of The Sleepers for four years. After original
member Carly Phillips suddenly passed away due to complications with
leukaemia, he respectfully joined full-time. His contributions to the
band have been vital and we are eternally grateful to him.

But all is not lost! Although Jordi will no longer be with us we will
be carrying on. As yet no plans for a replacement have been made
(these are big shoes to fill, after all) In the meantime, our dear and
talented friend, Chris Truter of the band Fezray, has kindly been
filling in for Jordi when deadlines were looming.

Jordi will play his last show with the band at the Synergy Live
festival. The festival runs on the last weekend of November - 27 -29 at Boschendal Wine Estate.

The Sleepers would like to thank Jordi for his strong character,
musical brilliance, powerful stage presence and continuing friendship.

Pandora

2009-10-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

heaven send a helper
she's tied to iron
too weak to move it
pandora find it

your face
your smile
the noose you love and hold
the key behind
the way out of this hole
your knees in the dirt
too young to know the mold
in the eyes
your wrists
twisted tight as screws

the box
it's maw
yawns in the dark and dust
those things let out
were shaking at our heads
and blood we drew
to keep the devils out
see this tonight
the hope you crave to hold
is behind you

feather your nest girl
with your barbed wire white cotton dress
and all those pretty little things
that your lover used to bring last summer
black and brown feathers girl
are you'll have to sleep on in winter
even linen's blushing to keep you from the cold 'til now
after your penance

look behind
the box's maw yawns

here we see the order
one quiet murder the weapon's inside her
pandora find it

Protection

2009-10-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

a wave of bliss
engulfed my thoughts
pleasure pounding down the door
here i soar to new heights
now knowing this
all my words floating out into the world
won't change our frail existence

voices call
come inside
is that vitriol that you hide
the cycles of self destruction

imagine this
no more walls
no more seeking for a door
to lead you to paradise

seek inside

my hands on the pavement
push up slow
my knees scraped open
here we are fighting slow
i will line up empty bottles on the outside wall
i will beg the wind to blow and call out your smoke
lift up my fists it's my turn to strike now

this is the world spinning round
eclipsed with certainties, breaking grounds
between the poles there's no real distance
outside the moths fan our wounds
dirty hot swollen wounds
you drew the line
you drew the line

inside the urgency might burn me hollow

The Waning Tide

2009-09-29T04:22:00.000-07:00

this is one last stone to the waves
and you'll have our love

november was yours not mine
as we trail over all the details
november was yours not mine
a split second that won't be erased

through the waning tide
a lifetime wide
we sent our beggar's prayers
but they all washed up on shore

oh that was the day
when god had to fall away
if you couldn't stay
he knew he had to give up the game

all our clay is given to break
now watch through the swells
the waning tide
and you'll have our love
you'll have our love

Bye Bye Miss American Pie

2009-09-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you've been watching television lately. If you have I'm sure you've seen it, but basically it's Chris De Burgh releasing a tepid album of covers. It makes me shudder every time I see it. Plus it sounds like Mr De Burgh and his ocular caterpillars took the midi to a bunch of overplayed "hits" and sang over them. The "studio shots" included in the insert looks a bit like someone's bedroom.

I used to be quite a fan before Chris went off on a strangled path about the whole healing hands business. But "Spanish Train" is still one of my favourite albums of all time, and looking back now the sci-fi Christianity in "Poor Boy" was not as fantastic to Chris as he made it out to be. A few too many glasses of red wine poring over "Chariots of the Gods" methinks.

But this led me on to thinking about our careers and what senility has in store for us. What would we do to keep our slice of the limelight? These are obviously things we can't predict. I might one day be draped over some piano somewhere, varicose veins a-pumping, doing my helling best to murder some Streisand cover. Who knows.

Losing favour with a previously loving audience is hard (and you will lose them, you cannot please everyone) but you should never bring that bitterness from being cast aside into what you do. Crowds are strange and stranger still are "scenes". They are fickle grey undefined masses. Tastes change. People change. Sometimes they don't. You can't predict.

But,

I don't think I will ever think that releasing my own little vapid version of "American Pie" will ever seem like a good idea.

EVER.

little tiny goldfish

2009-08-25T02:06:00.000-07:00

... i read this on BoingBoing who lifted a part of it from here - http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=10297. But this is the whole article.

Michael Erard
A Short Manifesto on the Future of Attention

In 1971, the oft-quoted political scientist Herbert Simon predicted that in an information age, cultural producers (that's designers, but also filmmakers, theater types, musicians, artists) would quickly face a shortage of attention. "What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients," he wrote. The more information, the less attention, and "the need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it."

Now we have a wide-ranging discussion about what is and what can't be free (Malcolm Gladwell on Chris Anderson, Virginia Postrel on Chris Anderson), which is basically about the future of profit. Maybe we should be considering a dilemma of a human nature: the future of attention.

Because there's a connection between the two.

Making something "free" is obviously an allocation strategy. "Free" attracts attention. Making things brief is an allocation strategy as well. The problem is that free isn't sustainable, and that brief is underpriced.

We need a Ronald Reagan of attention, someone to inspire us away from the fight over smaller and smaller pieces of the attention pie. Someone who will inspire us to make the attention pie bigger.

I imagine attention festivals: week-long multimedia, cross-industry carnivals of readings, installations, and performances, where you go from a tent with 30-second films, guitar solos, 10-minute video games, and haiku to the tent with only Andy Warhol movies, to a myriad of venues with other media forms and activities requiring other attention lengths. In the Nano Tent, you can hear ringtones and read tweets. A festival organized not by the forms of the commodities themselves but of the experience of interacting with them. Not organized by time elapsed, but by cognitive investment: a pop song, which goes by quickly, can resonate for days; a poem, which can go by more quickly, sticks through a season. A festival in which you can see images of your brain on knitting and on Twitter.

I imagine a retail sector for cultural products that's organized around the attention span: not around "books" or "music" but around short stories and pop songs in one aisle, poems and arias in the other. In the long store: 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzles, big novels, beer brewing equipment, DVDs of The Wire. Clerks could suggest and build attentional menus. We would develop attentional connoisseurship: the right pairings of the short and long. We would understand, and promote, attentional health.

I imagine attention-based pricing, in which prices of information commodities are inversely adjusted to the cognitive investment of consuming them. All the candy for the human brain — haiku, ringtones, bumper stickers — would be priced like the luxuries that they are. Things requiring longer attention spans would be cheaper — they might even be free, and the higher fixed costs of producing them would be covered by the higher sales of the short attention span products. Single TV episodes would be more expensive to purchase than whole seasons, in the same way that a six-pack of Oreos at the gas station is more expensive, per cookie, than a whole tray at the grocery store.

I imagine an attention tax that aspiring cultural producers must pay. A barrier to entry. If you want people to read your book, then you have to read books; if you want people to buy your book, then you buy books. Give your attention to the industry of your choice. Like indie musicians have done for decades, conceive of the scene as an attention economy, in which those who pay in (e.g., I go to your shows) get to take out (e.g., come to my show). It would also mitigate one oft-claimed peril of the rise of the amateur, which is that they don't know from quality: consuming many other examples from a variety of sources, even amateur producers would generate a sense of what's good and what's bad: in other words, in their community they'd evolve a set of standards. This might frustrate the elitists, who want to impose their standards. But standards would, given enough time, emerge. (In this I have faith.)

I imagine software, a smartphone app, perhaps, you can use to audit your attentional expenditures. So that before you embark on trying to write a book, you will be able to see how much time you spent reading books over the last month or year. So that before you design a marketing campaign that assumes that people aren't doing much else with their time until you show up, you will be able to see what you yourself were doing with your time, which was something perfectly good. This will show you that you're a savvy allocator of your attentional resources — and so is everybody else.

And yet I can't shake fantasizing about attention that has no price, that can't be bought or sold, but is given freely: a gift. I buy and read books because I want to give the gift of my attention to the attention economy I'm (as a writer) a part of. I'm inspired by Lewis Hyde in The Gift, who says that what distinguishes commodities is that they're used up, but what distinguishes gifts is that they circulate — the gift is never trapped, consumed, used up, contained or confined. That seems like the best basis for cultural production to thrive.

So this is what it's come to: when an attention gift economy seems more practical and sustainable than an exchange economy for information commodities, which is being rotted by the gift's ugly negation: the free.

A Song Is Born

2009-08-20T01:16:00.000-07:00

These are some photos of us working out the parts for I Tend To Believe Her.

Rock Revolution

2009-08-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

I love cars as much as the next brown man. However, my hybrid Indian and Coloured from the Cape heritage has not doubled my enthusiasm for cars, but rather made me twice as critical of them. I’m sure that I’m not the only person of the opinion that modern cars have become ugly enough to scare a newborn back into the womb. The source of this drab automotive livery is undoubtedly the accountants in the artistic driving seat, coupled with the paranoia of the health-and-safety nannies who say that the bodywork should cushion a pedestrian during impact so that he may lose a leg rather than die. Creativity is far more interesting when life is dangerous and money is no object. For example, cars of the late 1960’s were opulent and horrific to drive, yet they were some of the most stunning to behold.

This sort of creative curtailment is ubiquitous in the music industry, particularly the pop market driven by the execs with linked cuffs and Bluetooth earpieces. They have forced the music industry to gird its loins and spew forth disposable music for the masses. As far as I recall, the most famous equivalent car for the masses was the Volkswagen Beetle. Although the Beetle was a far more inspired concept than modern pop music, its commissioner is outlived by his political infamy.

I am not trying to spread a dire message, but rather explain that whilst tyrants go about their daily business, opportunities dawn upon the downtrodden. Ingenuity is at its most prevalent when people are faced with adversity. So in the modern world of music piracy we see musicians like Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead and The Mars Volta pioneering true creativity in both their music and marketing strategies; showing the world that there is a place for free thought in an industry seemingly governed by the corporate big wigs. This brings me back to the 60’s, and indeed the 70’s, since the last time I was privy to such inspired thought was when reading about bands of that generation.

In actual fact, what music piracy has claimed in terms of record royalties, it has repaid to musicians by way of creative freedom. Free of the music factories, modern musicians are starting to behave much like their 60’s and 70’s counterparts. You may say that music piracy is a curse. I say that it has just sparked a rock revolution.

- Jordi Reddy -

[image courtesy of conceptcarz.com]

2009-08-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

Hey hey!

As this is my first entry into our blog I thought I would give you a small glimpse into one of the days of being Steven Gary Jacobson.

Mondays, Mondays, Mondays (I wrote this on Monday) not the favourite day of the week for most people, the idea that you have no more weekend left, the drudgery of traffic and back to seeing the colleague that you would prefer not to see… ever!

I on the other hand don’t mind my Mondays, too much. I start work at 8am in Melkbos Strand (only on a Monday, as every day I am in a different part of Cape Town) which is about a 35 minute drive away, on an open road, as all the traffic is in the opposite direct. This is round about the time I open my window and blast which ever CD is in my player for that month. I have this silly obsession of listening to one CD over and over again. One reason is that I can’t stand the music that is played on the radio!

This months CD is by a band from the late 60’s called The Turtles, best known for their single, ‘Happy Together’. If you have a moment, take a listen one of their other tracks, ‘The Guide for the Married Man’ and ‘You Don’t Have to Walk in the Rain’. The Turtle are one of my favourite bands and one of the many bands that I practiced to as boy and that have influenced my style of playing. They are very old school but fantastic! Let me know what you think.

Now that I have my window open, the crisp morning air flowing in and the music blasting, I get that ‘holiday’ sensation. That ‘no worry in the world’ feeling, which is even further emphasized by my first stop, Melkbos beachfront. The smell and sound of the ocean, the cold breeze and the random people either fishing or taking a jog. I get out the car, sit on the bonnet, stare out at the waves and wonder away for a moment …

Then about fifteen minutes later reality sets in and off to work I go…

So just as quickly as that reality hits me on the back of the head with the force of a ten ton truck (if you need a better analogy just ask Adam, he is full of them) let me remind you that you have work to do and that you are not on holiday…

Thanks for reading, more to come soon. Have a great week and I hope to see you at our next gig or whenever I see you…

Ciao

Steven Gary Jacobson

Pre-Production 2007

2009-07-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some (very bad) photos of our pre-production sessions for our debut "A Signal Path" in 2007. The practice space has since turned into Kill City Blues, which is a significant improvement from the smelliness in these photos.

Jordi Reddy with his bow

Steven Jacobson behind the kit, and me looking especially young for a 24 year old.

Steve again.

Mr Adam Hill.

Nicolai Roos with his bow.

You see, when a band loves another band… a beautiful thing happens

2009-07-27T01:17:00.000-07:00

This is our and my first entry of our blog, we’ll be posting some behind the scenes news, info, gossip, flattery, insults and a large collection of big words to impress you. See what challenges we face, and learn of our achievements. Like reality television without having to watch us eat live cockroaches or making a number two in one of our backyard flower patches. Each member will be posting their own news, posting links to things we find interesting or funny. Follow this blog – click “follow blog” at the top of the page or RSS Feed it – and be the first know of our skullduggery. Check out our other online activities on other platforms on the web on the right.

We were very happy to play two awesome shows with one of our favourite bands this week, Isochronous. We played a Saturday at Zula Sound Bar and then the following Friday we played Mercury Live. They delivered a whirlwind of their jazzy dream pop even though Richard Brokensha (lead singer and guitarist) was taken with “the black lung” - this nasty strain of flu floating around – at the Mercury show. Mother Nature gave me the black lung a week ago too: flu, an ear infection and a big cup of bronchitis. So anyone who thought I seemed a bit “out of it” at Zula should know that Myprodol played a big part in my demeanour that night after having been bedridden for five days straight.

On the Friday at Mercury we started a little filming project of ours – more on that later. So you’ll soon see some footage of our performance, and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready. Omega Bronkhorst from Madbrew Productions and Nico Roos were kind enough to skilfully guide the lenses.

Some of you have asked us where you can get hold of our album – we launched it on the 27th of March at Mercury Live. Unfortunately at the moment it’s only available in Cape Town at Hi Five in Kloof Street. But distribution should be resolved shortly and I’ll let you know when and where you can get your hands on it.

Simon