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Sleepwalking Through The Ages

Jimmy O'Keefe | June 25, 2019

Topics: Ages, Austin York, Greenwood Shade, indie, Matthew E. White, Michael York, Sleepwalkers, Spacebomb Records

With their forthcoming album on Spacebomb Records, Richmond’s Sleepwalkers demonstrate their mastery over many eras of musical evolution.

Having established themselves as leaders of Richmond’s retro-inspired indie rock scene on their 2014 debut album, Greenwood Shade, the river city’s own Sleepwalkers are back with a new album that confirms their status as a band that shouldn’t be ignored. 

On Ages, set to be released on July 19 via Spacebomb Records, Sleepwalkers revive the best sounds of the 70s and 80s, keeping their music original with a tasteful modern flair added to the mix. A pop record at its core, Ages wouldn’t be complete without fuzzed-out melodies and lush instrumentation that allows for plenty of repeat listens without ever failing to capture the listener’s attention. 

Sleepwalkers’ retro sound is influenced by “all the greats,” according to Austin York, who plays bass and sings in the band. The band cited Prince, The Beatles, and Genesis as having played a part in inspiring the sound that came out on the record. 

“We take inspiration from people like Quincy Jones,” said Michael York, brother of Austin, who plays guitar and sings in the band. Jones is a legendary producer who has worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. That the band draws inspiration from a producer is telling; Ages was produced by the band all by themselves, allowing for complete creative control.

“I think the thing we are most proud of is the fact that we are a self-contained production group,” said Alex DeJong, who drums and engineers sound for the band. “We tried to push ourselves using the studio as a tool more than we did with the first record.”

Michael and Austin York in the studio.

Whereas Sleepwalkers’ booked the release show for Greenwood Shade before the album was even complete, forcing them to finish by a certain date, the band decided to give Ages the proper studio treatment. “This one was more taking our time, figuring out what sort of tones we wanted, which vibe we wanted,” said Austin. 

Chock full of various melodies and rhythms that stack on top of each other, Ages is a maximalist record, one that allows space for the sounds of different time periods to shine through. 

“We are doing these different time periods of music and the production changes with each one. It’s kind of like moving through different time periods,” Austin said. “It’s the Ages concept — moving through time.” 

The band’s debut album, Greenwood Shade, was self-released, but for Ages, they’ve hooked up with Spacebomb, a Richmond-based record label co-founded by well-known local musician Matthew E. White. With Spacebomb’s track record of releasing music by not only White but Natalie Prass, Andy Jenkins, and Bedouine, some might feel that Sleepwalkers’ time-traveling sound has found the perfect home. But for Sleepwalkers, the Spacebomb connection is really about friendship.

“Matt White brought us on tour a few years ago, and we just became good buds,” DeJong said. “It’s kind of a neat thing having a label in town.” 

Sleepwalkers are embarking on a tour in support of Ages. They’ll kick things off on July 13 in Richmond, alongside local favorites Camp Howard at The Broadberry. 

“Live shows are different,” Austin said, explaining that it’s difficult to replicate the complex sounds of the studio live on stage. DeJong mentioned that the band will stack a variety of keyboard tones onto a single keyboard, allowing for one instrument to sound like multiple synths. 

“It’s kind of hard to replicate a lot of the stuff, but we do make up for it with theatricality, or heavier vocals,” Michael added. 

Forging a new, unique sound by blending the music of the past with modern pop sensibilities, Sleepwalkers are notable for their ability to pay homage to the musical greats of earlier decades while maintaining a sound that is distinctively their own. 

This is a big challenge for any band, but it seems to come naturally to Sleepwalkers. The band is correct to be proud of the feat: “We did it all ourselves,” Austin said. 

Photos via Sleepwalkers/Facebook

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA’s Sleepwalkers defy musical niches, achieve eclectic greatness

Davy Jones | November 7, 2014

Topics: Greenwood Shade, music, print articles, RVA, Sleepwalkers

What do we talk about when we talk about music? We talk about the immediate sensations. We talk about how it inspires us. We talk about where it will lead us next. When Sleepwalkers talk about music, they talk confidently with a genuine admiration for the songs of the past, while maintaining an interest in making an impact on the present. This is why their debut full-length, the recently released Greenwood Shade, is catching so many by surprise. Its ephemeral, dream-like sonic qualities contain respectful nods to the sixties and seventies while adding a contemporary spin that doesn’t feel out of place. To get there was an urgent late-night journey that required diving in headfirst and never looking back at what might have been left behind. This is the tale of Sleepwalkers.

Austin and Michael York are known locally for their early efforts in Duchess of York. Formed when the York brothers were still teenagers, Duchess Of York gained a large local following with surprising speed, forcing the rest of the city to take notice. However, as unexpected as their quick local rise had been, their dissolution came even more suddenly. But rather than mourn their loss, the Yorks took this as an opportunity. “When Duchess of York ended, it gave us a second to re-evaluate what we wanted to do,” Austin says. “We started writing songs in a different way. We would think about a riff from a Michael McDonald song and maybe how we could incorporate a feel like that. It was a good chance for Michael and me to start writing from different places and see where that could take us.”

After some time in the woodshed, the Yorks sought out bandmates with which to complete the lineup of their new project. Sleepwalkers became a quartet that included drummer/engineer Alex DeJong and guitarist/keyboardist Brad Heath. DeJong’s involvement at White Star Sound Studios in Louisa became an immediate asset to the group. “A lot of our recording sessions have been super late at night. We get the word that we can have the studio from 10 at night until 7 the following morning, and we just go in and make it happen,” DeJong says. There are also a plethora of available resources at White Star Sound that have certainly helped to shape the Sleepwalkers sound. “There was gear that we have at our disposal that has been used by Van Halen. There was even a tape machine that was Whitney Houston’s own personal machine that we used for some of the record,” DeJong adds.

Meanwhile, Heath is new to the world of music, but this fresh perspective has been rewarding for Sleepwalkers as a whole. Once Heath was introduced to the fold, DeJong noticed a gradual shift for all parties involved. “I know once Brad started hanging out with us and we would head down to White Star, I think we all asked ourselves if we wanted to just do this and see what would happen,” Dejong mentions. “We all have so many different sounds that we are drawn to, and that helps us to just push past where we might typically be comfortable,” Heath adds.

All of these developments were taking place away from the eyes of an audience, and were part of the slow buildup to Sleepwalkers’ first show on November 9, 2013. This wasn’t just a conventional performance but a four-hour experience in which each member took turns showcasing different facets of the project. The evening included short DJ sets, ventures into the world of electro-pop, throwbacks to the seventies, and even synth-pop from the eighties. It certainly presented a strong argument for the idea that Sleepwalkers would be unique and impossible to pin down.

After this show, DeJong encouraged the band to do a quick recording in time for the holidays. The result was the Merry Christmas EP. “It’s an old school idea, to release a holiday record, but I think that’s what makes it kind of cool,” Michael says. “It was like December 11th, and I just got in touch with everyone about doing this quick three-song set of holiday tracks. Everyone was into it,” Dejong adds. The release hit the internet quickly and set a standard for the way Sleepwalkers would operate from that point forward.

The band booked a series of shows in the wake of the EP, traveling as much as they could given their schedules. “It’s not the easiest to hit the road, but when we can, we try to make it worthwhile,” Michael says. The frequent performances didn’t deter the outfit from continuing to record and write new material. “We all just started influencing each other,” Austin says. “Alex was giving us a great appreciation for soul, and we were all collectively going back to look at the eighties. It was building into this interesting set of new songs that would eventually become parts of Greenwood Shade.”

Greenwood Shade was recorded over the course of two weeks, during the wee hours at White Star Sound. Whenever late-night recording opportunities presented themselves, the band would head over and see what would happen. They were on a strict timeline–a record release show was scheduled before tracking had begun. “One thing Austin and I learned in our downtime was that we work much better with deadlines,” Michael says. “We had enough songs for a record. We just needed to make them happen. If we book a record release show, what do we do if we don’t have a record in time? I think that helped influence the album in a lot of ways.”

One thing that Austin is quick to note is that the deadline eliminated any hesitation. “If we were unsure about a song and we weren’t feeling where it was headed, we would just move on. Maybe we would return to it, maybe we would just abandon it. We knew that forcing something to happen that wasn’t [working] was a waste of time, and time was of the essence.” Along the way, a sound was slowly formulating. “With each track, we wanted to really consider the vibe we were going for,” DeJong says. “That’s why I think Greenwood Shade goes in so many different directions. The one thing that pulls it all together is the way that we play the songs together.”

Greenwood Shade was released in time for the deadline, and greeted with rousing acclaim. Musical peers and fans alike fell head over heels in love with the sound and vibe of this truly remarkable Richmond summer record. The record’s production gave it an ephemeral, dream-like quality, which retains the energy of previous York projects while bringing in a modern psychedelic feel. The decision to forsake modern computerized recording techniques in favor of White Star’s classic equipment also played a big role in the final product. “If you hear a pop record that is put out today, everything is so digital. Working in the space that we did helped us keep it a bit more old school and achieve the vibe we wanted for the record,” Michael explains.

The wide range of instrumentation used on Greenwood Shade makes the songs somewhat of a challenge to recreate live. “In all honesty, recreating the way the songs sound on record in a live performance would probably be next to impossible with just the four of us. We have worked with utilizing a bunch of triggers to get some of those sounds into the mix,” Austin explains. However, to some extent, the band is content to let their live and studio sounds be different animals. “Really, I don’t know if we have much interest in recreating the songs live to sound exactly like they do on the record,” Michael says. “It’s what sets the recording process apart from our live performances. It’s never going to be quite the same thing, but both have their appeals,” DeJong adds.

While Greenwood Shade is still playing on the headphones of many Richmonders, Sleepwalkers don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. “After we made this record, it got me to thinking about how bands used to operate,” Austin says. “Today, a band might put out a record every couple years. Sometimes, it takes close to half a decade. Back in the day, you had The Beatles putting out two records a year, and they wouldn’t sound anything like each other.” Sleepwalkers are already hard at work on another release that they hope will be out by the end of this year. “Steven Spielberg put out Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park in the same year. That seems crazy to me. I still want to see if we can put out a complete polar opposite to Greenwood Shade, though,” Michael adds. One thing is for certain–we can expect another Christmas single. “We had so much fun doing the last one,” Michael says. “Why not just do it again and make it an annual thing?”

While no one, not even Sleepwalkers themselves, could have predicted such a high-quality debut, the recognition and success Sleepwalkers have achieved locally with Greenwood Shade has been an inspiration. Their goals at this point are small-scale, but they plan to keep pushing ahead. “If we could make a living doing this, that would be amazing. For now, it’s just fun to travel on these songs when we can, and just make more and more music together,” Heath says. Sleepwalkers also hope their eclectic sound can encourage fans to expand their horizons. “These days, it can be difficult to break people out of the niches they find their musical tastes leaning towards,” Heath adds. “I hope we are working towards breaking that.” Sleepwalkers will certainly continue to push beyond their own boundaries, and it will be exciting to see what they create in the future. The best part is, we won’t have long to wait.

This article is taken from the latest print issue of RVA Magazine, out now. To read a digital version of the full issue, click here.

Hear A Brand New Sleepwalkers Song In Advance Of Their LP Release Show Friday At The Broadberry

Marilyn Drew Necci | July 9, 2014

Topics: exclusive, Greenwood Shade, music, RVA, Sleepwalkers, song premiere, The Broadberry

Sleepwalkers are a local alt-rock/pop band who’ve been subtly generating a buzz with semi-infrequent local shows around town over the past year-plus. Led by brothers Michael and Austin York, their shift into Sleepwalkers is analogous to the transition that occurs when a former child actor switches smoothly into adult roles.
[Read more…] about Hear A Brand New Sleepwalkers Song In Advance Of Their LP Release Show Friday At The Broadberry

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