Louder Than War met up with up-and-coming hopefuls Sleeping Together to find out what their dreams and ambitions are; the highs and lows, the risks and rewards, the opportunities and pitfalls which face a young band in the download age.
So you wanna be a rock’n’roll star? That’s a question as old as rock’n’roll itself as the fickle finger of fame beckons towards the lead singers, the would-be guitar heroes, the next Keith Moon or Kim Deal. The money, the sex and drugs or cigarettes and alcohol, your name in lights – not to mention the chance to pour your heart out in front of packed arena crowds – the irresistible allure is understandable. But for many, most in fact, it is a siren call which all too often leads to disappointment and regret. The tongue-in-cheek answer to that opening question famously posed by the Byrds all those years ago is simple; ‘Just get an electric guitar then take some time and learn how to play.’ It’s not quite that easy though, or everyone would be doing it.
Sleeping Together are a young North-West based band who play a refreshing brand of indie rock / pop and emerged from the doldrums of lockdown to “bring big beats, catchy riffs and good vibes back to the Indie scene.” Citing influences from Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Blossoms through to The Killers, Linkin Park and Dire Straits with plenty in-between, they certainly have a deep pool to draw from. Formed after singer Alex posted an ad on Join My Band website, the original name was Whatever The Weather, but they were forced into a rapid about-face when a Radio X DJ informed them the moniker was already taken. Vocalist / guitarist and arguably de facto band leader, Alexander Lloyd-Jones is the elder statesman at the ripe old age of 25. Hailing from Whitefield in Bury, Alex is employed as a non-clinical navigator for a local health care provider, helping to ease the strain on A&E. The other three band members are a mere 23, with guitarist Mike Corry from Mold in Wales working as a business development executive in Chester, while best mate and bassist Ryan Williams from Wrexham combines 16 hours a week as a marketing account manager with a full-time degree course in Liverpool. Drummer Jason Javier Dominguez is a software developer for a lighting systems company, splitting his time between London and homeworking from the flat in Hulme where we meet.
The first thing which hits you is that all four band members are fully employed outside the music industry. None of them need to play music to make a living but, conversely, they currently make nowhere near enough money from music to play full-time – something they would all dearly love to do. They’re neither hungry punks desperate to earn a living any way they can, nor Hollywood brats with enough cash to take up music as just another whim. As Jason explains: “You have all these ideas, but time and money are the main limiting factors – if you have 9-5 you can only spend a couple of hours here and there. The moment you think you can give that up and only focus on the music, you can only imagine it’s going to get better because you can invest all your time in it.”
To varying degrees, all have musical backgrounds. Aged 14, Alex was singing in the back of the car when his dad asked him if he had considered playing an instrument which, at the time, he “didn’t take as a back-handed compliment.” Soon afterwards, he got his first electric guitar and has since thankfully found his voice. Mike wanted to play recorder at school but was told he would “never learn an instrument”. Determined to prove them wrong and to outdo his stepbrother (who could play Smoke On The Water) he spent hours with YouTube, chord books and a tutor to hone his guitar skills. Jason tinkered with sax before turning to drums, again inspired by sibling rivalry, while Ryan obtained a Grade 2 in cello at primary school and has played in bands since he was 16.
But for young wannabes, what is the main incentive – is it the attraction of fame, fortune and the rock star lifestyle or simply the opportunity to be paid to express that sheer love of music to a wider audience? The members of Sleeping Together have slightly differing outlooks on the concept of fame. Jason recalls that, as soon as he stated watching the likes of Dave Grohl perform, he thought: “I want to be known as a really great drummer – I don’t care about being known as a rock star or anything like that” – a desire to have his music rather than his face recognised. Mike takes a similar approach and would be: “happy to walk down the street and go for a pint without being mithered”, but on the other hand, would like his music to be “massive, loved and well-known”. However, he does sheepishly admit to getting a buzz when Ryan’s mate hugged him after a gig when he recognised him as the guitarist in the band. Ryan himself is, by his own admission, pretty shy – at least until he’s had a couple of pints, but explains: “I find it quite possessing when I get on stage. I don’t feel in control any more. I feel like I’m letting the music take the wheel and I turn into a completely different person.” Indeed, it’s a sobering thought that an aspiring musician could dedicate years to learning their craft, only to find that their legs turn to jelly every time they take the stage.
Alex who, as Ryan puts it, “most wants the rock starness”, has long wanted to perform. Encouraged by his mother to take drama classes “to get some personality”, he joined a casting agency but, after a starring role in Emmerdale fell through, he decided to concentrate on music, despite an appearance on CBBC’s 4 O’Clock Club. However, even Alex admits: “I don’t want fame from it as such. Arctic Monkeys have always been good at it – they’re not flash in front of the cameras and don’t post on Twitter every day, it’s just ‘here’s the new album, we’ll see you at Leeds.’ Live a private life and write your best music.”
Of course, there are a lot of hard yards to be put in before the prospect of coping with fame becomes a real issue, and inevitably there’s a steep learning curve for any new band. You’ve forked out for some gear, written a bunch of songs and practised until you sound ok, at least to your own ears, but what next? So far, Sleeping Together have taken a DIY approach; the 21st Century equivalent of the fanzines and cottage record industry spawned by the punk revolution of the late ’70s / early ‘80s. They’ve pretty much picked everything up as they’ve gone along on what Alex describes as a “manage it until you can’t manage it” basis.
The first priority was to get some money in as the band “was costing an arm and a leg”. Off the back of the pandemic, Jimmy’s in Liverpool offered the facility to book nights for free. The band requested a weekend slot which they had to wait months for, and that turned out to be their first big show – certainly the first thing they made money on, despite Alex admitting: “we had no idea what we were doing”. A support slot with Jeramiah Ferrari at a sold-out Manchester Academy took things to another level. Talking to fellow bands is a great source of advice and assistance and most of the important information is spread by word of mouth with some of the biggest gigs to date arising from conversations with other acts. One of these was the support slot with the Family Rain at Night and Day, a band Alex had first contacted as a fan aged 15. He explains: ‘‘I like that sense of community in the industry-you realise you’re in the same boat.”
Once Sleeping Together had a few decent songs ready to go, the next step was to get them recorded and a band called Johnny Ash pointed them in the direction of Tayte Nickols at Mad Fox studios in Rochdale. Ryan explains that the first visit was effectively a mentoring session and that they learnt a lot about the recording process and marketing as well as making their songs more commercially viable, with the three singles they have released to date emerging from this collaboration. Starting with the polished pop of first release Summer Girl, the band started to collect Spotify and YouTube traffic and, in conjunction with this, they started to develop their social media presence.
If you think modern technology and social media have made things easier, well yes and no. In the old days, it was relatively straight forward in that up-and-coming bands would play a load of gigs and hope an A&R guy from a record company would pick them up. From there on, they would make their name on Top of the Pops or in Sounds, NME, Jackie or record Mirror and the tours and hits would hopefully follow. Nowadays, for most, it’s been turned upside down with the artists needing to build a presence and have something material to present to the record companies before they will show an interest. Jason takes up the theme: “It seems that the labels don’t now build up an artist, they take something that’s already working, someone who’s already had millions of streams and have done the groundwork themselves. You can’t just be a musician now if you want to get a massive following, you need to have a social media presence as well. I don’t want to make TikToks and stuff, but if it blows up to so many more people, how can that not be beneficial even if only 10% come and listen?” Of Sleeping Together’s approach, Ryan continues: “We’re quite smart on TikTok. We go for a personalised approach, more ‘look at me I could be your friend’ rather than ‘look at me I’m going to be your idol one day.'” Although social media can help pave the way, bands still have to be on the look-out for openings through more traditional methods and, as Alex points out: “You never know how close you are, who you’re talking to or playing in front of, so you need to be good all the time.”
The advent of social media has, in many ways, democratised the process in that any artist can get their stuff out there on YouTube, TikTok etc and potentially be seen by thousands in a short space of time. The downside of this is that there is very little quality control and there’s a lot of rubbish out there muddying the waters for the discerning listener. There is also an awareness that multiple social media hits don’t necessarily equate to an engaged and knowledgeable fanbase. Alex cites the example of Steve Lacey’s apparent frustration when his audience seemed blissfully unaware of any of his output rather than a snippet of his TikTok smash Bad Habit. Alex adds: “I’d rather play to 100 people that love you than 1000 who don’t know you.”
In order to give themselves the best chance to rise above the crowd and be ready should a rep come knocking with that coveted contract, the band decided they needed to arm themselves with an album’s worth of quality material. Emboldened by their positive experience with Mad Fox and feeling slightly more music business savvy, the guys decided to take the massive leap of booking six week’s recording time at London’s prestigious Narcisus studios. Inhaler were taking off at the time and had recorded there, so it seemed a natural choice. But this is where we start talking serious money for four young guys, with total production costs set to be in the region of 14k, not to mention the loss of a month’s earnings. To put things in perspective, they earn a few hundred pounds from their biggest gigs, have pocketed a meagre £60 to date from Spotify streams and lived on a diet of pains au chocolat, pot noodles and microwave pizzas to make ends meet in London. This might sound like a big commitment for a new band, but Alex insists; “We wanted to pay for it ourselves so it’s ours – we want to get signed but we want to get to the point where we can push something that’s tangible and ours first.” There was the added bonus that the band proved they could survive several weeks cooped up together without murdering one another, notwithstanding the fact that Ryan broke off for his Uni studies and Mike returned to Manchester to watch a performance of The Lion King.
The future looks bright for Sleeping Together. They’ve gained invaluable experience from the London adventure and have come away with material which is “a bit more polished and sounds more like us.” A physical release may be imminent, but Jason suggests that, at the moment: “It’s a balancing act between cost and returns.” There are big shows coming up; a prestigious support slot with The Lottery Winners, a sold-out show with Dirty Blond and a festival appearance at the Focus Wales, all hot on the heels of their two-hour artist take over on Calon FM. More than anything, there is a real bond between the four band members and a democratic approach which leaves little room for inflated egos. “If you think that you’re better than four people together, you’re an idiot. Collaboration is always the best” argues Alex, continuing: “I’m just enjoying it – it’s good. We got in rehearsal last night and there wasn’t a raised voice, there was no tension, it’s just chilled.” Ryan confirms: “It was so nice to go to that rehearsal after the stressful few months we’ve had just to find out we’re still really good at this and we still like each other.”
So, what is our advice for aspiring bands and artists who want to follow Sleeping Together’s example and embark on the quest for prominence in the often unforgiving world of the music industry? Certainly, chase your dream if you genuinely believe you have the talent and desire to give it a shot. There are plenty of potential hazards and the majority will end up simply enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame in front of a local audience – but you don’t want to die wondering what might have been. Work with people you like and trust. We’ve all heard of the vitriolic squabbles within bands, the splits over musical differences and the sibling spats. Oasis may have made it big despite the Gallagher brothers’ mutual dislike, but it’s got to be a lot more fun if you’re mates. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice as, more often than not, it’s freely and generously given. Do be prepared to spend a lot of cash if you’re serious. Alex warns: “If you want an expensive hobby, join a band.” Don’t, however, re-mortgage the house or put your life savings into it as nothing is more likely to bring any project grinding to a halt than money worries. Nail the social media side of things but make sure you have a nucleus of strong material as, without that, the rest is just so much window dressing. More than anything else, be lucky.
Sleeping Together Links Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok
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All words by Robin Boardman. More writing from Robin for Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive
Photos by Samantha Corcoran: Website | Instagram
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