Wintersleep: No Time For Rest

01/14/09 1:17pm

by David Missio (CHARTattack)

On the verge of superstardom, Wintersleep stay focused on the music

And to think that it all began as a side project.

On the 15th floor of a high-rise in the south end of Halifax, Wintersleep lead singer Paul Murphy hunkered down with drummer Loel Campbell in order to get some slow songs off his chest. Soon he would return to his harder band, Kary, leaving Campbell to pursue any number of projects he was involved in, allowing the music of those sessions to exist under the name Wintersleep. Now, some six years later, Wintersleep have become one of the biggest, hardest touring acts in the country. Their self-titled debut and untitled sophomore release helped to make them college radio darlings. And now their third studio release, Welcome To The Night Sky, is poised to make everyone wake up and take notice.

“I feel a purity to it... we couldn’t do it if it wasn’t something that we really, really cared about, and it’s pretty much the same [as when we started],” Campbell says. “I think our records are getting better. I don’t know if anyone else thinks that, but we think our records are getting better.”

Wintersleep have recently made efforts to return to a more organic method of writing their songs, finding the time to play together and see what develops.

“Any opportunity we have to just jam on some idea or just try some ideas, we jump at. Something might come out of it, or maybe not,” Campbell says. “We kind of do these retreats, I guess. We’ve been trying to do them a lot lately. Myself and [bassist] Mike Bigelow, we’re from a town an hour-and-a-half north of Halifax called Stellarton. A lot of the songs on this record were actually written there in my father’s garage.”

It might seem surprising that the band feel the need to remove themselves from the central hub of downtown Halifax, given the city’s recent musical revival, but Campbell seems dubious of the local facilities.

“We find it pretty soul-crushing to go to the jam spaces around here. It can kind of kill the vibe of working on something if you’re getting blasted with something like thrash metal through the wall,” Campbell says. “We all kind of grew up with isolated smalltown backgrounds, so it’s kind of good to revisit that, I guess. It’s surprising how much material comes out of that.”

From songs like the folky, anthemic “Weighty Ghost” to the sprawling “Miasmal Smoke And The Yellow Bellied Freaks,” new material seems to come out of a certain chance moment of inspiration — no matter what it happens to be.

“Sometimes you’ll just hear somebody playing a piece on the guitar and instantly that sparks an idea in someone else’s head,” Campbell says. “The last song on the record [‘Miasmal’], that song actually came together in one of those hear-the-thrash-band-in-the-other-room situations... that one was just me, Tim and Paul, and it was just kind of like, there it was. It just came out of a jam.”

Though they continue to hone their songwriting abilities as a band, Wintersleep are often best displayed through their raucously frenetic live show.

“People want to have a good time when they come see a band,” Campbell says. “Not that we have any party jams or anything like that, but we’re just trying to engage the audience. It’s totally different than trying to write the song.”

Their live show helped to propel them upward rather quickly, as they found themselves playing with Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Interpol and Beck before their albums were even released south of the border. Still, being good Canadian boys, it was their recent tour with The Tragically Hip that was really meaningful.

“Seeing Gord Downie in a towel is kind of special, I think,” Campbell muses. “All of us are really, really into that band. It’s another one of those respect things. It was pretty awesome for us to sit around and have them tell us stories about their early days. It’s comforting when someone takes you aside and tells you everything’s OK.”

In spite of it all, Wintersleep remain a humble band, as exhilarated as any of their fans for what they’ve achieved.

“Sometimes it just happens so quickly, it’s kind of the reason we’re all in this band,” Campbell says. “It just comes so effortlessly sometimes, and it’s really exciting.”

bonus sidebar
Fun With Labels!

Members of Wintersleep have been involved with the artist-run label Dependent Music since its inception. Hell, everyone has their own label these days, so grab a pen and match the “artist” with their label.

Corey Hart •
Heath Ledger •
Kevin Federline •
Starbucks •
Tommy Lee •
Toby Keith •
Rob Halford •

• Federation Records
• Metal God Entertainment
• Masses Music Co
• Show Dog Records
• Hear Music
• Siena Records
• Chophouse Records

Answers: Hart (Siena), Ledger (Masses), Federline (Federation), Starbucks (Hear), Lee (Chophouse), Keith (Show Dog), Halford (Metal God)

This feature article is from the October 2007 issue of Chart Magazine. You can purchase the issue in the Chart Shop.