SLEEP PARADE
Friendly, excited, honest, open and enthusiastic are a few words that describe Leigh Davies, lead vocalist and guitarist for Melbourne prog-rock trio Sleep Parade. And why wouldn't you be after having just released an album as good as 'Things Can Always Change'? Leigh spoke to Luke Davison the weekend before embarking on back-to-back tours with USA's Porcupine Tree and Cog. With the excitement of their first proper tour, things couldn't be better in the Sleep Parade camp.
Things haven't always been this positive though, with the album taking longer than expected to record and release, line-up changes that saw their keyboard player leave the band and a warehouse fire in January 2007 that destroyed all their gear except Leigh's (which he was obviously stoked about even though his band mates lost everything). This inconveniently happened when they were in the middle of recording 'Things Can Always Change', prolonging the process and pushing back the expected release date.
Sleep Parade released their debut LP during March 2008 to widespread critical acclaim, and it wasn't just the punters that liked what they heard, as Leigh confesses: "I've never had a release that I liked listening to before this record." Taking two years to put together and release, the delayed process helped produce an album that was far better than anything they had released before. "Even the day we got back the masters, we were really unhappy with our last EP," Leigh admits. "It's only 10% to have a good record, you've gotta push it and really work it and tour in order to get any kind of success out of the record."
With 'Things Can Always Change' finally released, Leigh is keen to tour as much as they can. "This is the first full tour we've ever done," Leigh says of the Cog tour. "This is the first time we've played four nights straight in different towns, had a couple days off and then played another four nights straight in another four towns...it's pretty exciting." Sleep Parade's momentum looks set to continue its rapid ascension after recently signing on with the Atlas Agency - the same booking agent used by Cog. This opportunity with Atlas has already paid off with a solo tour planned for later in the year, assuring Sleep Parade is one band you are sure to hear a lot more of in the near future.
So, what can we expect from the three-piece now they have an album they are proud of and a burning desire to get out there and do their thing on stage? "We're going to be touring hard. We are not going to be one of those bands that just releases something and then drops off," says Leigh. So get out there and support one of Australia's most promising new talents as they go from town to town sharing songs from their amazing debut.
Catch Sleep Parade supporting the almighty Cog on their 'Sharing Space' tour on Thursday May 22 at the Hotel Great Northern, Byron Bay, Friday May 23 at the Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast, Saturday May 24 at The Powerhouse, Toowoomba and Sunday May 25 at the Sands Tavern, Maroochydore.
'Things Can Always Change' is out now on Shock Records. |
