While She Sleeps have just wrapped up their first Australian tour in support of their debut full length ‘This Is The Six‘ which was recently released via Halfcut Records. The band were out here as guests of House Vs Hurricane and will return early next year as part of Soundwave Festival which was just announced. To find out a little more about the album, the band have answered our On The Record questions. Expand this post to take a read while checking out a few songs. You can grab the album online now [Here].
Tell us about the release title.
“This Is The Six” has been around for quite a while now for us as friends. There are actually 2 meanings behind it, the first meaning is that we as the band are the 5 and the crowd, people who support us, and anyone who feels like they are connected with our music, or just generally feel like a part the band and what we are doing are the SIX! Therefore the SIX, together we are ONE movement, and part of the SAME group! The second meaning is quite simply that there are SIX letters in the word SLEEPS which is the bands nick name, So in a way its also a secret self titled album, “This Is SLEEPS”.
Tell us about the artwork.
For the first time ever we thought it would be cool to get someone else to come in and do the art-work (Jon Barmby) as opposed to us doing it, which we have done for all of our years as a band. Some of the lyrics are very war related so we thought it would be fit to roll with that sort of vibe, dirty, old, worn, dark, and also the album is HEAVY AS FUCK so these things also match up.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
It is being released through the usual outlets on CD and digitally, but you can also get it as a cool deluxe box set, a signed copy, or if you get it though iTunes you will receive two bonus acoustic tracks!.
Who will it be released through, and when?
It was released on August 3rd through our new record label – Halfcut Records (Shock)
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
We had never heard of the place before but our management suggested it would be cool to try it out as they have used him in the past. We didn’t have many preferences as to where we wanted to go so we thought there would be no harm in getting to know the guy and have a chat about what we wanted etc. Turns out, personally and im sure i speak for the rest of the band, one of the best moves of our lives! It turned out a MILLION times better than we could of dreamed of, and its all thanks to Carl Bown at Tree House Studios!
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
Haha no and yes, the way I / the band write I think is a sort of just go with it, and what we think sounds good vibe, and I think that ends up giving the entire album it’s own vibe and feeling without thinking about it to much. But we will always go into writing saying, MAKE IT HEAVIER!
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
There was that many bands we liked and was listing to at the time I cant remember haha, but I know for sure that the year of listing to music up to the start of writing definitely had a subconscious effect on the way we wanted our songs to sound.
Were there any albums you were referencing to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
Erm, i guess a few but like a said before, i think our record sounds like no other and we really like it, we couldn’t of asked for a better production for our new song.
I mean we like the sound of SLIPKNOT, UNDEROATH, THRICE, BMTH and many more albums but we are super stoked on the way ours turned out!
How long did it take to record?
It took us about 2-3 months to record the album, we were on a very tight schedule and i myself still had to write about 2 full songs in the studio! To tell you the truth, the bits and the songs i wrote under the pressure of time and stress in the studio, are some of the best on the record, for the next album im going to organzine people to hold guns to my face while i write, things like that, UNDER PRESSURE WRITING!
Tell us a little about the recording process the band used?
We started with drums at a place called Chapel Studios, using a bunch of crazy old mic’s to give the drums as much raw and real feel as possible. Sav would record to my pre-production ghost guitar tracks and click etc. Then it was on to guitars. We quad tracked both guitars using a Peavy 6505, Krank revolution and a bunch of various pedals. Then bass and vocals, i know that Loz tried a few different mic’s ut to get the right raw sound he wanted, we also modelled the bass on a Foo Fighters track!
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
Of coUrse, we have only ever recored things our self so this was very different and a lot of fun!
Any guests involved? if so, who.. and what did they do?
Yeah, we have Andrew Neufeld from Comeback kid on the track DEAD BEHIND THE EYES, we have all loved his voice for years so we gave him an ask and he was game.
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
Like i said before we used a lot of old mics, used an ebo on some lead bits which sounds awesome, also a lot of old guitars like guibson 335, original telecaster, gibson sg and many more.
Any memorable studio moments?
I know we got fucked every night at the chapel haha we do love a drink we do!
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
Not really but there are definitely some riffs that didn’t make on on which will most definitely come out one way or another!
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
We already play DEAD BEHIND THE EYES and THIS IS THE SIX but im really looking forward to play LOVE AT WAR and THE PLAGUE OF A NEW AGE!
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
It is a lot heavier but also a lot more anthemic, i would like to say thats its the NORTH STANDS FOR NOTHING with the contrast turned up high as FUCK! Everything is enlightened, but do not get me wrong, we all LOVE every second of THE NORTH STANDS FOR NOTHING and we wouldn’t change a single thing!
Anything else you want to say or tell us about the release?
We love it, we put all of our heart in it and we hope you really like it! Check out http://www.wssofficial.com/
———————————————————————–
WHILE SHE SLEEPS – This Is The Six
In stores now via Halfcut / Shock.
Buy it online [Here].
———————————————————————–
Catch them live on
———————————————————————–
