Park Life:
03Jul09
Revolver Show 2am
Just got home. 2am. Great show tonight. That said, the band is officially flu-ridden (see pic below - by way of explaining how we feel at the mo).
Surprisingly good crowd tonight considering the polar Melbourne winds kicking everybody's arse. Campbell rocked up with bag-pipes in tow - which is always a good vibe. Revolver's a great place. Always dig the vibe there. Many a time we've been 'stuck' at the back bar for the duration of the eve & following morn - but that's another story.
Thanks to you for being there tonight.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
02Jul09
REVOLVER TONIGHT
Seeya there: Revolver Upstairs, 229 Chapel St Prahran. We're on stage at 10:30pm. Check the Shows page for further details.
01Jul09
Revolver Show Tomorrow Night
First show back from OS touring at the mighty 'Revolver Upstairs' tomorrow night. We're on stage at 10:30pm. Revolver Upstairs: 229 Chapel St Prahran. Check the Shows page for further details.
Seeya there.
Sleepers out.
30Jun09
From Poland With Love
Introducing Pawel (Pavell): A good friend of ours who lives in North Poland & organises AITP there.
He's a great, no-nonsense kinda guy - totally pro & a delight to travell around with. He sent us this pic last night.
As well as promoting, Pawel tours with his own folk/rock band, Rzepczyno - well known througout central Europe. They had some pretty big shows last week - for which he pulled on his Asleep In The Park shirt. Nice work we say.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
29Jun09
Eagle From Hell - Book Review
Over the weekend, I finished ex-Eagle, Don Felder's, autobiography - Heaven and Hell (a tale of life with The Eagles). Firstly, it should be said that I'm not an Eagles fan. Dad recommended the book & once started, I couldn't put it down.
More than an eye-opening account of intimidation & manipulation at the hands of Glenn Frey and Don Henley, Felder writes of growing up dirt poor in Gainsville Florida, his relationship with his father who beat him repeatedly - but who also gave him his first guitar & encouraged him in the early days - and Felder's ultimate rise from rags to riches.
At the end of it all, I didn't come away thinking much of 'The Gods' - as Frey and Henley are not-so-affectionately refered to throughout the book. Felder describes the tension on his first day with the band, in the early seventies, as overwhelming. And it gets worse as time goes. Sex, drugs, alcohol, greed and gigantic egos accumulate (as the band get older - and apparently not wiser) so that Frey and Henley allegedly squeeze the rest of the band out of income fairly due to them - taking it for themselves.
Felder (responsible for 'Hotel California' among others), courageously resists the money grab and is summarily fired by 'The Gods'. It's a tragic indictment of life in a band of mood-swinging ego manics, the subsequent emotional and physical cost and the toll on Felder's sanity. Apparently he's happy and at peace with the whole thing now.
8 outa 10 Sleepy Rubber Chickens.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
26Jun09
Who said the flu was abaiting here at Sleeper HQ. Maxie's just gone down with it. No going out tonight me thinks. Have a good weekend folks. Shot below from Club Bochka in Kiev a couple of weeks ago.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
25Jun09
First rehearsal last night, after returning from OS touring. We're back & ready to tear into next week's Revolver show. The flu symptoms racking the band are finally easing up. Wouldn't want to be the next band in the studio using those microphones. Listening to Oasis's classic album "What's The Story Morning Glory" at the moment. Ah the memories...
Checkya later
Sleepers out.
23Jun09
The tour comes home to roost. Got the flu today, dammit. Thought that might happen sooner or later. Was trying not to think about the likely effects of going from Summer, on the other side of the world, straight into a typical Melbourne Winter. Better now than next week.
Checkya later.
Sleeper on Panadol.
22Jun09
First Show Back Next Week
Revolver Upstairs next Thursday (2nd July). Looking forward to this one. First local show since returning from touring Europe two weeks ago. Check the shows page for details & seeya there.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
19Jun09
Dad Pulls Own Tooth
Something a little different for this Friday. Last weekend, Dad pulled one of his back teeth out. In an apparent effort to save on dental bills, he began work on the tooth about a month ago when he realised it was a little loose and slightly painful. Pushing it this way & that on a daily basis, crunch time finally came & the decision was made to reach in and yank the offending chomper out. In other words, he pulled his own tooth out with his bare hands, root and all. And I thought I was having a bad week.
Let's face it. They bread 'em tough in those days.
Catchya later.
Sleepers out.
PS. The shot above has nothing to do with my Dad's tooth & was taken side of stage at one of the last shows on recent European tour last weekend.
PSS. First local show since returning from said tour Thursday 2nd July at Revolver Upstairs. Check the Shows page for details.
18Jun09
Footage from Rock Fest in Ukraine
This was shot side of stage at Tarasova Gora Festival last weekend in Ukraine. Hard to believe we were on the other side of the world about a week ago. 2nd last song of the set, Sky Caves In. Again, many thanks to Sasha for filming...
See you at Revolver Upstairs 2 weeks from tonight - Thursday 2nd July. Check the shows page for details.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
17Jun09
First Australian Show Post Euro Tour
Two weeks from tomorrow, we hit the stage at Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. It'll be our first local show since returning from touring Europe last week. Check the shows page for more details. Thursday, 2nd July - Revolver Upstairs - 229 Chapel Street Prahran. We'll be on stage around 10pm - bringing the full tour show, the rock & general Sleeper mayhem.
Check some of the tour footage on the video page.
Some really cool shit there from Poland and Ukraine.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
16Jun09
Bribery in the Park
Last round of tour shows (last weekend) were in Ukraine. After Friday's show at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, we were accosted by a group of students determined to drink us under the table. We ended up in a park in the university area, drinking way too much vodka, talking shit & singing out of tune. A couple of cops showed up. Two of the students remonstrated - trying to "diffuse" the situation: Either we gave them 100 Ukraine dollars or they'd arrest the lot of us.
So I made my way to the 'bankomat' to pull out said cash, while the rest of the crew stayed as hostages. When one of the students went to take the money off me (to hand over to the cops) I said, "Nah man, I wanna do it. This'll be the first time I've ever bribed a police officer". And with that I handed the cash, nice, slow, down low & inconspicously to the men in uniform. They left straight away with a pay rise for the night - and we got the hell outa there.
Going home at that point would have saved an already ballistic headache brewing for the morning. Alas, and yet again, we were not that smart. Two things: 1. Afterparties in strange countries - your hosts won't even tell you where you are, let alone how to get home, until they're ready to call it quits. 2. Vodka = Insanity.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
15Jun09
Video Page
Now showing on the video page: all the recent tour video stuff, MF film-clip, previous tour diaries etc etc. Check the new vid below (& also on said video page) - shot from side of stage at last weekend's Tarasova Gora Festival in Ukraine. Again, many thanks to Sasha for taking this footage for us.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
13Jun09
Live Video Tarasova Gora Festival, Ukraine June09
The final show on the tour of Europe just gone. A mighty festival in the forests of Cherkassy, Ukraine. Many thanks to Sasha for filming side of stage & capturing the vid below. Awesome crowd, great vibe - our favourite show of the tour.
Checkya later,
Sleepers out
12Jun09
Day Two Post Tour
The weirdness of returning to 'normal' life hasn't let up yet. Feels like being in the twilight zone. Good to see the dog, though. He's been stoked since we got home, bolting up and down the hallway at the slightest stimulus. Almost slept through the night last night. Did 3 hours, got up for an hour, back to bed for 5. Will take a week or so to get back to a 'one stint' sleep. Realising how broken sleep was on tour (and how the bod adjusts). Probably shouldn't complain - re those of you with young kids experiencing perpetual random sleep deprivation. Hats off to ya.
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
Tour diaries in the entries below...
11Jun09
Home From Tour
We're finally home, all back in Melbourne today, adjusting to normal life. The vid below (shot yesterday in transit from Kiev to Melbourne) is a special thanks to everybody who followed the tour diaries. An extra special thanks to those of you who sent your best wishes. Makes a huge difference to us, out on the road away from home.
Summary: 12 shows, 4 countries (UK, Poland, Romania, Ukraine), 16 days on the ground.
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
10Jun09
Abu Dhabi in Transit
Half way home at the airport, waiting to board for the final leg home to Melbourne. Everybody in good spirits me thinks.
Sleepers out.
08Jun09
London Video & Leaving Kiev Early Tomorrow
The tour ended with the shows on the weekend. Spent the last couple of days sleeping, taking it easy, regaining sanity & hanging out with our hosts, Sasha, Ludya & crew (Sasha, Artem, Dave & co). Great to finally be able to relax, listen to a bunch of tunes, few drinks & post mortem the tour. A huge thanks to our hosts, yet again, for an amazing time here & some huge shows.
Highlights from London below - with gigantic thanks to Dancin' Ted Beagles, film maker & friend for shooting & editing the following masterpiece...
07Jun09
72 Hours in Ukraine
Thu 04Jun09:
Sound- check Thursday morning finishes at 4am. Go back to apartment. Sleep til 1pm. Get up, eat, get ready, travel to Bochka Club for show. Show turns into nightmare. Everything goes wrong. Nomesy in a state afterwards - only got to play half of the show - bass amp kept cutting out. Broken strings, leads, equipment. Drink excessively to consolidate - not a great move. Get home 5am.
Fri 05Jun09:
Wake up 3pm with Vodka hangover, rush out the door to a university show at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kiev. Play show still drunk, about a thousand people in the audience. Not happy about Vodka still in my system. Get dragged off to an after-party, then another and another. Vodka frenzy ensues. Need sleep. Somehow get home with Nomes. Simon is still out there somewhere. Forget what time I went to bed.
Sat 06Jun09:
Wake up around midday. Proceed to have band 'dust up' in the apartment car park. Sasha jumps in to break it up. Get in cars, travel to festival show, feeling like shit. Hang around like a zombie til show time. About 6,000 people in the audience. Best, tightest show of the tour. Great crowd. Get in cars, arrive back at apartment around 6am.
Sun 07Jun09
Sleep.
Til tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
04Jun09
Bochka Khmelnaya, Kiev Tonight & Solomons Vid
Big show at Bochka tonight here in Kiev, Ukraine. We'll be headlining a huge line-up with 5 of Kiev's finest. Check the shows page for details.
And this vid below is really amazing. We all had a lump in our throats here, watching this so far from home. Put together by Tim Arney, it's a compilation of footage from our tour of the Solomon Islands to the wonderful music of Mark Wilkinson.
Mark, Asleep In The Park, Dave Jory and Renee Brack journeyed to the Solomons in February to play for our troups stationed there - and for local communities in villages dotted across the islands.
Report on tonight's show later.
Sleepers out.
03Jun09 (eve post)
Bochka Sound-check, Ukraine
Just got back from sound-checking at Bochka (the club we're playing in tomorrow night). It's 4:30am. They check at strange times there. Been there 4 hours making sure everything's set to go.
Til later.
Sleepers out.
03Jun09Friends at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
Did something really special today. Took the subway to the Kohyla Academy where they teach English to university students in Kiev.
(Some of the class at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy)
We stood up in front of a class (about 50 students) to talk about our life back home and what it's like to be an Australian band touring Europe. Maxie sang a Ukrainian folk song, Little Well, & we did an a cappalla version of 'Sky Caves In" (both tunes receiving great applause). Wonderful experience.
We hope to see some of the class at our show tomorrow night at Bochka in Kiev. They've also invited us to their faculty party on Friday.
CHECK THIS OUT: Click here for a quick review of our Liverpool show on the APRA site.
2nd down the page "12:17 PM May 23rd Asleep In The Park absolutely tearing things up in Liverpool!"...
Til later.
Sleepers out.
02Jun09
01June09
Day Off En Route To Bucharest
Contrary to previous entry, we're on our way back to Bucharest today - flying out to Kiev tomorrow. Big party after the final show here in Brasov last night. Everybody is looking just a little worse for wear this morning.
Til later on,
Sleepers out.
31May09
World Record
Tonight we achieved our own world first. 9 shows - 3 in The UK, 3 in Poland, 3 in Romania. 8 different cities, 10 days.
We sleep now.
Sleepers out.
PS just got back from after party.
31May09
Last Romanian Show Tonight - Brasov
Sitting in the hotel (a beautiful one at that - feels centuries old). Drove up from Bucharest today after last night killer show. The Romanian country-side is really pretty. Photos don't do it justice. Drove about 3 to 4 hours through it to be here in Brasov. Snow capped mountains, rolling fields... you get the picture.
Anyway, tonight will be the last of 9 shows in 10 days & we're looking forward to resting for a couple. Fly out to Kiev tomorrow morning for the next run of shows later in the week. Sound check in about an hour. Need food before the show.
Til later on this eve,
Sleepers out
30May09
Clubul Taranului, Bucharest Show 2
So after last night we were pissed & determined to get back on the horse. And tonight started off great. Excellent club, again in the heart of Bucharest. Openers, Les Elephants Bizaars, were one of the best bands we've played with on tour so far - always a good thing for making you lift. They were engaging, energetic & rocked out. Earlier in the day, spent an hour or so walking around town to find Maxie some medicine for the throat & after taking various pills and stuff she was on the mend.
We hit the stage & totally nailed it. The sound was great, stage had some good room to move around, everthing went to plan. Loved it. Huge crowd roar throughout the set, ended with an encore. We were back on said horse. Maxie's voice had come back too - actually best I've heard her sing for ages.
Our friend Floren said he hadn't noticed any problems on stage the night before (was he kidding me?). Here's a thought for everyone back home. Apparently, I'm told, If you put a pin through the centre of the Earth, starting at Bucharest, you come out the other side somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne. As one of the guys from Les Elephants told me last night "You are as far from home as you can possibly be".
Sorry about irregular updates here too. We've had big probs with our website hosts back home. Technical hassles, they now tell us, are sorted... We live in hope.
Sleepers out
29May09
Bucharest Show 1
Flew in from Warsaw, picked up by Dan (our Promoter) and Floren (Austrade) at Bucharest airport. Driven to our apartments, threw our bags down - been a long tiring day. Rested for about half an hour, guys came again to pick us up & take us to the venue. Club A, right in the heart of Bucharest. Really cool venue.
Plumes of tabacco smoke in the air (not good for those of us who don't smoke - you're smoking by default). Sound check went OK. Venue started to fill & Dekidens (support) kicked off their set. Our turn & everything you could imagine going wrong went wrong (like Geelong in last years grand final). Kim fell ill & had to stay back at the apartment (she's OK now). Went to blast into the first song & Nomesy's bass lead went AWOL (no sound). Made a song up on the spot.
Maxine's voice died (started clapping out a little earlier in the day), The kit was driving Simon nuts & all over the shop. My mic stand fell forward & into the crowd, broke a string (first one for the tour). Guitar sound was crappy. Jumped up and smashed the kick drum with left foot (probably further frustrating Simon). Crowd didn't seem to be into it. Got some of em going. We were all dog tired and flat. Cut the set short a few songs (Maxie was ill and going down hill). One of those nights...
Sleepers out.
28May09
Warsaw Saturated
OK so tonight, we were driven (thanks to Pawel) to a small club called Saturator - on the wrong side of the tracks - in Warsaw City. Tough neighbourhood, run down and shambolic. Band room in the basement. Students from the local university drinking & getting ready for the show. Kardamon were our hosts. Great band, cool vibe - really nice people. Heaps of people came out to see them. Blasted through their set. Encore - Police's 'Message In A Bottle'.
Our set: Low ceiling - watching for it this time. No more concussion on this tour. Got stuck in. Pulled a great set together. Crowd went off. Remenicent of our early days playing 'The Yak' to a packed house of 50 people. Tiny, sweaty room. Totally loved it. Didn't want the night to end. Especially given it's our last night in Poland for a couple of months. I love this place. We love it. Beautiful country and cities. Friendly people. I could write for hours about what we've seen here. Buildings, history, war, occupation, peace, prosperity, humanity.
Most of all I will thank Pawel (Paul in English). A remarkable individual. Passionate musician, humanitarian, lover of history, friend... and our host. A thorough gent - who we'll miss until we meet again.
Tomorrow, Bucharest, Romania.
Check then, Sleepers out.
27May09
Warsaw & Waiting
Travelled all day in the van from Koszalin to Warsaw. Thank God someone else is driving (the mighty Pawel). Last thing any of us need is to be dealing with the right hand side of the road. Beautiful country-side here in Poland. Shooting video whenever I can - we'll probably be in Kiev before I get a chance to post it here. Much less time on this tour than on the previous couple. More shows, more travel.
Anyway, I'm sitting here in the hostel dining room and it's 3am. Gotta get some sleep before ensuing mayhem tomorrow. Saturator Klub in Warsaw. Should be an amazing show. Will let ya know. We should have good web contact from hereon in. Bucharest shows on Friday & Saturday. Brasov on Sunday (Romania).
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
26May09
Koszalin Ballistics Part 2 (Poland)
(Kreslarnia Klub)
After the radio show we drove to Kreslarnia Klub, just down the road. Unloaded the gear, lugged it up the stairs and onto the stage. Kreslarnia is a great club. Really cool vibe, great atmosphere. It's part of the local university. Big stage, lights and sound. Feeling shakey after the day I've had so far (see entry below). Smoked more cigarettes (you can smoke inside in Poland - none of this having to go outside bullshit). Got migrane. Decided the best way to deal with it was to start drinking. Started drinking. Migrane disappeared - I should have been a doctor.
Soundcheck took about an hour. Started the show about 10pm. Straight away, Maxie lept into the audience. Crowd went fucking nuts.
They were jumping up onto the stage, diving out again. Sweat and beer flying everywhere. What an awesome crowd. We loved em. From the moment we played the first note - they were slamming. The set was up there with the best of em, despite how tired we all were. At the end of Sky Caves In I threw up on stage. First time for everything. The timing was perfect. We had about 30 seconds before launching into the encore. Wiped my face (and beard) and blasted into Let You Go & Without.
Totally fucked when we stepped off stage for the last time. Drank about 6 beers in quick succession. Signed more EPs, loaded the gear out and back to the hotel. Slept like a log.
While I think of it, Kim has been amazing to be touring with. She's totally switched on - running the merch desk, filming, organising, looking out for us (catching people trying to steal my smokes or beer). A rare gem.
Sleepers out.
PS. Maxie re-opened the wound on her leg. There's just no telling some people...
26May09
Koszalin Ballistics Part 1 (Poland)
Today was a killer day. I think I was tireder by the end of it than I've ever been in my freekin life. Got up early coz I couldn't sleep (bad idea). The sun starts coming up here at 4:30am. Sets around 10pm - so night sleep doesn't happen for us. Anyway, Pawel came to wake us. He is a champ. Breakfast was laid out for us in the hotel dining room. A really nice spread. Drank too much coffee. Feeling like Zombie-Man. Jumped into the car after loading the gear, drove to Koszalin. Picked up the back-line. Drove to Radio Koszalin to play a live set in front of studio audience. Amazing experience.
Before-hand I had a really crappy sound-check. Nobody's fault but mine. Too tired to concentrate. Got shitty with myself. Proceeded to get shitty with everyone else. After a fucking hour, still couldn't get the guitar sound right. Dropped everything so we could all go get some food. Didn't eat anything (never can before a show). Smoked a whole lotta cigarettes, more coffee.
The studio audience were not expecting what happened. I think they loved it. We had a ball with them. The show wasn't about us being still for note perfection. Straight away, Maxie was out in the audience. who were singing along, clapping and hooting. Sweat flying off the stage. Ace. Finished the 70 minute set, signed a stack of EPs, packed the gear, lugged it to the van, off to the next show...
(on stage at Radio Koszalin)
25May09
En Route Poland
We piled into the cars at 10am & headed for Heathrow (from Birmingham) - which is a fair drive in English traffic.
(Birmingham mayhem - after the show)
Dropped the cars off, unloaded all the gear & lugged everything into the airport to check in for the flight to Poland. We landed in Warsaw, changed planes, and flew to Gdansk. A long day of travel & we were pretty delirious when we met Pawel (promoter in Poland) midnight at Gdansk airport. Piled into the car and drove another 3 hours to a town near Kroszalin. Pretty much straight to bed. Me thinks some of us were still hung over from the show the night before.
Big day coming tomorrow. 2 shows.
Sleepers out.
PS sorry bout being off-line for a few days (out of internet contact)
24May09
Birmingham
Just got back to the hostel. Great show - though not many people in the audience. The venue was great. Down in a basement (by a canal), big stage, great sound, good vibe. We love the bigger stages. A couple of new friends, who saw us in London, were kind enough to drive up and see us again, really cool. Gave the show everything. Jumped up and bashed my head on the low ceiling. Injury list is mounting.
Took ages to get from Liverpool today. Some idiot killed 3 people and themselves - and injured a stack of others, driving on the wrong side of the road down the M6 (major freeway between the cities - speed limited at 80 miles an hour). The whole journey ground to a hault - 40 miles back for several hours - for thousands of people. Chaos. By the time we got here we were knackered. Got off the M6 eventually, taking country back roads to Birmingham, saw some stunningly beautiful country-side but got totally lost about a dozen times.
Anyway, 1:30 am and we're all completely spent. Bedtime. Poland tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
24May09
Awesome Liverpool
This city is one of my favorite cities on the planet. Second time I've been here. It totally rocks. There's so much going on in the birthplace of The Beatles. The roar of the crowd during our set was fantastic. We played a great venue (as part of the Sound City festival) called Heebee Jeebies. Great, great place. Like the Espy but way cooler.
The folks here really dug us. The people in this town are so friendly. It's a beautiful place with ancient looking gothic buildings and hundreds of the coolest looking kids, wandering from venue to venue - to catch band after band. Again, we're awe-struck to be here.
(Above - Maxie's knee after jumping into the audience during the set)
Midway through our set, Nomes jumped off the stage and started dancing, while playing, with a bride-to-be who responded in kind by gyrating with imaginary hoola hoop. Sorry - no other way I can think to describe it.
Again, so pumped after the show, we can't wind down. And so again drink too much, stagger back to the hostel, pass into deep sleep.
Wake up 8am - Drive to Birmingham awaits, as does tonight's show at The Flapper. Note to self - it takes freeking ages to drive the shortest distances in England. Traffic is INSANE.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
PS: Sore all over (feels like I've played a long, hard footy game). Rest of the guys are the same.
23May09
London Rocks - Show No. 1
After filming with Ted, we made our way through the streets of Camden to sound-check the first show at Dublin Castle. Met the other bands. Rogue Radio and Red Wire. Really nice people, letting us use their back-line & sitting round for a chat before the show. Next thing, we were on. The room started filling. Awesome. Then Rogue Radio hit the stage (footage coming of these guys early next week - check their MySpace). They were thoroughly brilliant. Hip hopping, rockin' party band from Luton, north of London. We got on like a house on fire.
(Rogue radio shots above).
Next up, Red Wire. The talent in London is typified by bands like these. They are just so good it beggars belief. I felt an overwhelming sense of honour just to be on the same line-up with acts this good. Go check their MySpace.
(Redwire)
Also had a 'moment' on stage during our set - realising that Madness, Travis, Oasis, Idlewild, Blur and many other greats had stood in the exact same spot playing to a crowd in that very room. Holy shit.
So damned hard to wind down afterwards. Drank a little too much, staggered back with the guys to the hostel, 3am. Hit the hay, instantly asleep. Woke up totally pumped at 7am. Hired cars and started the drive to Liverpool at 11am. Really sad saying bye to Ted.
Sleepers out.
22May09
First Tour Show Tonight
It's 2 in the afternoon here in Sunny London. Quiet before the storm (never my fav time). In 5 hours we'll be sound-checking the first tour show at Dublin Castle tonight. We're all back at the hostel now after a two hour film interview. Ted (London doco film-maker) was shooting some of the final footage to go into the tour movie. He'll be down filming the show tonight. Was a really interesting, sometimes harrowing, couple of hours watching footage from 2007's world tour. Really fun moments in there too - but plenty of intense crazy shit we'd temporarily forgotten about. Me thinks it'll be a great, warts-and-all tour doco.
Charging the vid cam as I write. There'll be footage here of this weekend's UK shows early next week. Everybody's well & in good spirits, despite last night's lager frenzy in Camden. Simon played an ace this morning - he was indeed the man with the Panadol.
Catchya tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
PS Check out the Free Download page.
22May09
London Calling
Just got in. We're here. First show in Camden tomorrow night. Flew in a few hours ago. Caught the tube to Camden after meeting the infamous genius film-maker Ted at Heathrow.
He was filming us lugging our gear. I think he likes seeing us suffer. Makes good footage. Sitting in a pub at the moment. Just saw Nomesy, Kim & Sarah walking down the street. All sitting round a table now 4 pints down. Weather here is good. 25 and sunny & people look happier than usual.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
20May09
Romanian Radio & Video Page Launch
Check out the tracks on the music player below. 2 tracks (ads) by two commercial radio stations in Romania promoting our shows there. Sounds fantastic.
And today we launch the Video Page: Check film clips, video diaries and other stuff.
Tonight the remainder of the band (us) leaves for London. Stay tooned for 'Park Life On The Road' - daily updates, video diaries and more from our tour of Europe - posted right here, over the next month.
Chat tomorrow (from Abu Dhabi).
Sleepers out.
19May09
Tour Diaries Right Here
We leave tomorrow (Nomes and Kim are already there), getting ready for one of the biggest tours so far. First show this Friday in London - all rolls on from there. More shows in the UK, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. If you wanna keep tabs on us, wherever we are - we'll be posting live updates, tales from the road, pics and video from the tour, right here. Email us, jump on the forum. We'll be online checking it out. Tour details on the Shows Page.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
PS check out the new Gallery page
18May09
Gallery Page Launch Today
It's been a while in the waiting. But today the new Gallery page is up and happening. Check out a selection of shots from shows this year (and late 2008) including some great pics from our military tour of the Solomon Islands in Feb. Happy looking.
4 days til we kick off on tour in Europe throughout May & June. The first show is this Friday night at Dublin Castle, Camden London. Check the shows page for full details.
Chat tomorrow
Sleepers out.
17May09
Naomi & Kim in London
(email just received from Nomesy)
Heya guys!
How are you? What's been happening?
Just thought I would give you a quick update on things so far...
The flight over was long and dark, we seemed to be chasing the night for the first 14 hours. They woke everyone on the plane up at about 3am to offer sandwitches, ice-cream, chips, chocolate and fruit. It was bizarre. I had fruit, kim had the rest. News flash number one, they serve cointreau on the plane... and BAILEYS! Look out Max, it is on!
The plane was delayed in Abu Dhabi because some bugger decided to get sick and get rushed to hospital, which meant they had to unload the whole plane to get his bags off.
Went to the Dublin Castle last night to have couple of bevvies and survey the crowd. It's a great venue, really nice vibe. Left and went searching for people to promote to in the surrounding pubs but in typical English style it was raining and we got drenched.
News flash number two, watched a 'football' match... still find it boring but watching other people watch the football is really quite entertaining!
Hope all is well back in Aus land. Looking forward to you guys arriving, it's gonna be wild!
Speak soon
...nomes
Sleepers out.
PS: Euro tour starts this Friday at Dublin Castle, Camden, London.
Check Shows page for details.
16May09
Romanian Press
Less than a week to go before the tour kicks off in Europe. Below is a shot taken from a Romanian expat website (for British people in Romania).
Check out the site
http://www.expatromania.ro/
Pretty cool (we can actually read this one). World famous blues sax player, Alex Harding, is in there too. The man tours endlessly (& never lets his sax out of his sight). He got up on stage with us, last October, for a great show in Bucharest, Romania. It'd be so cool to do that again this time, if we can. Our people will speak to his people... The shows in Romania kick off on Friday 29th May at 'Silver Church' in Bucharest. Check the Shows page for details.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
15May09 (Fri night)
Quick note: Naomi & Kim have arrived in London.
Got word a few moments ago.
Flipside.
15May09
iTunes Release for EP
It's official: Our latest EP - Adios Motherf*cker - is now available for purchase on iTunes. Open iTunes, go to the iTunes Store, search for 'Alseep In The Park' and you'll find the new EP and the fist album. $6.99 and the EP is yours.
You can also hear samples of all the tracks on the EP. Check out the film clip for Motherf*cker below.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
14May09
MF Video Clip Release
Here it is folks. If you've caught Rage (ABC TV) recently, you might have seen it: The video for Motherf*cker.
The single has also just been added to Edge Radio in Hobart on 'general rotation'. Here's a really interesting one: 3 songs from the EP have just been added to the SMA playlist (Satellite Music Australia). That means whenever you're in any of the following stores - Coles, Bi-Lo, Officeworks, Mansours, Hungry Jacks, Freedom Furniture, Spotlight, Dan Murphy's and Accor (Novotel, Ibis + Mercure) Hotels - you stand a good chance of hearing us (while you're chomping on your fries or buying your toothpaste).
Naomi just emailed from Abu Dhabi - halfway to London - on route with Kim. The rest of us leave this Wed in hot persuit. Tour kicks off officially next Friday night in London. Stay tuned, right here, for updates from the road. We'll be posting daily updates, pics and video.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
12May09
Tour Stuff
It's all happening here. Tour starts in the UK next week. Then onto Europe after that. We're just sorting the 'minor' remaining details. Like how to get from one country to another without having to rob a bank or how to move the band around when we're actually there... and so on. Good news is - you always figure it out - even if it's still happening while your boarding the plane.
Looking forward to being on the plane and on the tour, all the same. Pretty much everything is going according to plan. Lots of shows in a short space of time. Me thinks this one will be great (and a blur).
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
11May09
What's Marty X Been Listening To This Week
Ok, there's some seriously good music around at the moment. There's a lotta trash too. But the bubble of next decade's 'grunge comeback' is on it's rise through the muck - and in a big way. Two of the bands leading the charge are Silversun Pickups (who's album I've already reviewed here and still can't tear myself away from) and a band called Darker My Love. And these guys are seriously good...
If you were ever a fan of Weazer, Fountains of Wayne, BRMC, early Jimmy Eat World, Soundgarden or Swervedriver YOU NEED THE NEW 'DARKER MY LOVE' ALBUM (simply entitled '2'). It don't come any better than this, I can humbly assure you. The first time I heard these guys was a couple of Friday nights ago. They had a vid on rage for new single 'Two Ways Out'. Last Friday, they played it again & I bought the album on the weekend. I'm in heaven I tells ya.
Here's their MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/darkermylove
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
PS Euro tour 09 starts next week.
PSS News of our iTunes EP release coming soon.
09May09
Last Pre Tour Rehearsal Today
Rehearsals are like a 'love/hate' thing for me (each of us are a little different about that). I guess it's the same thing as training. Don't really look forward to busting your arse - but it feels good when it's over and you've got it done. Today was the last rehearsal for over a month (tour starts in less than 2 weeks). Sometimes you get one or two in overseas but you can't count on it.
Nomesy flies out on Wed with Kim. The rest of us the following Wed for shows in London, Liverpool and Birmingham that weekend. Then we're off to Poland, Romania and Ukraine for a stack of dates there. Check the shows page for details. We'll be keeping you posted with updates, pics and regular video footage from the European road.
Sleepers out.
07May09
iTunes EP Launch Coming Soon
We'll have some good news shortly about the EP release on iTunes.
Tour rehearsal was great last night. Excitement building for a wild trip starting in the UK this month & blasting across Europe throughout June. Check the shows page for details. Hey, if you've got friends/family in UK, Poland, Romania or Ukraine - drop them a line & let em know we're coming.
Sleepers out.
04May09
ADIOS MOTHERF*CKER RELEASED TODAY
Today's the day. Our first release for some time. Adios Motherf*cker. Six of our finest tunes, produced in LA by Rick Parker (Dandy Warhols, BRMC, Von Bondies). And as I write, tracks from the EP are being spun on the folllowing stations nationally:
3D Radio Adelaide, RRR, PBS, SYN and 3CR Melbourne, Edge Radio Hobart, 4ZZZ Brisbane, FBI Sydney.
And here's the track listing; Motherf*cker, Adios Amigo, Nobody Wants, Interlude I (featuring Mat Ward's spoken word, Uncool (live), Interlude II (also featuring the mighty Mat Ward). You can get the EP at all good record stores (out on MGM distribution). If it's not in stock, they'll order it in for ya.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
03May09
Road Crew
We played Sydney's 'My Filthy Riot' festival, late March. The shot below tells some of the story about how things progressed after the show at the Annandale. Left to right; Woz (roadie, bus driver, sound-tech etc etc), Kim (publicity, Adios-sign-flipper, etc etc), Simon and Nomes. Well on the way...
Kim will be joining us on the next OS tour starting this month in London.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
02May09
Rage TV & Syn FM
Had a ball at Syn FM last night with our host Pat, who we found out has Polish heritage which evoked some on-air discussion about Warsaw's rock scene. We all agreed, they go off in Poland. Pic below (Pat in the middle, with broken string, at Syn FM studios).
We'll be standing on a stage in Warsaw in a few weeks. Looking forward to it. Played Motherf*cker, unplugged live in the studio & all huddled around the one microphone. Busted a string after the first verse, things got pretty random.
Rage played our video again last night (Motherf*cker).
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
01May09
SYN FM & Rage
6:40pm: Just stepping out the door to whip over to the station now. Tune in if ya can. We'll be on just after 7. (Melbourne)
We're on Rage (ABC TV) tonight too. 3:15am. Yeah!!!
Chat tomorrow. Sleepers out
29Apr09
Rehearsing Europe & SYN FM
11pm: Just got home from another rehearsal. Working up new songs. Running through the Europe set. Spent the day working on the new video. Totally knackered. Need sleep.
We're on SYN FM again this Friday at 7pm. Interview & live to air with a tune or two. Dial that radio to 90.7FM if you're near one.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out
28Apr09
Clip
Nomesy's over and we're working on the Adios video.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
27Apr09
Adios Film Clip
The clip for Adios Amigo is underway. Bunkered down in the world of animation here at Sleeper HQ. Said clip features a psycho-chicken, Mexican cowboy & a rattle snake who doubles as a trumpet roadie. Ya gotta wonder about the twisted minds that came up with this thing. As I write it's only about 10% complete... but lookin' goooood.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
25Apr09
Anzac Day Rage Play
In the early hours of this morning (3:15am to be precise) ABC's Rage TV aired the video clip for 'Motherf*cker'. It's the first single, going to radio and TV around Australia, from forthcoming EP - 'AdiosMotherf*cker'.
The Official EP release date: Monday 4th May (out on MGM) in all good record stores. If it's not in stock, they'll order it in. The 6 track EP features songs recorded in LA with Rick Parker and some weird stuff tracked at Sleeper HQ with spoken word by the enigmatic Mat Ward.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
23Apr09
Warsaw Rocks
Another show has just been announced in Poland (Sleeper Euro tour, starting next month).
Thursday, 28th May at Club Saturator, Warsaw. We'll be doing the show with Polish indie rockers, Kardamon. Check the shows page for more details.
Check out Kardemon at www.myspace.com/kardamonband
We love Poland. We're really looking forward to our first shows there since 2007. We had a ball - and they totally love their rock. Awesome.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
21Apr09
Funkiest Venue in Darwin (by Maxie)
During our recent trip to Darwin we checked out lots of venues - most of them big & slick. We were delighted to find a tucked away little venue called Happy Yess (www.happyyess.com) that reminded us of our beloved Yak Bar in Abbotsford.
Intimate, colourful, great artwork on the walls & friendly locals. We saw mellow band Country Town Collective
(www.myspace.com/countrytowncollective) & enjoyed a gentle singer, slide guitar & cello (although the bloke next to us was adamant it was a double bass!). Make sure you check out Happy Yess if you're visiting Darwin - it's a gem!
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
20Apr09
Silversun Pickups
These guys had the feature album all last week on Triple J. Loving the sound of this Californian four piece. A little like early Smashing Pumpkins but taking it somewhere else. They landed in the better half of Triple J's 'Hottest 100' last year with killer tune - 'Lazy Eye' (song of the year for mine). And the new album doesn't disappoint. Soaring highs, brooding lows, power and finesse. Check their Myspace -
http://www.myspace.com/silversunpickups.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
19Apr09
UK Shows Announced May09
We kick off the first of two European Tours this year on Fri 22nd May at Dublin Castle, Camden (London). Sat 23rd May at the Sound City Festival in Liverpool. Sun 24th May at The Flapper in Birmingham.
Early Monday morning we fly from Birmingham to Warsaw for a series of shows in Poland, including a concert recorded for radio broadcast (in the following week) in the northern ciy of Koszalin.After Poland, several shows in Romania and Ukraine. Check the Shows page for more details...
If you've got friends in the UK, Poland, Romania or Ukraine - let them know we're on our way - always get a kick meeting people from Australia at OS shows, or folk who've been told about us by friends here.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out
18Apr09
SYN FM Adds Uncool To High Rotation
It's just over 2 weeks til the official release of our latest 6 track EP (Adios Motherf*cker - out on MGM). And the good folk at Syn FM Melbourne have just added 'Uncool' (track 5) to high rotation starting Monday. Tune into 90.7 FM and let us know when you here it!
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
17Apr09
Dave Jory at Melb Comedy Fest (16Apr09)
Dave took to the stage after an hilarious recorded phone prank conversation conducted by friend Scott Dooley (Triple J) with an unsuspecting magazine editor. Dooley was 'attempting' to get Dave on the front cover of the mag's next edition. Editor was having none of it. We sat laughing in darkness. Suddenly the stage lights went on, Dave grabbed the mic & launched into the show.
Jory has this way of totally dead-panning while delivering completely rediculous, made-up shit, as though he's your doctor - except you're in stitches of the metrphorical kind. You know an act's going well when an hour seems like minutes - and you really don't want the show to end.
Dave's playing the Portland Hotel, Russell St Melb til 26th April as part of this city's gargantuan comedy festival. He's one of the best you'll see. Go check him out.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
16Apr09
Dave Jory Tonight & Maxie's Film Review
Whilst on a reconaissance mission in Darwin (checking out band venues) I took some time out for the movies. 'The BoatthatRocked' has received some average reviews but I LOVED IT!!
The soundtrack is superb, the story line is fun, the camaraderie between the characters makes me bloody glad to belong to a band, and discovering that ships really did sit in the ocean broadcasting 'pirate' rock and pop was a revelation!
TONIGHT: Join us & a bunch of 'sleeper crew' at comedian Dave Jory's show at 7pm. Tickets are only $15 for this Comedy Festival show. This is the guy who travelled to the Solomon Islands with us in February & had us in belly laughs.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
15Apr09
Dave Jory Show
Join us & a bunch of 'sleeper crew' at comedian Dave Jory's show this Thursday 16th at 7pm.
Tickets are only $15 for this Comedy Festival show. This is the guy who travelled to the Solomon Islands with us in February & had us in belly laughs.
Chat tomorrow. Seeya tomorrow night at Dave's.
Sleepers out.
PS Maxie's film review coming tomorrow (we promise).
14Apr09
Naomi Reviews V Festival Melbourne (Sat 04Apr09)
(Part 3 - Killers)
I am surprised the crowd had the energy or the voice to make it through headline act the Killers, but luckily they did, for if the Kaiser Chiefs were superb the Killers were sublime.
The Killers have had their share of ups and downs, cynics and critics, which included myself after their lacklustre appearance at the Big Day Out a few years back, but I am happy to say that after their performance at the V Festival this year, I have been converted. They were inspired.
Their pop-heavy melodies and 80?s influenced music sounded full and exciting. The whole band performed with enthusiasm and spirit and they, Brandon Flowers in particular (who would also have to be mentioned in the 'best dressed' category - pic below), made a genuine connection with the crowd, even more so than any of the previous bands.
There was laughter on stage, dancing, rock poses, fireworks, fireballs, a brass section, two pianos, flashing lights, plastic palm trees and a whole lot of ferns, all of which created a fun-filled atmosphere that seeped into the crowd. Rock on I tell ya. The Killers really seem to have hit their stride and are enjoying every minute of it. I can't help but hope they come back very soon... and bring Louis XIV back with them too!
V Festival = a big winner in my book.
Chat tomorrow (Maxie's film review - The Boat That Rocked).
Sleepers out.
12Apr09
Naomi's Review V Fest Coming Tomorrow (Part 3)
We've been in Darwin for the past few days - checking venues & promo for our Australian tour, starting late June. Long days & not a huge amount of internet access. Be home tomorrow & back to 'normal' (part 3 of Naomi's V Fest report and a stack of other news).
Catchya then,
Sleepers out.
10Apr09
Naomi Reviews V Festival Melbourne (Sat 04Apr09)
(Part 2 - oops missed posting this yesterday - we was on the road)
Following the revelation of Louis XIV we heard the beautiful sounds of Elbow and tried unsuccessfully to catch a glimpse of Vanilla Ice, whose indoor stage was over-packed to the point of becoming dangerous. Instead we decided to set up camp at the front of This Stage so we had prime position for Razorlight, the Kaiser Chiefs and the Killers.
Razorlight were great. They performed solid and dynamic music complete with entertaining stage antics, despite Johnny Borrell (lead singer) looking like he was on the receiving end of a rather rough previous night. They did, however, finish slightly early, much to the disappointment of the crowd. This only increased the anticipation for the two bands that followed.
I have seen the Kaiser Chiefs (pic above) three times now and I have to say they are one of the best live acts going around. Insanely catchy, danceable indie rock from Leeds in the UK, there was not one song in their set that didn't have the whole crowd singing at the top of their lungs. On top of that, no one commands the attention of an audience quite like the Kaisers frontman Ricky Wilson. Running, leaping, throwing the mic stand (and even the mic), climbing scaffolding, crowd surfing, bounding across the roof of a truck parked beside the stage - he didn't stop moving for the entire set, and after demanding so much from himself he expected an equal input from the crowd as he constantly urged them to sing, yell and clap louder, louder, LOUDER!
Part 3 tomorrow (Killers)
Sleepers out.
08Apr09
Naomi Reviews V Festival Melbourne (Sat 04Apr09)
(Part 1)
The V Festival rolled into town last Saturday for only the second time in Melbourne, boasting an eclectic and electric line-up that should have had tickets flying out the door.
Like all new things it needs time to grow and develop, but if the success of its parent festival in Britain is anything to go by, this will soon be competing with the Big Day Out for Australia's biggest and best.
We started the day watching Tame Impala, yet another example of the great music coming out of Perth. With a sound directly from the psychedelic rock of the 70's and a look from the 90's grunge era, these guys are not afraid to let their music speak for itself and believe me, it only has good things to say.
We then floated between Duffy and the D4 before being captured by the explosive US rockers Louis XIV (pictured above). This is a band that has been "criminally overlooked" worldwide, as cited by media in the UK and I would tend to agree. Their songs are brilliant and on-stage they are playful, energetic and engaging. I am buying their back catalogue as we speak. Plus the lead singer, Jason Hill, was close to, if not the best dressed person at the festival.
Part 2 tomorrow (Kaiser Chiefs, Killers, Vanilla Ice?)
Sleepers out.
07Apr09
@traktor!!!
We'll be back in Ukraine again in early June. One major reason we love playing there is that we always feel like part of the @traktor family. Sasha Pipa is the man - a living legend of Ukraine's punk scene. Below is a shot of Sash, in action somewhere in Kiev, taken about a week ago.
Looks as though Alona (@traktor's drummer - who communicates with us through a series of 'boops' and 'beeps') has cut off a mountain of dread-locks, now looking a lot more like Annie Lennox.
We're all looking forward to climbing aboard the tour-bus again, early June.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
06Apr09
Annandale TV Interview
Thanks to whoever took this shot (might have been Renee Brack). The shot was taken upstairs at Sydney's infamous Annandale Hotel after our set (at the Filthy Riot Festival two weeks ago), during a TV interview. Can't remember too much about it (beer had been flowing for several hours at this point). I recall questions about lenght of beard vs performance. Longer beard, better perfomance. Shorter beard, performance not-so-good... And then the old 'boys vs girls' thing - "Who's in charge of this band?" etc.
Trickiest bit: Hearing questions over the PA roar from downstairs. 2nd trickiest bit: Attempting to answer questions in English.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
05Apr09
April Fool
Craigie sent this one in - taken early Wed morning this week (01Apr).
April fools' pranksters had wrapped several cars up, like this one, all the way along Lennox St, Richmond (a stone's throw from 'Sleeper HQ).Dunno if I'd have seen the funny side coming out to go to work in the morning.
Have a good Sunday.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out
04Apr09
Maxie's Comedy Fest Review Part 1
The Month of Comedy Madness (Melbourne Comedy Festival)
03Jul09
Revolver Show 2am
Just got home. 2am. Great show tonight. That said, the band is officially flu-ridden (see pic below - by way of explaining how we feel at the mo).
Surprisingly good crowd tonight considering the polar Melbourne winds kicking everybody's arse. Campbell rocked up with bag-pipes in tow - which is always a good vibe. Revolver's a great place. Always dig the vibe there. Many a time we've been 'stuck' at the back bar for the duration of the eve & following morn - but that's another story.
Thanks to you for being there tonight.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
02Jul09
REVOLVER TONIGHT
Seeya there: Revolver Upstairs, 229 Chapel St Prahran. We're on stage at 10:30pm. Check the Shows page for further details.
01Jul09
Revolver Show Tomorrow Night
First show back from OS touring at the mighty 'Revolver Upstairs' tomorrow night. We're on stage at 10:30pm. Revolver Upstairs: 229 Chapel St Prahran. Check the Shows page for further details.
Seeya there.
Sleepers out.
30Jun09
From Poland With Love
Introducing Pawel (Pavell): A good friend of ours who lives in North Poland & organises AITP there.
He's a great, no-nonsense kinda guy - totally pro & a delight to travell around with. He sent us this pic last night.
As well as promoting, Pawel tours with his own folk/rock band, Rzepczyno - well known througout central Europe. They had some pretty big shows last week - for which he pulled on his Asleep In The Park shirt. Nice work we say.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
29Jun09
Eagle From Hell - Book Review
Over the weekend, I finished ex-Eagle, Don Felder's, autobiography - Heaven and Hell (a tale of life with The Eagles). Firstly, it should be said that I'm not an Eagles fan. Dad recommended the book & once started, I couldn't put it down.
More than an eye-opening account of intimidation & manipulation at the hands of Glenn Frey and Don Henley, Felder writes of growing up dirt poor in Gainsville Florida, his relationship with his father who beat him repeatedly - but who also gave him his first guitar & encouraged him in the early days - and Felder's ultimate rise from rags to riches.
At the end of it all, I didn't come away thinking much of 'The Gods' - as Frey and Henley are not-so-affectionately refered to throughout the book. Felder describes the tension on his first day with the band, in the early seventies, as overwhelming. And it gets worse as time goes. Sex, drugs, alcohol, greed and gigantic egos accumulate (as the band get older - and apparently not wiser) so that Frey and Henley allegedly squeeze the rest of the band out of income fairly due to them - taking it for themselves.
Felder (responsible for 'Hotel California' among others), courageously resists the money grab and is summarily fired by 'The Gods'. It's a tragic indictment of life in a band of mood-swinging ego manics, the subsequent emotional and physical cost and the toll on Felder's sanity. Apparently he's happy and at peace with the whole thing now.
8 outa 10 Sleepy Rubber Chickens.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
26Jun09
Who said the flu was abaiting here at Sleeper HQ. Maxie's just gone down with it. No going out tonight me thinks. Have a good weekend folks. Shot below from Club Bochka in Kiev a couple of weeks ago.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
25Jun09
First rehearsal last night, after returning from OS touring. We're back & ready to tear into next week's Revolver show. The flu symptoms racking the band are finally easing up. Wouldn't want to be the next band in the studio using those microphones. Listening to Oasis's classic album "What's The Story Morning Glory" at the moment. Ah the memories...
Checkya later
Sleepers out.
23Jun09
The tour comes home to roost. Got the flu today, dammit. Thought that might happen sooner or later. Was trying not to think about the likely effects of going from Summer, on the other side of the world, straight into a typical Melbourne Winter. Better now than next week.
Checkya later.
Sleeper on Panadol.
22Jun09
First Show Back Next Week
Revolver Upstairs next Thursday (2nd July). Looking forward to this one. First local show since returning from touring Europe two weeks ago. Check the shows page for details & seeya there.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
19Jun09
Dad Pulls Own Tooth
Something a little different for this Friday. Last weekend, Dad pulled one of his back teeth out. In an apparent effort to save on dental bills, he began work on the tooth about a month ago when he realised it was a little loose and slightly painful. Pushing it this way & that on a daily basis, crunch time finally came & the decision was made to reach in and yank the offending chomper out. In other words, he pulled his own tooth out with his bare hands, root and all. And I thought I was having a bad week.
Let's face it. They bread 'em tough in those days.
Catchya later.
Sleepers out.
PS. The shot above has nothing to do with my Dad's tooth & was taken side of stage at one of the last shows on recent European tour last weekend.
PSS. First local show since returning from said tour Thursday 2nd July at Revolver Upstairs. Check the Shows page for details.
18Jun09
Footage from Rock Fest in Ukraine
This was shot side of stage at Tarasova Gora Festival last weekend in Ukraine. Hard to believe we were on the other side of the world about a week ago. 2nd last song of the set, Sky Caves In. Again, many thanks to Sasha for filming...
See you at Revolver Upstairs 2 weeks from tonight - Thursday 2nd July. Check the shows page for details.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
17Jun09
First Australian Show Post Euro Tour
Two weeks from tomorrow, we hit the stage at Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. It'll be our first local show since returning from touring Europe last week. Check the shows page for more details. Thursday, 2nd July - Revolver Upstairs - 229 Chapel Street Prahran. We'll be on stage around 10pm - bringing the full tour show, the rock & general Sleeper mayhem.
Check some of the tour footage on the video page.
Some really cool shit there from Poland and Ukraine.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
16Jun09
Bribery in the Park
Last round of tour shows (last weekend) were in Ukraine. After Friday's show at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, we were accosted by a group of students determined to drink us under the table. We ended up in a park in the university area, drinking way too much vodka, talking shit & singing out of tune. A couple of cops showed up. Two of the students remonstrated - trying to "diffuse" the situation: Either we gave them 100 Ukraine dollars or they'd arrest the lot of us.
So I made my way to the 'bankomat' to pull out said cash, while the rest of the crew stayed as hostages. When one of the students went to take the money off me (to hand over to the cops) I said, "Nah man, I wanna do it. This'll be the first time I've ever bribed a police officer". And with that I handed the cash, nice, slow, down low & inconspicously to the men in uniform. They left straight away with a pay rise for the night - and we got the hell outa there.
Going home at that point would have saved an already ballistic headache brewing for the morning. Alas, and yet again, we were not that smart. Two things: 1. Afterparties in strange countries - your hosts won't even tell you where you are, let alone how to get home, until they're ready to call it quits. 2. Vodka = Insanity.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
15Jun09
Video Page
Now showing on the video page: all the recent tour video stuff, MF film-clip, previous tour diaries etc etc. Check the new vid below (& also on said video page) - shot from side of stage at last weekend's Tarasova Gora Festival in Ukraine. Again, many thanks to Sasha for taking this footage for us.
Checkya later.
Sleepers out.
13Jun09
Live Video Tarasova Gora Festival, Ukraine June09
The final show on the tour of Europe just gone. A mighty festival in the forests of Cherkassy, Ukraine. Many thanks to Sasha for filming side of stage & capturing the vid below. Awesome crowd, great vibe - our favourite show of the tour.
Checkya later,
Sleepers out
12Jun09
Day Two Post Tour
The weirdness of returning to 'normal' life hasn't let up yet. Feels like being in the twilight zone. Good to see the dog, though. He's been stoked since we got home, bolting up and down the hallway at the slightest stimulus. Almost slept through the night last night. Did 3 hours, got up for an hour, back to bed for 5. Will take a week or so to get back to a 'one stint' sleep. Realising how broken sleep was on tour (and how the bod adjusts). Probably shouldn't complain - re those of you with young kids experiencing perpetual random sleep deprivation. Hats off to ya.
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
Tour diaries in the entries below...
11Jun09
Home From Tour
We're finally home, all back in Melbourne today, adjusting to normal life. The vid below (shot yesterday in transit from Kiev to Melbourne) is a special thanks to everybody who followed the tour diaries. An extra special thanks to those of you who sent your best wishes. Makes a huge difference to us, out on the road away from home.
Summary: 12 shows, 4 countries (UK, Poland, Romania, Ukraine), 16 days on the ground.
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
10Jun09
Abu Dhabi in Transit
Half way home at the airport, waiting to board for the final leg home to Melbourne. Everybody in good spirits me thinks.
Sleepers out.
08Jun09
London Video & Leaving Kiev Early Tomorrow
The tour ended with the shows on the weekend. Spent the last couple of days sleeping, taking it easy, regaining sanity & hanging out with our hosts, Sasha, Ludya & crew (Sasha, Artem, Dave & co). Great to finally be able to relax, listen to a bunch of tunes, few drinks & post mortem the tour. A huge thanks to our hosts, yet again, for an amazing time here & some huge shows.
Highlights from London below - with gigantic thanks to Dancin' Ted Beagles, film maker & friend for shooting & editing the following masterpiece...
07Jun09
72 Hours in Ukraine
Thu 04Jun09:
Sound- check Thursday morning finishes at 4am. Go back to apartment. Sleep til 1pm. Get up, eat, get ready, travel to Bochka Club for show. Show turns into nightmare. Everything goes wrong. Nomesy in a state afterwards - only got to play half of the show - bass amp kept cutting out. Broken strings, leads, equipment. Drink excessively to consolidate - not a great move. Get home 5am.
Fri 05Jun09:
Wake up 3pm with Vodka hangover, rush out the door to a university show at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kiev. Play show still drunk, about a thousand people in the audience. Not happy about Vodka still in my system. Get dragged off to an after-party, then another and another. Vodka frenzy ensues. Need sleep. Somehow get home with Nomes. Simon is still out there somewhere. Forget what time I went to bed.
Sat 06Jun09:
Wake up around midday. Proceed to have band 'dust up' in the apartment car park. Sasha jumps in to break it up. Get in cars, travel to festival show, feeling like shit. Hang around like a zombie til show time. About 6,000 people in the audience. Best, tightest show of the tour. Great crowd. Get in cars, arrive back at apartment around 6am.
Sun 07Jun09
Sleep.
Til tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
04Jun09
Bochka Khmelnaya, Kiev Tonight & Solomons Vid
Big show at Bochka tonight here in Kiev, Ukraine. We'll be headlining a huge line-up with 5 of Kiev's finest. Check the shows page for details.
And this vid below is really amazing. We all had a lump in our throats here, watching this so far from home. Put together by Tim Arney, it's a compilation of footage from our tour of the Solomon Islands to the wonderful music of Mark Wilkinson.
Mark, Asleep In The Park, Dave Jory and Renee Brack journeyed to the Solomons in February to play for our troups stationed there - and for local communities in villages dotted across the islands.
Report on tonight's show later.
Sleepers out.
03Jun09 (eve post)
Bochka Sound-check, Ukraine
Just got back from sound-checking at Bochka (the club we're playing in tomorrow night). It's 4:30am. They check at strange times there. Been there 4 hours making sure everything's set to go.
Til later.
Sleepers out.
03Jun09
Did something really special today. Took the subway to the Kohyla Academy where they teach English to university students in Kiev.
(Some of the class at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy)
We stood up in front of a class (about 50 students) to talk about our life back home and what it's like to be an Australian band touring Europe. Maxie sang a Ukrainian folk song, Little Well, & we did an a cappalla version of 'Sky Caves In" (both tunes receiving great applause). Wonderful experience.
We hope to see some of the class at our show tomorrow night at Bochka in Kiev. They've also invited us to their faculty party on Friday.
CHECK THIS OUT: Click here for a quick review of our Liverpool show on the APRA site.
2nd down the page "12:17 PM May 23rd Asleep In The Park absolutely tearing things up in Liverpool!"...
Til later.
Sleepers out.
Kiev (eve post)
We're here in Kiev after a big day of flying/driving. Just shot this vid & uploaded. 2 shows later this week including an open air festival at Cherkassy (Ukraine). Check the shows page for more details.
Til tomorra.
Sleepers out
02Jun09We're here in Kiev after a big day of flying/driving. Just shot this vid & uploaded. 2 shows later this week including an open air festival at Cherkassy (Ukraine). Check the shows page for more details.
Til tomorra.
Sleepers out
Bucharest, Budapest, Kiev
All smiles sitting round at Bucharest airport. That was two hours ago and I don't feel like smiling right now. We're in Budapest, Hungary on transit to Kiev. Just found my credit card and drivers license cards have snapped in half. Tired also. Got shitty coz I couldn't buy a coffee. No smoking in the airport... Enough whining.
Sad, again, saying goodbye to Dan a couple of hours ago in Bucharest. Looking forward to seeing all the guys in Kiev again. Bring it on. First show Thursday night. We're doing an appearance at a university in Kiev tomorrow.
Later.
Sleepers out.
Sad, again, saying goodbye to Dan a couple of hours ago in Bucharest. Looking forward to seeing all the guys in Kiev again. Bring it on. First show Thursday night. We're doing an appearance at a university in Kiev tomorrow.
Later.
Sleepers out.
01Jun09 (evening post)
Poland Revisit
"Day off" today. Drove for several hours to get from Brasov back to Bucharest & resting now. Check this out: Just received from our Polish friend and promoter with the mostest. Snap shots from some of the shows there last week...
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
Poland Revisit
"Day off" today. Drove for several hours to get from Brasov back to Bucharest & resting now. Check this out: Just received from our Polish friend and promoter with the mostest. Snap shots from some of the shows there last week...
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
01June09
Day Off En Route To Bucharest
Contrary to previous entry, we're on our way back to Bucharest today - flying out to Kiev tomorrow. Big party after the final show here in Brasov last night. Everybody is looking just a little worse for wear this morning.
Til later on,
Sleepers out.
31May09
World Record
Tonight we achieved our own world first. 9 shows - 3 in The UK, 3 in Poland, 3 in Romania. 8 different cities, 10 days.
We sleep now.
Sleepers out.
PS just got back from after party.
31May09
Last Romanian Show Tonight - Brasov
Sitting in the hotel (a beautiful one at that - feels centuries old). Drove up from Bucharest today after last night killer show. The Romanian country-side is really pretty. Photos don't do it justice. Drove about 3 to 4 hours through it to be here in Brasov. Snow capped mountains, rolling fields... you get the picture.
Anyway, tonight will be the last of 9 shows in 10 days & we're looking forward to resting for a couple. Fly out to Kiev tomorrow morning for the next run of shows later in the week. Sound check in about an hour. Need food before the show.
Til later on this eve,
Sleepers out
30May09
Clubul Taranului, Bucharest Show 2
So after last night we were pissed & determined to get back on the horse. And tonight started off great. Excellent club, again in the heart of Bucharest. Openers, Les Elephants Bizaars, were one of the best bands we've played with on tour so far - always a good thing for making you lift. They were engaging, energetic & rocked out. Earlier in the day, spent an hour or so walking around town to find Maxie some medicine for the throat & after taking various pills and stuff she was on the mend.
We hit the stage & totally nailed it. The sound was great, stage had some good room to move around, everthing went to plan. Loved it. Huge crowd roar throughout the set, ended with an encore. We were back on said horse. Maxie's voice had come back too - actually best I've heard her sing for ages.
Our friend Floren said he hadn't noticed any problems on stage the night before (was he kidding me?). Here's a thought for everyone back home. Apparently, I'm told, If you put a pin through the centre of the Earth, starting at Bucharest, you come out the other side somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne. As one of the guys from Les Elephants told me last night "You are as far from home as you can possibly be".
Sorry about irregular updates here too. We've had big probs with our website hosts back home. Technical hassles, they now tell us, are sorted... We live in hope.
Sleepers out
29May09
Bucharest Show 1
Flew in from Warsaw, picked up by Dan (our Promoter) and Floren (Austrade) at Bucharest airport. Driven to our apartments, threw our bags down - been a long tiring day. Rested for about half an hour, guys came again to pick us up & take us to the venue. Club A, right in the heart of Bucharest. Really cool venue.
Plumes of tabacco smoke in the air (not good for those of us who don't smoke - you're smoking by default). Sound check went OK. Venue started to fill & Dekidens (support) kicked off their set. Our turn & everything you could imagine going wrong went wrong (like Geelong in last years grand final). Kim fell ill & had to stay back at the apartment (she's OK now). Went to blast into the first song & Nomesy's bass lead went AWOL (no sound). Made a song up on the spot.
Maxine's voice died (started clapping out a little earlier in the day), The kit was driving Simon nuts & all over the shop. My mic stand fell forward & into the crowd, broke a string (first one for the tour). Guitar sound was crappy. Jumped up and smashed the kick drum with left foot (probably further frustrating Simon). Crowd didn't seem to be into it. Got some of em going. We were all dog tired and flat. Cut the set short a few songs (Maxie was ill and going down hill). One of those nights...
Sleepers out.
28May09
Warsaw Saturated
OK so tonight, we were driven (thanks to Pawel) to a small club called Saturator - on the wrong side of the tracks - in Warsaw City. Tough neighbourhood, run down and shambolic. Band room in the basement. Students from the local university drinking & getting ready for the show. Kardamon were our hosts. Great band, cool vibe - really nice people. Heaps of people came out to see them. Blasted through their set. Encore - Police's 'Message In A Bottle'.
Our set: Low ceiling - watching for it this time. No more concussion on this tour. Got stuck in. Pulled a great set together. Crowd went off. Remenicent of our early days playing 'The Yak' to a packed house of 50 people. Tiny, sweaty room. Totally loved it. Didn't want the night to end. Especially given it's our last night in Poland for a couple of months. I love this place. We love it. Beautiful country and cities. Friendly people. I could write for hours about what we've seen here. Buildings, history, war, occupation, peace, prosperity, humanity.
Most of all I will thank Pawel (Paul in English). A remarkable individual. Passionate musician, humanitarian, lover of history, friend... and our host. A thorough gent - who we'll miss until we meet again.
Tomorrow, Bucharest, Romania.
Check then, Sleepers out.
27May09
Warsaw & Waiting
Travelled all day in the van from Koszalin to Warsaw. Thank God someone else is driving (the mighty Pawel). Last thing any of us need is to be dealing with the right hand side of the road. Beautiful country-side here in Poland. Shooting video whenever I can - we'll probably be in Kiev before I get a chance to post it here. Much less time on this tour than on the previous couple. More shows, more travel.
Anyway, I'm sitting here in the hostel dining room and it's 3am. Gotta get some sleep before ensuing mayhem tomorrow. Saturator Klub in Warsaw. Should be an amazing show. Will let ya know. We should have good web contact from hereon in. Bucharest shows on Friday & Saturday. Brasov on Sunday (Romania).
Til tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
26May09
Koszalin Ballistics Part 2 (Poland)
(Kreslarnia Klub)
After the radio show we drove to Kreslarnia Klub, just down the road. Unloaded the gear, lugged it up the stairs and onto the stage. Kreslarnia is a great club. Really cool vibe, great atmosphere. It's part of the local university. Big stage, lights and sound. Feeling shakey after the day I've had so far (see entry below). Smoked more cigarettes (you can smoke inside in Poland - none of this having to go outside bullshit). Got migrane. Decided the best way to deal with it was to start drinking. Started drinking. Migrane disappeared - I should have been a doctor.
Soundcheck took about an hour. Started the show about 10pm. Straight away, Maxie lept into the audience. Crowd went fucking nuts.
They were jumping up onto the stage, diving out again. Sweat and beer flying everywhere. What an awesome crowd. We loved em. From the moment we played the first note - they were slamming. The set was up there with the best of em, despite how tired we all were. At the end of Sky Caves In I threw up on stage. First time for everything. The timing was perfect. We had about 30 seconds before launching into the encore. Wiped my face (and beard) and blasted into Let You Go & Without.
Totally fucked when we stepped off stage for the last time. Drank about 6 beers in quick succession. Signed more EPs, loaded the gear out and back to the hotel. Slept like a log.
While I think of it, Kim has been amazing to be touring with. She's totally switched on - running the merch desk, filming, organising, looking out for us (catching people trying to steal my smokes or beer). A rare gem.
Sleepers out.
PS. Maxie re-opened the wound on her leg. There's just no telling some people...
26May09
Koszalin Ballistics Part 1 (Poland)
Today was a killer day. I think I was tireder by the end of it than I've ever been in my freekin life. Got up early coz I couldn't sleep (bad idea). The sun starts coming up here at 4:30am. Sets around 10pm - so night sleep doesn't happen for us. Anyway, Pawel came to wake us. He is a champ. Breakfast was laid out for us in the hotel dining room. A really nice spread. Drank too much coffee. Feeling like Zombie-Man. Jumped into the car after loading the gear, drove to Koszalin. Picked up the back-line. Drove to Radio Koszalin to play a live set in front of studio audience. Amazing experience.
Before-hand I had a really crappy sound-check. Nobody's fault but mine. Too tired to concentrate. Got shitty with myself. Proceeded to get shitty with everyone else. After a fucking hour, still couldn't get the guitar sound right. Dropped everything so we could all go get some food. Didn't eat anything (never can before a show). Smoked a whole lotta cigarettes, more coffee.
The studio audience were not expecting what happened. I think they loved it. We had a ball with them. The show wasn't about us being still for note perfection. Straight away, Maxie was out in the audience. who were singing along, clapping and hooting. Sweat flying off the stage. Ace. Finished the 70 minute set, signed a stack of EPs, packed the gear, lugged it to the van, off to the next show...
(on stage at Radio Koszalin)
25May09
En Route Poland
We piled into the cars at 10am & headed for Heathrow (from Birmingham) - which is a fair drive in English traffic.
(Birmingham mayhem - after the show)
Dropped the cars off, unloaded all the gear & lugged everything into the airport to check in for the flight to Poland. We landed in Warsaw, changed planes, and flew to Gdansk. A long day of travel & we were pretty delirious when we met Pawel (promoter in Poland) midnight at Gdansk airport. Piled into the car and drove another 3 hours to a town near Kroszalin. Pretty much straight to bed. Me thinks some of us were still hung over from the show the night before.
Big day coming tomorrow. 2 shows.
Sleepers out.
PS sorry bout being off-line for a few days (out of internet contact)
24May09
Birmingham
Just got back to the hostel. Great show - though not many people in the audience. The venue was great. Down in a basement (by a canal), big stage, great sound, good vibe. We love the bigger stages. A couple of new friends, who saw us in London, were kind enough to drive up and see us again, really cool. Gave the show everything. Jumped up and bashed my head on the low ceiling. Injury list is mounting.
Took ages to get from Liverpool today. Some idiot killed 3 people and themselves - and injured a stack of others, driving on the wrong side of the road down the M6 (major freeway between the cities - speed limited at 80 miles an hour). The whole journey ground to a hault - 40 miles back for several hours - for thousands of people. Chaos. By the time we got here we were knackered. Got off the M6 eventually, taking country back roads to Birmingham, saw some stunningly beautiful country-side but got totally lost about a dozen times.
Anyway, 1:30 am and we're all completely spent. Bedtime. Poland tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
24May09
Awesome Liverpool
This city is one of my favorite cities on the planet. Second time I've been here. It totally rocks. There's so much going on in the birthplace of The Beatles. The roar of the crowd during our set was fantastic. We played a great venue (as part of the Sound City festival) called Heebee Jeebies. Great, great place. Like the Espy but way cooler.
The folks here really dug us. The people in this town are so friendly. It's a beautiful place with ancient looking gothic buildings and hundreds of the coolest looking kids, wandering from venue to venue - to catch band after band. Again, we're awe-struck to be here.
(Above - Maxie's knee after jumping into the audience during the set)
Midway through our set, Nomes jumped off the stage and started dancing, while playing, with a bride-to-be who responded in kind by gyrating with imaginary hoola hoop. Sorry - no other way I can think to describe it.
Again, so pumped after the show, we can't wind down. And so again drink too much, stagger back to the hostel, pass into deep sleep.
Wake up 8am - Drive to Birmingham awaits, as does tonight's show at The Flapper. Note to self - it takes freeking ages to drive the shortest distances in England. Traffic is INSANE.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
PS: Sore all over (feels like I've played a long, hard footy game). Rest of the guys are the same.
23May09
London Rocks - Show No. 1
After filming with Ted, we made our way through the streets of Camden to sound-check the first show at Dublin Castle. Met the other bands. Rogue Radio and Red Wire. Really nice people, letting us use their back-line & sitting round for a chat before the show. Next thing, we were on. The room started filling. Awesome. Then Rogue Radio hit the stage (footage coming of these guys early next week - check their MySpace). They were thoroughly brilliant. Hip hopping, rockin' party band from Luton, north of London. We got on like a house on fire.
(Rogue radio shots above).
Next up, Red Wire. The talent in London is typified by bands like these. They are just so good it beggars belief. I felt an overwhelming sense of honour just to be on the same line-up with acts this good. Go check their MySpace.
(Redwire)
Also had a 'moment' on stage during our set - realising that Madness, Travis, Oasis, Idlewild, Blur and many other greats had stood in the exact same spot playing to a crowd in that very room. Holy shit.
So damned hard to wind down afterwards. Drank a little too much, staggered back with the guys to the hostel, 3am. Hit the hay, instantly asleep. Woke up totally pumped at 7am. Hired cars and started the drive to Liverpool at 11am. Really sad saying bye to Ted.
Sleepers out.
22May09
First Tour Show Tonight
It's 2 in the afternoon here in Sunny London. Quiet before the storm (never my fav time). In 5 hours we'll be sound-checking the first tour show at Dublin Castle tonight. We're all back at the hostel now after a two hour film interview. Ted (London doco film-maker) was shooting some of the final footage to go into the tour movie. He'll be down filming the show tonight. Was a really interesting, sometimes harrowing, couple of hours watching footage from 2007's world tour. Really fun moments in there too - but plenty of intense crazy shit we'd temporarily forgotten about. Me thinks it'll be a great, warts-and-all tour doco.
Charging the vid cam as I write. There'll be footage here of this weekend's UK shows early next week. Everybody's well & in good spirits, despite last night's lager frenzy in Camden. Simon played an ace this morning - he was indeed the man with the Panadol.
Catchya tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
PS Check out the Free Download page.
22May09
London Calling
Just got in. We're here. First show in Camden tomorrow night. Flew in a few hours ago. Caught the tube to Camden after meeting the infamous genius film-maker Ted at Heathrow.
He was filming us lugging our gear. I think he likes seeing us suffer. Makes good footage. Sitting in a pub at the moment. Just saw Nomesy, Kim & Sarah walking down the street. All sitting round a table now 4 pints down. Weather here is good. 25 and sunny & people look happier than usual.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
20May09
Romanian Radio & Video Page Launch
Check out the tracks on the music player below. 2 tracks (ads) by two commercial radio stations in Romania promoting our shows there. Sounds fantastic.
And today we launch the Video Page: Check film clips, video diaries and other stuff.
Tonight the remainder of the band (us) leaves for London. Stay tooned for 'Park Life On The Road' - daily updates, video diaries and more from our tour of Europe - posted right here, over the next month.
Chat tomorrow (from Abu Dhabi).
Sleepers out.
19May09
Tour Diaries Right Here
We leave tomorrow (Nomes and Kim are already there), getting ready for one of the biggest tours so far. First show this Friday in London - all rolls on from there. More shows in the UK, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. If you wanna keep tabs on us, wherever we are - we'll be posting live updates, tales from the road, pics and video from the tour, right here. Email us, jump on the forum. We'll be online checking it out. Tour details on the Shows Page.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
PS check out the new Gallery page
18May09
Gallery Page Launch Today
It's been a while in the waiting. But today the new Gallery page is up and happening. Check out a selection of shots from shows this year (and late 2008) including some great pics from our military tour of the Solomon Islands in Feb. Happy looking.
4 days til we kick off on tour in Europe throughout May & June. The first show is this Friday night at Dublin Castle, Camden London. Check the shows page for full details.
Chat tomorrow
Sleepers out.
17May09
Naomi & Kim in London
(email just received from Nomesy)
Heya guys!
How are you? What's been happening?
Just thought I would give you a quick update on things so far...
The flight over was long and dark, we seemed to be chasing the night for the first 14 hours. They woke everyone on the plane up at about 3am to offer sandwitches, ice-cream, chips, chocolate and fruit. It was bizarre. I had fruit, kim had the rest. News flash number one, they serve cointreau on the plane... and BAILEYS! Look out Max, it is on!
The plane was delayed in Abu Dhabi because some bugger decided to get sick and get rushed to hospital, which meant they had to unload the whole plane to get his bags off.
Went to the Dublin Castle last night to have couple of bevvies and survey the crowd. It's a great venue, really nice vibe. Left and went searching for people to promote to in the surrounding pubs but in typical English style it was raining and we got drenched.
News flash number two, watched a 'football' match... still find it boring but watching other people watch the football is really quite entertaining!
Hope all is well back in Aus land. Looking forward to you guys arriving, it's gonna be wild!
Speak soon
...nomes
Sleepers out.
PS: Euro tour starts this Friday at Dublin Castle, Camden, London.
Check Shows page for details.
16May09
Romanian Press
Less than a week to go before the tour kicks off in Europe. Below is a shot taken from a Romanian expat website (for British people in Romania).
Check out the site
http://www.expatromania.ro/Pretty cool (we can actually read this one). World famous blues sax player, Alex Harding, is in there too. The man tours endlessly (& never lets his sax out of his sight). He got up on stage with us, last October, for a great show in Bucharest, Romania. It'd be so cool to do that again this time, if we can. Our people will speak to his people... The shows in Romania kick off on Friday 29th May at 'Silver Church' in Bucharest. Check the Shows page for details.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
15May09 (Fri night)
Quick note: Naomi & Kim have arrived in London.
Got word a few moments ago.
Flipside.
15May09
iTunes Release for EP
It's official: Our latest EP - Adios Motherf*cker - is now available for purchase on iTunes. Open iTunes, go to the iTunes Store, search for 'Alseep In The Park' and you'll find the new EP and the fist album. $6.99 and the EP is yours.
You can also hear samples of all the tracks on the EP. Check out the film clip for Motherf*cker below.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
14May09
MF Video Clip Release
Here it is folks. If you've caught Rage (ABC TV) recently, you might have seen it: The video for Motherf*cker.
The single has also just been added to Edge Radio in Hobart on 'general rotation'. Here's a really interesting one: 3 songs from the EP have just been added to the SMA playlist (Satellite Music Australia). That means whenever you're in any of the following stores - Coles, Bi-Lo, Officeworks, Mansours, Hungry Jacks, Freedom Furniture, Spotlight, Dan Murphy's and Accor (Novotel, Ibis + Mercure) Hotels - you stand a good chance of hearing us (while you're chomping on your fries or buying your toothpaste).
Naomi just emailed from Abu Dhabi - halfway to London - on route with Kim. The rest of us leave this Wed in hot persuit. Tour kicks off officially next Friday night in London. Stay tuned, right here, for updates from the road. We'll be posting daily updates, pics and video.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
12May09
Tour Stuff
It's all happening here. Tour starts in the UK next week. Then onto Europe after that. We're just sorting the 'minor' remaining details. Like how to get from one country to another without having to rob a bank or how to move the band around when we're actually there... and so on. Good news is - you always figure it out - even if it's still happening while your boarding the plane.
Looking forward to being on the plane and on the tour, all the same. Pretty much everything is going according to plan. Lots of shows in a short space of time. Me thinks this one will be great (and a blur).
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
11May09
What's Marty X Been Listening To This Week
Ok, there's some seriously good music around at the moment. There's a lotta trash too. But the bubble of next decade's 'grunge comeback' is on it's rise through the muck - and in a big way. Two of the bands leading the charge are Silversun Pickups (who's album I've already reviewed here and still can't tear myself away from) and a band called Darker My Love. And these guys are seriously good...
If you were ever a fan of Weazer, Fountains of Wayne, BRMC, early Jimmy Eat World, Soundgarden or Swervedriver YOU NEED THE NEW 'DARKER MY LOVE' ALBUM (simply entitled '2'). It don't come any better than this, I can humbly assure you. The first time I heard these guys was a couple of Friday nights ago. They had a vid on rage for new single 'Two Ways Out'. Last Friday, they played it again & I bought the album on the weekend. I'm in heaven I tells ya.
Here's their MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/darkermylove
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
PS Euro tour 09 starts next week.
PSS News of our iTunes EP release coming soon.
09May09
Last Pre Tour Rehearsal Today
Rehearsals are like a 'love/hate' thing for me (each of us are a little different about that). I guess it's the same thing as training. Don't really look forward to busting your arse - but it feels good when it's over and you've got it done. Today was the last rehearsal for over a month (tour starts in less than 2 weeks). Sometimes you get one or two in overseas but you can't count on it.
Nomesy flies out on Wed with Kim. The rest of us the following Wed for shows in London, Liverpool and Birmingham that weekend. Then we're off to Poland, Romania and Ukraine for a stack of dates there. Check the shows page for details. We'll be keeping you posted with updates, pics and regular video footage from the European road.
Sleepers out.
07May09
iTunes EP Launch Coming Soon
We'll have some good news shortly about the EP release on iTunes.
Tour rehearsal was great last night. Excitement building for a wild trip starting in the UK this month & blasting across Europe throughout June. Check the shows page for details. Hey, if you've got friends/family in UK, Poland, Romania or Ukraine - drop them a line & let em know we're coming.
Sleepers out.
04May09
ADIOS MOTHERF*CKER RELEASED TODAY
Today's the day. Our first release for some time. Adios Motherf*cker. Six of our finest tunes, produced in LA by Rick Parker (Dandy Warhols, BRMC, Von Bondies). And as I write, tracks from the EP are being spun on the folllowing stations nationally:
3D Radio Adelaide, RRR, PBS, SYN and 3CR Melbourne, Edge Radio Hobart, 4ZZZ Brisbane, FBI Sydney.
And here's the track listing; Motherf*cker, Adios Amigo, Nobody Wants, Interlude I (featuring Mat Ward's spoken word, Uncool (live), Interlude II (also featuring the mighty Mat Ward). You can get the EP at all good record stores (out on MGM distribution). If it's not in stock, they'll order it in for ya.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
03May09
Road Crew
We played Sydney's 'My Filthy Riot' festival, late March. The shot below tells some of the story about how things progressed after the show at the Annandale. Left to right; Woz (roadie, bus driver, sound-tech etc etc), Kim (publicity, Adios-sign-flipper, etc etc), Simon and Nomes. Well on the way...
Kim will be joining us on the next OS tour starting this month in London.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
02May09
Rage TV & Syn FM
Had a ball at Syn FM last night with our host Pat, who we found out has Polish heritage which evoked some on-air discussion about Warsaw's rock scene. We all agreed, they go off in Poland. Pic below (Pat in the middle, with broken string, at Syn FM studios).
We'll be standing on a stage in Warsaw in a few weeks. Looking forward to it. Played Motherf*cker, unplugged live in the studio & all huddled around the one microphone. Busted a string after the first verse, things got pretty random.
Rage played our video again last night (Motherf*cker).
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
01May09
SYN FM & Rage
6:40pm: Just stepping out the door to whip over to the station now. Tune in if ya can. We'll be on just after 7. (Melbourne)
We're on Rage (ABC TV) tonight too. 3:15am. Yeah!!!
Chat tomorrow. Sleepers out
29Apr09
Rehearsing Europe & SYN FM
11pm: Just got home from another rehearsal. Working up new songs. Running through the Europe set. Spent the day working on the new video. Totally knackered. Need sleep.
We're on SYN FM again this Friday at 7pm. Interview & live to air with a tune or two. Dial that radio to 90.7FM if you're near one.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out
28Apr09
Clip
Nomesy's over and we're working on the Adios video.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
27Apr09
Adios Film Clip
The clip for Adios Amigo is underway. Bunkered down in the world of animation here at Sleeper HQ. Said clip features a psycho-chicken, Mexican cowboy & a rattle snake who doubles as a trumpet roadie. Ya gotta wonder about the twisted minds that came up with this thing. As I write it's only about 10% complete... but lookin' goooood.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
25Apr09
Anzac Day Rage Play
In the early hours of this morning (3:15am to be precise) ABC's Rage TV aired the video clip for 'Motherf*cker'. It's the first single, going to radio and TV around Australia, from forthcoming EP - 'AdiosMotherf*cker'.
The Official EP release date: Monday 4th May (out on MGM) in all good record stores. If it's not in stock, they'll order it in. The 6 track EP features songs recorded in LA with Rick Parker and some weird stuff tracked at Sleeper HQ with spoken word by the enigmatic Mat Ward.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
23Apr09
Warsaw Rocks
Another show has just been announced in Poland (Sleeper Euro tour, starting next month).
Thursday, 28th May at Club Saturator, Warsaw. We'll be doing the show with Polish indie rockers, Kardamon. Check the shows page for more details.
Check out Kardemon at www.myspace.com/kardamonband
We love Poland. We're really looking forward to our first shows there since 2007. We had a ball - and they totally love their rock. Awesome.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
21Apr09
Funkiest Venue in Darwin (by Maxie)
During our recent trip to Darwin we checked out lots of venues - most of them big & slick. We were delighted to find a tucked away little venue called Happy Yess (www.happyyess.com) that reminded us of our beloved Yak Bar in Abbotsford.
Intimate, colourful, great artwork on the walls & friendly locals. We saw mellow band Country Town Collective
(www.myspace.com/countrytowncollective) & enjoyed a gentle singer, slide guitar & cello (although the bloke next to us was adamant it was a double bass!). Make sure you check out Happy Yess if you're visiting Darwin - it's a gem!
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
20Apr09
Silversun Pickups
These guys had the feature album all last week on Triple J. Loving the sound of this Californian four piece. A little like early Smashing Pumpkins but taking it somewhere else. They landed in the better half of Triple J's 'Hottest 100' last year with killer tune - 'Lazy Eye' (song of the year for mine). And the new album doesn't disappoint. Soaring highs, brooding lows, power and finesse. Check their Myspace -
http://www.myspace.com/silversunpickups.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
19Apr09
UK Shows Announced May09
We kick off the first of two European Tours this year on Fri 22nd May at Dublin Castle, Camden (London). Sat 23rd May at the Sound City Festival in Liverpool. Sun 24th May at The Flapper in Birmingham.
Early Monday morning we fly from Birmingham to Warsaw for a series of shows in Poland, including a concert recorded for radio broadcast (in the following week) in the northern ciy of Koszalin.After Poland, several shows in Romania and Ukraine. Check the Shows page for more details...
If you've got friends in the UK, Poland, Romania or Ukraine - let them know we're on our way - always get a kick meeting people from Australia at OS shows, or folk who've been told about us by friends here.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out
18Apr09
SYN FM Adds Uncool To High Rotation
It's just over 2 weeks til the official release of our latest 6 track EP (Adios Motherf*cker - out on MGM). And the good folk at Syn FM Melbourne have just added 'Uncool' (track 5) to high rotation starting Monday. Tune into 90.7 FM and let us know when you here it!Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
17Apr09
Dave Jory at Melb Comedy Fest (16Apr09)
Dave took to the stage after an hilarious recorded phone prank conversation conducted by friend Scott Dooley (Triple J) with an unsuspecting magazine editor. Dooley was 'attempting' to get Dave on the front cover of the mag's next edition. Editor was having none of it. We sat laughing in darkness. Suddenly the stage lights went on, Dave grabbed the mic & launched into the show.
Jory has this way of totally dead-panning while delivering completely rediculous, made-up shit, as though he's your doctor - except you're in stitches of the metrphorical kind. You know an act's going well when an hour seems like minutes - and you really don't want the show to end.
Dave's playing the Portland Hotel, Russell St Melb til 26th April as part of this city's gargantuan comedy festival. He's one of the best you'll see. Go check him out.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
16Apr09
Dave Jory Tonight & Maxie's Film Review
Whilst on a reconaissance mission in Darwin (checking out band venues) I took some time out for the movies. 'The BoatthatRocked' has received some average reviews but I LOVED IT!!
The soundtrack is superb, the story line is fun, the camaraderie between the characters makes me bloody glad to belong to a band, and discovering that ships really did sit in the ocean broadcasting 'pirate' rock and pop was a revelation!
The film is fun in the way that Austin Powers was fun. Based on history I'm sure the writers took many liberties to turn it into the rollicking piece of entertainment that it is. If Dusty Springfield had been playing on the streets when I came out, I would've been dancin'. I left feeling mildly envious of the brilliant time the cast must have had making that film (not least of which the clothes they got to wear!) but it also gave me a kick of excitement about our next Europe tour in May.... Music absolutely and totally rocks and this film is a sensational reminder!
TONIGHT: Join us & a bunch of 'sleeper crew' at comedian Dave Jory's show at 7pm. Tickets are only $15 for this Comedy Festival show. This is the guy who travelled to the Solomon Islands with us in February & had us in belly laughs.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
15Apr09
Dave Jory Show
Join us & a bunch of 'sleeper crew' at comedian Dave Jory's show this Thursday 16th at 7pm.
Tickets are only $15 for this Comedy Festival show. This is the guy who travelled to the Solomon Islands with us in February & had us in belly laughs.
Chat tomorrow. Seeya tomorrow night at Dave's.
Sleepers out.
PS Maxie's film review coming tomorrow (we promise).
14Apr09
Naomi Reviews V Festival Melbourne (Sat 04Apr09)
(Part 3 - Killers)
I am surprised the crowd had the energy or the voice to make it through headline act the Killers, but luckily they did, for if the Kaiser Chiefs were superb the Killers were sublime.
The Killers have had their share of ups and downs, cynics and critics, which included myself after their lacklustre appearance at the Big Day Out a few years back, but I am happy to say that after their performance at the V Festival this year, I have been converted. They were inspired.
Their pop-heavy melodies and 80?s influenced music sounded full and exciting. The whole band performed with enthusiasm and spirit and they, Brandon Flowers in particular (who would also have to be mentioned in the 'best dressed' category - pic below), made a genuine connection with the crowd, even more so than any of the previous bands.
There was laughter on stage, dancing, rock poses, fireworks, fireballs, a brass section, two pianos, flashing lights, plastic palm trees and a whole lot of ferns, all of which created a fun-filled atmosphere that seeped into the crowd. Rock on I tell ya. The Killers really seem to have hit their stride and are enjoying every minute of it. I can't help but hope they come back very soon... and bring Louis XIV back with them too!
V Festival = a big winner in my book.
Chat tomorrow (Maxie's film review - The Boat That Rocked).
Sleepers out.
12Apr09
Naomi's Review V Fest Coming Tomorrow (Part 3)
We've been in Darwin for the past few days - checking venues & promo for our Australian tour, starting late June. Long days & not a huge amount of internet access. Be home tomorrow & back to 'normal' (part 3 of Naomi's V Fest report and a stack of other news).
Catchya then,
Sleepers out.
10Apr09
Naomi Reviews V Festival Melbourne (Sat 04Apr09)
(Part 2 - oops missed posting this yesterday - we was on the road)
Following the revelation of Louis XIV we heard the beautiful sounds of Elbow and tried unsuccessfully to catch a glimpse of Vanilla Ice, whose indoor stage was over-packed to the point of becoming dangerous. Instead we decided to set up camp at the front of This Stage so we had prime position for Razorlight, the Kaiser Chiefs and the Killers.
Razorlight were great. They performed solid and dynamic music complete with entertaining stage antics, despite Johnny Borrell (lead singer) looking like he was on the receiving end of a rather rough previous night. They did, however, finish slightly early, much to the disappointment of the crowd. This only increased the anticipation for the two bands that followed.
I have seen the Kaiser Chiefs (pic above) three times now and I have to say they are one of the best live acts going around. Insanely catchy, danceable indie rock from Leeds in the UK, there was not one song in their set that didn't have the whole crowd singing at the top of their lungs. On top of that, no one commands the attention of an audience quite like the Kaisers frontman Ricky Wilson. Running, leaping, throwing the mic stand (and even the mic), climbing scaffolding, crowd surfing, bounding across the roof of a truck parked beside the stage - he didn't stop moving for the entire set, and after demanding so much from himself he expected an equal input from the crowd as he constantly urged them to sing, yell and clap louder, louder, LOUDER!
Part 3 tomorrow (Killers)
Sleepers out.
08Apr09
Naomi Reviews V Festival Melbourne (Sat 04Apr09)
(Part 1)
The V Festival rolled into town last Saturday for only the second time in Melbourne, boasting an eclectic and electric line-up that should have had tickets flying out the door.
Like all new things it needs time to grow and develop, but if the success of its parent festival in Britain is anything to go by, this will soon be competing with the Big Day Out for Australia's biggest and best.
We started the day watching Tame Impala, yet another example of the great music coming out of Perth. With a sound directly from the psychedelic rock of the 70's and a look from the 90's grunge era, these guys are not afraid to let their music speak for itself and believe me, it only has good things to say.
We then floated between Duffy and the D4 before being captured by the explosive US rockers Louis XIV (pictured above). This is a band that has been "criminally overlooked" worldwide, as cited by media in the UK and I would tend to agree. Their songs are brilliant and on-stage they are playful, energetic and engaging. I am buying their back catalogue as we speak. Plus the lead singer, Jason Hill, was close to, if not the best dressed person at the festival.
Part 2 tomorrow (Kaiser Chiefs, Killers, Vanilla Ice?)
Sleepers out.
07Apr09
@traktor!!!
We'll be back in Ukraine again in early June. One major reason we love playing there is that we always feel like part of the @traktor family. Sasha Pipa is the man - a living legend of Ukraine's punk scene. Below is a shot of Sash, in action somewhere in Kiev, taken about a week ago.
Looks as though Alona (@traktor's drummer - who communicates with us through a series of 'boops' and 'beeps') has cut off a mountain of dread-locks, now looking a lot more like Annie Lennox.
We're all looking forward to climbing aboard the tour-bus again, early June.
Chat tomorrow.
Sleepers out.
06Apr09
Annandale TV Interview
Thanks to whoever took this shot (might have been Renee Brack). The shot was taken upstairs at Sydney's infamous Annandale Hotel after our set (at the Filthy Riot Festival two weeks ago), during a TV interview. Can't remember too much about it (beer had been flowing for several hours at this point). I recall questions about lenght of beard vs performance. Longer beard, better perfomance. Shorter beard, performance not-so-good... And then the old 'boys vs girls' thing - "Who's in charge of this band?" etc.
Trickiest bit: Hearing questions over the PA roar from downstairs. 2nd trickiest bit: Attempting to answer questions in English.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
05Apr09
April Fool
Craigie sent this one in - taken early Wed morning this week (01Apr).
April fools' pranksters had wrapped several cars up, like this one, all the way along Lennox St, Richmond (a stone's throw from 'Sleeper HQ).Dunno if I'd have seen the funny side coming out to go to work in the morning.
Have a good Sunday.
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out
04Apr09
Maxie's Comedy Fest Review Part 1
The Month of Comedy Madness (Melbourne Comedy Festival)
Review of 'The Comedy Zone: Bottle Rockets'
Originally from the UK, Julia Clark was initially on the edge of being offensive but well and truly won us over, peaking with her description of life as a legal secretary. Laura Davis had an air of innocence and after a brief story about ducks never looking you in the eye she told us "where ornithology and ophthalmology intercept - that's my playground". Perhaps my favourite was musical comedy duo Smart Casual whose song about the potential offspring of Jennifer Hawkins (Australian beauty queen) and Stephen Hawking (if you don't know: Google) had me in stitches.
After it was all over and we were still wiping tears from our eyes there was a surprise! Just landed in Australia and wanting a warm up, Jamie Kilstein and Janeane Garofalo gave us a taste of their shows. I loved Kilstein's politics. Utterly opposed to discrimination he takes poking holes in bigotry to a new level (and knows every venue's exits because of it). And Garofalo (ambition: to have sex with an Australian fire fighter) had endured hand sanitiser down her tights in the last several hours of her flight, through customs and then a Melbourne morning traffic jam purely out of respect for our potentially delicate Aussie noses. Awwww.
The Sleepers are lined up for more comedy action and will keep you posted. In the mean time, check out:
http://www.comedyfestival.com. au/season/2009/show/jamie- kilstein-there-s-no-god-and- that-s-ok/
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
After it was all over and we were still wiping tears from our eyes there was a surprise! Just landed in Australia and wanting a warm up, Jamie Kilstein and Janeane Garofalo gave us a taste of their shows. I loved Kilstein's politics. Utterly opposed to discrimination he takes poking holes in bigotry to a new level (and knows every venue's exits because of it). And Garofalo (ambition: to have sex with an Australian fire fighter) had endured hand sanitiser down her tights in the last several hours of her flight, through customs and then a Melbourne morning traffic jam purely out of respect for our potentially delicate Aussie noses. Awwww.
The Sleepers are lined up for more comedy action and will keep you posted. In the mean time, check out:
Chat tomorrow,
Sleepers out.
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