With a new single and an EP release show on July 6th, Los Angeles based “space rock” band Sleeptalk are getting ready to release their latest EP, Desert Daze.
ALTANGELES: How did you all meet and start the band?
ANTHONY: Me and Paul were in a band together prior to this band. We met through our buddy Shane. Jason is my brother actually.
JASON: I’ve known him my whole life.
ANTHONY: Yeah, unfortunately. And Justin, the other guitar player, is our cousin. Me and Jason work with Tyler’s sister so that’s how we know Tyler.
JASON: It’s kind of a family thing, sort of.
PAUL: I actually met Jason way back in high school, he was the first person I knew out of all of their family, which is kind of funny how it comes around like that.
JASON: We never played music together until we started doing Sleeptalk. Obviously, him and I used to mess around when we were younger but nothing too crazy. It’s kinda funny how it all comes together.
When did you decide to pursue music as a career?
JASON: For me, music has always been a really big thing for me growing up, but I think once we started making music that people actually like was when we were like “Oh, I think we have something going on here.” Everybody starts a band wanting to be a rockstar, but it’s hard to get people to like your music and follow you and stuff like that.
What is your songwriting process like?
ANTHONY: We throw enough shit at the wall until it sticks. No, I’m just kidding. We actually built the studio in Paul’s garage. Justin lives far from us so we sort of demo stuff out and then send it back and forth and then we all get together and jam it.
PAUL: Once we have it recorded, it’s really when you can evaluate what you have and make some good changes and really hone it in.
ANTHONY: Someone will come up with an idea and we record it on our computers and send it to each other.
JASON: It depends on the day, there can be days when we’re jamming at practice and there’s an idea and we will record it on the phone and go from there. Or there’s an idea we’ll record and then it ends up sounding completely different than the start. It really depends on the day and whatever idea flows through somebody’s head. There’s no set way that we write music, it’s whatever we feel.
Where do you find inspiration for new music?
ANTHONY: Everywhere, all the music that we listen to. That’s where we get our style, I guess you can say. We all listen to a bunch of different shit. I listen to a lot of electronic music but I also listen to a lot of rap music, more so than rock actually which is funny. And then everyday life is where I find influence in writing vocals and the lyrics and stuff like that. I try to keep it super personal. It’s more so influenced by myself and my life I guess.
Can you describe your new EP Desert Daze in one word?
ANTHONY: Trippy.
What’s your favorite song off the EP?
ANTHONY: “I Want All Your Time.” It’s the fifth song on there.
JASON: Fifth song, yeah. It’s actually the last song that we finished. To be honest with you, we weren’t too sure about the song going in to the studio and how it was going to turn out. But after Anthony laid down vocals on it, we were like “Holy shit, this is awesome.”
PAUL: It turned into all of our favorite song off the EP.
JASON: By far. And that’s not dissing any of the other track because we love them all but like, this song is something that we all can really, really enjoy. I can say, every single one of us killed it on that: Anthony’s vocal tracks, the lyrics. To me, it sounds like an 80’s ballad but modernized. It doesn’t sound like it’s from the 80’s but it could have been. It’s pretty cool.
ANTHONY: We actually rewrote that song like twenty thousand times. Especially the vocals, I wrote what ended up being the vocals the day before I went to the studio. It kind of all just came together.
Are you planning on touring to promote the EP?
ANTHONY: We have a show on July 6th at the Moroccan Lounge. And then I think we’ll be trying to tour in October but for a new EP. We took off eight months from our last music we released and we wrote a shit ton of music. We’re trying to finish that EP up and then start playing shows again. And hopefully reaching more people before so that we can go on tour.
JASON: We plan on playing the Desert Daze EP in its entirety at the Moroccan for the first time. So whoever comes out to that show will hear it before it’s even released which will be nice, a good incentive to come.
If you were a cover band, what band would you cover and what would you call yourselves?
PAUL: Well me and Jason have actually, not in the same cover band, but have both been in [stutters] Blink-12222, 182 cover bands.
ANTHONY: 12222?
JASON: That’s probably what we would call it, Blink-12222.
PAUL: But yeah, Blink, at least with us, it’s what we grew up on and something that’s pushed me to want to play music.
JASON: Yeah, I would say Blink for us at least.
ANTHONY: That’s basic dude.
PAUL: It is basic, but it’s true.
ANTHONY: I was about to say, do some wild shit like a D12 cover band. That’d be cool.
What artists or albums have you been listening to lately?
JASON: I’ve been listening to Sleeptalk “Desert Daze” a lot.
ANTHONY: For real, that’s all I listen to it feels like. I’m a big The 1975 fan, so their latest record. I love ODESZA too. And an artist called Shallou. That and rap music, I listen to a lot of A$AP. Yeah, I’m kind of fuckin’ weird. The new Catfish and the Bottlemen record is fucking awesome too.
PAUL: I listen to a lot of 70’s music, 70’s rock. I’m old school.
JASON: Like Anthony, I listen to The 1975 a lot. I’ll still always turn on Blink. It’s hard for me to shy away from the music that was popping when I was in high school. I love Taking Back Sunday. I’ll throw in some Bad Suns. It depends on the day.
If you could collaborate with any artist or band, who would it be?
ANTHONY: Brian Eno. That guy’s dope. Matt Healy. Tom Delonge.
Can you describe each other in one word?
JASON: Idiots.
ANTHONY: …yeah. I’ll go with idiots.
JASON: Family. The two go hand in hand.
What sets you apart from other artists in your genre?
ANTHONY: I would say it has to do with the diversity of the stuff we can put out. We can put out electronic music, we can put out rock and indie music.
JASON: We have an open style. I don’t think we sound like one specific band. For example, when Desert Daze is released, the title track “Desert Daze,” you will hear…
ANTHONY: It sounds like some Bon Iver shit.
JASON: I feel like the song is broken up into two halves. It’s hard to explain, but we don’t have a certain specific style to our music.
ANTHONY: I feel like a lot of artists are mimicking the stuff that’s big. Like once LANY got big, everyone started doing shit like LANY and the 1975. We all listen to a lot of different music. It’s very open ended.
JASON: We do a very good job of blending all our different tastes in music into one collaborative unit. To me, being in this band, the toughest question is “What style of music are you?” because I guess you can always go the alternative rock or indie rock or pop route but I feel like we’re all of that.
ANTHONY: That’s why we call it “space rock.”
PAUL: We drown out our guitar playing with effects so people think we’re really good but we’re not.
What can fans expect from you within the next year?
ANTHONY: A lot of new music. Music, music videos, touring. A lot of good music, I think.
JASON: That’s a goal of ours this year is to keep releasing music.
ANTHONY: Maybe a Christmas covers EP, all Justin Bieber covers.
Anything else you’d like to add?
JASON: Come check us out at the Moroccan Lounge on July 6th. Doors open at 6. A lot of good bands playing; our buddy Rouxx and La Bouquet.
ANTHONY: Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. You can follow my personal one because I say some funny shit sometimes… I’m just kidding. Thank you to everyone who listens to us and supports our band.
