Tireless east-coast rockers Wintersleep have been a busy band this year. Last week they released a new record, Welcome to the Night Sky, on a new record label, and have just embarked on a cross-country tour with a new bass player.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of news, I guess,” said singer Paul Murphy on the phone from his home in Halifax.
The changes began back in the summer of 2006 when Wintersleep were approached by Labwork, a new record label started as a partnership between indie imprint/institution Sonic Union and EMI Canada. Labwork made Wintersleep their first signees and quickly saw to re-releasing the band’s excellent first two LPs Wintersleep, and Untitled.
So, considering the dual nature of Labwork’s partnership, is the label an indie or a major? “It makes them an indie label with the possibility of major label involvement,” said Murphy over the background din of Radiohead’s In Rainbows. “It’s an indie with perks.”
One such perk was having “Weighty Ghost,” the first single off Welcome to the Night Sky, remixed by Michael Bauer (Coldplay, My Morning Jacket). Another was working with producer Tony Doogan (known for his knob twisting with artists like Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai, and David Byrne), who flew from his home base in Glasgow, Scotland to record Welcome to the Night Sky in Halifax.
“He was amazing,” said the always affable Murphy of Doogan. “It seemed like he was an actual member in the band. He knew how to get really good takes out of us.”
For Wintersleep, Welcome to the Night Sky will be their last record with bass player Judd Haynes, who left the band right after recording was finished to spend more time at his job as a graphic designer.
“Going on tour for two months at a time just got to be too much for him, and he knew we would be really busy with this new record,” said Murphy.
Stepping in to fill Haynes’ place on bass is Mike Bigelow (of Holy Fuck) who actually played keys in Wintersleep once upon a time.
Known for being rampant road warriors, I asked Murphy about Wintersleep’s upcoming tour and what he liked least about being away from home. “Right now I can’t think of anything bad about being on tour, I’m just really excited to go back on the road. The best thing, of course, is the show. That’s the reason why you’re there.”
Wintersleep’s fall tour takes them clear across Canada—and back— with two stops in Toronto and one stop in New York City. While they don’t anticipate any trouble crossing the U.S. border this time, Murphy was quick to recount a previous complication that went down a few years back, “We totally got denied access the first time we tried to go across,” he remembered.
“They kept us there for four hours and then took all of our information and finger prints, it was crazy. It felt a little invasive. The worst part was that they didn’t really ask us any questions. They just decided that we weren’t going through and then they kept us there for a really long time and then got rid of us. It was a really odd experience.”
After their fall tour is complete, Wintersleep will turn their attention to touring Japan. The band has just signed a deal with the Japanese rockists at Imperial Records, which should see the quintet travelling across the Pacific early in the new year.
Wintersleep play The Horseshoe Tavern Tuesday October 16.
