Photo credit: SleeperSound
In November, the Milwaukee quartet SleeperSound released In Media Res, an album that follows up 2016’s Pilots Passengers Portals EP, and Mike Campise (vocals/bass/synth) is especially pleased with the vinyl LP. “It’s surreal, as a musician, to hold your music as a truly physical object,” he says. “I’ve never felt that from a CD or digital release before. It’s just so tangible.”
The six-song album sits comfortably at a crossroads of shoegaze, krautrock and ambient sounds. At times barely audible, their sense of dynamics scans like aural slow-motion explosions or fireworks off in the distance. Sounds get manipulated and mutated. The band’s widescreen guitar-based, synth-laced sound is tailor-made for a pair of vintage headphones.
The album suggests attention to detail yet allows for a feeling of interaction. Not so much loose jamming as improvisation gleaned from listening to each other and reacting in the moment. With a practice space mic’d for recording, everything is grist for the mill.
“When we record, we like to record live in the same room together as a band,” says drummer/engineer Dan Niedziejko. “This allows us to communicate and maintain the feel of a live band while tracking. Aside from vocals, about 90 percent of the album is live tracked, so it’s a true representation of the band. We record practices, especially where we are writing. This has developed the band into being very comfortable with the concept of tracking and recording all the time, no tension or performance anxiety.”
This idea of working with no immediate goal in mind and letting the band’s collective unconscious take over is a viable course of action for music that often conjures the time of not-quite-dreaming. Instrumental passages flow like heavy liquid as opposed to mapped out, whiplash math rock/prog rock stylings. Ideas intended for the beginning or end, may easily end up in the middle of it all.
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“We typically spend hours just playing and exploring sound, and if something sounds interesting, we’ll go back and work that,” Campise says. “There’s been plenty of material that has been left on the shelf, but I think that’s pretty common when you have a lot of creativity in one room. We record all our sessions for future reference, so you never know when an oldie gets resurrected.”
While the band’s name may be a clue to its personality, there still needs to be give and take when four creative individuals embark on a project. SleeperSound has found a way to not recognize roles in a typical sense.
According to Kenny Buesing (vocals/guitar/synth), “Each member moves between instruments and vocals, lead and rhythm parts in such a way that best suits the tone and dynamics of the song. The songs actually begin with a well-defined chord structure and often even song structure. From there, different textures and sounds are added as embellishment. At this point, the original kernel of the song that tends to be brought in by a single member, goes through the SleeperSound ringer until we hit upon a final product that everyone is happy with. The band does not impose rigid roles on our members by design to allow for maximum latitude.”
While the additional responsibility of engineering, recording and mixing the album fell on Niedziejko’s shoulders, he shrugs off gearhead talk of vintage boards and modern programs. “To be honest, I believe the album turned out well not because of the gear but because I’ve spent years experimenting and learning my equipment,” he says. “No plug-ins or on-line mastering programs are going to replace your ears and years of experience. Additionally, we worked with Mark Kramer (Ween, Galaxie500, Low) to master this record. I always work with Kramer on mastering.”
SleeperSound play Linneman’s Riverwest Inn on Saturday, Feb. 2, with Cabin Essence and Labrador at 8:30 p.m. SleeperSound will perform accompanied by a live video score presented by Stephen Anderson.
