By Ellie Odurny
Apr 15, 2021 12:38
With a new model of fan engagement already launched, and a corresponding album of the same name scheduled for release on 16th April, While She Sleeps are hoping to change the way the music industry works to improve the relationship between bands and their fans. The Sleeps Society aims to provide rewards to their supporters in exchange for a monthly membership fee, sharing the band's knowledge and skill in a way that surpasses the traditional format of music releases and live shows.
We sat down with vocalist Lawrence âLozâ Taylor to talk about the new album and community, streaming and the future of the music industry. âSleeps Societyâ is While She Sleepsâ fifth album, written primarily over the course of 2020 during the global pandemic. On writing an album when the world effectively shut down for live music opportunities, Taylor says, âWe were scheduled to be off and writing during this time, so weâve been very lucky with how thatâs fallen into place for usâ.  He talks about the isolation that naturally comes from writing and recording an album, describing the hard work it takes to be in the studio every day ââŚchurning it out and getting it done. For rock and metal and punk bands thatâs not an easy thing, especially for vocalists⌠thatâs 6 hours of screaming every day for three weeks.â He goes on to describe how the downtime was a silver lining of sorts, explaining, âUsually weâre always juggling studio with touring⌠with this, we knew that there was no touring happening, so it did kind of take off one of the elements that usually makes it quite difficult to work around, and gave us a little bit more headspace to focus on the recordâ. For bands who were releasing records at the start of the pandemic, Taylor comments how tough it must have been for them to have to cancel tours, and expresses gratitude that the timings worked out well for While She Sleeps, not only for writing and recording the new record, but also for the launch of the Sleeps Society platform.
With the Sleeps Society, the band are aiming to address some of the things that they felt were failing artists within the industry. Taylor describes how launching the campaign has enabled the band to be more sustainable and allowed them to give the fans more insights, attention, behind-the-scenes content, music and extra unseen footage. He talks about how the fans have reacted to the launch in a positive way, which has enabled the band to ârelax a bit more during this whole period of time and create the music that weâve createdâ. On the changing face of the industry and the need for a more sustainable model, Taylor talks about how thereâs added pressure on bands these days, ânot only to be able to write good songs, you have to have tons of entrepreneurial ideas and different ways to reinvent yourself every recordâ. He describes the need to provide a sustainable industry to nurture up and coming artists, particularly for the punk, metal and rock bands who he describes as âthe lifeblood of these underground genres that always seem to take the brunt of the big changes because the demand is 100% there, but theyâre going to suffer through the streaming platforms not paying out in the right way to themâ.
While She Sleeps have launched the Sleeps Society not only to support themselves and allow them to continue with their own DIY ethic for creating and putting out music, but also to pave the way for newer bands, to give more to their fanbase and to create a real sense of community. Taylor tells us about the importance of spreading a positive message about mental health and wellbeing, highlighted in their latest release, âNervousâ, with guest vocals from Biffy Clyroâs Simon Neil. He mentions that within the Sleeps Society, there are sub-categories on Discord for members to talk about mental health, to find people to play online with, or just to chat about the new record. Reflecting on the past year, he says âThis whole situation has made that sense of community even more important. It wouldnât be surprising to me if so many people wouldâve just dipped out of this industry altogether now because itâs been such a difficult time. The sense of community thatâs apparent to us is very much needed at the moment and itâs definitely something thatâs reflected through the Sleeps Societyâ.