For ten years, Spencer Chamberlain stood at the helm of one of the biggest metalcore bands in the world.
He’d helped create four albums, two of which went on to become gold certified, scored two Grammy nominations and had amassed a legion of fans around the world. But at the end of 2013 all that came to an end, and suddenly Chamberlain was left starting again.
Three years after he took the stage at Soundwave as the frontman of Underoath, Spencer Chamberlain will make his return to Australia, this time with his new project, Sleepwave, and a fresh look on music. “To gain it all, you have to risk everything and a lot of times you don’t have to lose it all but I definitely did,” Chamberlain explains.
“For ten years I’d put all my chips in one basket and I had to taste dirt before I could stand up again. It’s very humbling and it teaches you a lot about who you are, learning how to start from the bottom again.”
It was a long way to fall from grace, but Chamberlain learnt just how quickly everything can disappear. One moment that really highlights his downfall is the night, while sitting at his dining room table with his two gold records hanging on the wall, Chamberlain had to empty out his piggy bank to buy a 99-cent burger, the first time he’d eaten in two days. “Being in the position that I was in all the way to being homeless and flat broke, literally being a starving musician, makes you really appreciate the things that are to come and have already come to me at the beginning of Sleepwave.”
Sleepwave is not only a new musical project for Chamberlain, it’s a clean slate to launch from. The project began while he was still a part of Underoath, as a way to let off steam and foster creativity between tours. But what started out as a bit of fun between friends, soon grew into a serious venture. “I’ve always written music, since I was a little kid. I just started writing songs with my friend Stephen Bowman [other half of Sleepwave], and I’d do it when I came home from tour just for fun, we’d just pick up guitars and just make noise.
“Then when we learnt that Underoath was sadly going to call it quits, I remember getting on the phone with him and being like, ‘So you know those ideas we had, let’s shape them up into songs’, so I came into it with a different mentality and we sat down together in a different light.”
One listen to Sleepwave’s debut album, ‘Broken Compass’, and it’s hard to imagine the album was written by the same person who fronted a successful metal band. Chamberlain understands there will be fans that disagree with his new direction, but it’s something he accepted before he began this new venture. “I feel Underoath was a good ground to jump off of because people are going to listen to what I have to say now if they liked what I used to say. But after spending ten years doing the same thing, why would I do it all over again?
“There are going to be haters because it’s not metal or hardcore or whatever you want to call Underoath but why would I do Underoath: part two with a new group of guys? That would just feel wrong to me. If I’m going to play Underoath’s style of music, I’m going to play that with the Underoath guys.”
Having already played two Soundwave festivals and countless Australian tours over the last decade, next year’s Soundwave marks a return to Australian stages for Chamberlain. While he understands things are going to start off slow for Sleepwave, he has every hope things will take off soon. “I remember looking at the line-up and going, ‘Damn I wish we were on that’. As far as Underoath goes, they were some of my favourite tours we ever did. Australia has always been so good to me so I’m hoping that it will continue with Sleepwave and us continuing to come back to Australia.”
Once a chapter has closed, it’s easy to look back on the past and pick out all your mistakes. After a decade in Underoath, touring the world, and then watching the rug pulled from underneath you, having a chance at a fresh start is the only way to move forward. For Chamberlain, Sleepwave is his new start, and even if he has to get used to being at the bottom for a while he’s ready to make up for lost chances. “If I could go back and meet myself I would tell him to try to get out more and appreciate things a little bit more because you’re touring so much you get comfortable, I felt like I had no time. I would tell myself to make sure I get up and go and look at some of the beautiful places that are right in front of my face.”
Sleepwave’s ‘Broken Compass’ is out now.
Written by Gloria Brancatisano
Sleepwave Soundwave Tour Dates
Sat 21 Feb & Sun 22 Feb - Bonython Park (Adelaide)Sat 21 Feb & Sun 22 Feb - Flemington Racecourse (Melbourne)
Sat 28 Feb & Sun 1 Mar - Brisbane Showgrounds
Sat 28 Feb & Sun 1 Mar - Olympic Park (Sydney)
