The next two weeks will see sleepmakeswaves finish a long tour that has taken them around the world.
The band will be headlining a run of Australian shows that aims to send out the 'Cartography' album era with a bang.
After playing 55 shows in 22 countries during the last 18 months, Otto Wicks, guitarist of the instrumental band, says they are still alive. “Just about. We just got off the road with Cog, which was really invigorating in its own way. Getting out on the road with your heroes and watching them kill it every night reminds us why we're in this industry and how good it can be.”
The band have played eight sold-out shows with the Sydney alternative rockers. “People have waited eight years to see Cog, and we are that final 45-minute set between the audience and them seeing the band. But people were surprisingly warm to us, and we had a really cool time playing those shows. I think it's because we are a little different. The way sleepmakeswaves plays and writes songs is a little unorthodox.”
The tour has seen the band go through some ups and downs. “Touring is bullshit difficult for anyone in a relationship, or renting a house, or has friendships, or a day-time job,” Otto says.
“Really, just any situation other than living in your parent's basement and having no attachment to any other part of your life. Touring is very hard.”
While the band goes through this turbulence, they are often reminded of why they love what they do. “You question whether what you are doing is selfish,” Otto says. “Taking myself away from real life and separating myself from all that in order to play these songs for people.
"But then you have these moments on the road of people coming up to you and telling you something personal about how your music has moved them or about how it has got them through something. That is always really important to hear; more so when you going through some difficulty on the road.”
The group has also had to deal with the departure of a key member of the band. “Kid [Jonathan Khor] was such an important member not only because of his guitar playing and his songwriting, but because of his really grounded and stable personality.
“He was able to see through the problem and find the solution very quickly. All those kind of skills we were a bit worried about losing. We wondered whether without him we would just fight and fall apart.”
The band was able to find a replacement in Daniel Oreskovic. “When Dan joined it was such a relief to have someone with a broadly similar personality,” Otto says. “He is someone who is easily likeable, and very attuned to other people's emotional states. He goes out of his way to make you feel better, but he is also an absolute star on stage. He plays his guitar incredibly well, and his energy on stage is fantastic.”
Otto says the band is looking forward to their run of headline shows in early August. “It's going to be great. For us, we're going to be reaching back into the back catalogue to [play] songs we haven't played before or haven't played in a very long time. It will be a bit of a retrospective for us. I think it's going to be an amazing night of music, a really cool line-up and a lot of fun.”
Written by Edward Johnstone
Sleepmakeswaves Tour Dates
Fri 5 Aug - The Gov (Adelaide)Sat 6 Aug - Max Watts (Melbourne)
Sun 7 Aug - Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
Mon 8 Aug - UniBar (Wollongong)
Wed 10 Aug - Cambridge Hotel (Newcastle)
Thu 11 Aug - ANU Bar (Canberra)
Fri 12 Aug - Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 13 Aug - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Cog Support Tour Dates
Fri 23 Sep - HQ (Adelaide)Sat 24 Sep - Metro City (Perth)
Fri 30 Sep - Wests (Newcastle)
