British metalcore band While She Sleeps have climbed their way to being one of metal's biggest stars.
Their legacy transpires across the ocean and into Australia, where they'll headline seven shows across the nation this month and through October. They will be joined by Stick To Your Guns, Ocean Sleeper and Boundaries.While She Sleeps left a lasting impression on their Australian fans when they toured with Good Things Festival late last year. Surrounding the festival with their own Australian headliners, the band gave just enough to leave fans craving more, and this time they'll return bigger and bolder than ever.
"Australia, we're not coming to f... spiders!" the band declares. Vocalist Loz sits down for an in-depth chat about the tour, their new sound and keeping things fresh after nearly 20 years.
It may not have been too long since we last saw you in Australia, but you have released a new album since the Good Things trip last year. What songs from 'Self Hell' do you see Australian crowds going off to?
There were big conversations in While She Sleeps about what songs should be the singles, and I think it's always a tough one to pick because you want to showcase what the album is all about, but you don't want to give too much away, so people don't feel they've had the best bits before the album comes out.
For me, the song that has been received the best and is like the fan favourite is 'Rainbows'; that's because the riff style is heavy, but then it's got a big hook chorus as well. I think that's going to go down well when we get over to Australia.
Also 'To The Flowers'. This is one of the singles we did release – and that's what is really nice about our fan base, they're not just there for heavy, they respond well to evoking the emotional side of our band. It's really nice that we're a band that can do that, pull on the heartstrings a little bit at the same time as trying to create moshpits and kicking off.
How do you work out what you're going to play and cater to as many people as you can without it ever feeling monotonous or repetitive for you?
No matter what set list you put together, someone's always going to have something to say. People getting into your band from different eras, they might have jumped in for two records and now they're not as into it as they used to be, or they've just stumbled across us and now we're a new favourite band.
It's a really nice thing about While She Sleeps. Although we've been a band for a long time, we are still making new fans all the time; and it's crazy to think we've been a band for 20 years. Our records and our sound is evolving enough to bring new people in.
So when picking a set list, we're trying our hardest not to alienate any era of While She Sleeps and we're trying to make sure there's something in there for everyone. Obviously, when we come over to Australia, we'll be headlining, so there's a lot more opportunity with a headline set to fill that with lots of different songs from different timestamps of the band, so that it shouldn't be too difficult.
Fourteen-hour set, every album back to front then?
Yeah, we'll do a couple of hours, and we'll hand out some sandwiches and some snacks and stuff; and then we'll crack on.
Some orange slices to keep everyone going – that's it. With the evolution of the sound you're touching on, 'Self Hell' is a massive change of pace for you guys. If I had to explain it, it would be 'free and unapologetic', but also at certain points, quite brave, because you're breaking out of this metalcore level of comfort, not necessarily for your band, but for metalcore fans too. Did you approach this record with that mindset, or did it kind of happen organically?
I'd say both.
When we were putting the demos together in the early stages, we naturally felt there was a different vibe coming from where we wanted to be and the sounds we wanted to create. Then as it went on, that became more and more apparent that it was sort of sounding a bit different.
It was a conscious decision to put something out that's a bit different for us. If you go back through our back catalogue, every record takes a little bit of a turn. Like our earlier stuff is primarily metalcore, but even if you were to label each record, like 'Brainwashed' is almost a punk-metal album, and the first EP we put out has more of a hardcore vibe to it.
When you're an emerging artist you don't want to alienate any fan base at all because you're worried one day it's gonna end for you, and if you make the wrong decision then everyone's gonna abandon you. I think that's just a confidence that we've managed to grow, that our fan base is in it for the long haul, we have a loyal fan base that understands the messages we want to put out there and stays with us. That's allowing us to be a bit freer and enjoy the process more, and have more trust in the process.
It was definitely a conscious effort. We've always been a metalcore band, and that's got quite oversaturated now. Bands find it very easy to be 'oh, that's the new sound that everyone's going for. Let's mimic that and do exactly that.' If everyone does that, it's just going to be boring.
So I agree. We knew we changed direction a little bit. We wanted to ruffle some feathers and do something a bit different. We've created an album that doesn't sound like anyone else. We achieved what we wanted to achieved and I think that's exciting for where we go in the future.
It feels like you've opened the floodgates to the lengths at which you can go to; metalcore was created by blending genres, metal and hardcore. So when you start to introduce different elements – a bit of nu metal, hip hop, pop even it brings a level of excitement. Is there anything creatively you're excited to try next?
One of my favourite tracks off the record is 'Out Of The Blue', and that's very synth based. I don't sing really anything on that. It's just got this breakbeat, kind of, I don't know, like trip hoppy, kind of electronica vibe.
That's something for me personally, I would love to dive into more and introduce into the set. When you hit a level of band, you're not just playing small, sweaty venues anymore. You look at that landscape in a completely different way. How are we going to turn up to a festival on a main stage where half of the people probably don't know who we are? How do you entice people to be like 'that was a great show and I'm going to check these guys out'?
Just broadening that, and, like you say, opening the gates to that progression where we can go in the future makes it exciting. For a lot of people, they might listen to your records and pop to a show here and there, but we're living it every single day, and it's behind the scenes stuff that people forget is still going on when they've not necessarily got their eyes or ears on your band at that moment. So for us, it's about keeping it fresh and exciting.
Playing to big festivals and big stages. . . there was a lot of interesting commentary right when the album came out. The loudest people are often the most negative people, right? But your numbers, even with that negative commentary, your streaming numbers are off the charts. You've just played this massive European festival run, you're coming out to play your biggest Australian headline tour with venues that are humongous. Has there been a level of gratification to that?
Yeah, for sure. Like I said before, we knew the change in the direction was going to ruffle some feathers, and the internet can be such a toxic place.
Like you say, it's really strange that we can have 1,000s and 1,000s, literally, of positive comments. But why is it always the sh.tty ones that niggle at you and stay in your mind? Also, that controversy is what channels people towards your band. If you're just a half decent metalcore band, and you don't do anything different, then where's the conversation? What are people talking about?
So we wanted to do something different and exciting, and we knew we'd get a bit of backlash from maybe old fans, but now that people have had more chances to digest the new record and get to hear some of the new songs alongside some of the old stuff, they can more clearly see the progression and what we've tried to do in terms of standing out in the genre that we're in.
Like you say, at first some people are a bit 'Oh, don't know about this', but now it has settled in. Even friends of mine that have heard the record, they'll give me their opinion regardless. A couple of my pals were like, 'this is different, I'm not sure'. Now when they come see us live, they're like 'they go together well, even though it is a bit of a change up'.
This Australian tour with Stick To Your Guns, Ocean Sleeper and Boundaries, all of those bands have a level of fearlessness. Are you excited to tour with these guys?
I'm excited to tour with Stick To Your Guns. They've been a band for a long time, as we have, but we've never managed to tour together, which is crazy that we've been in the same genre for so long and we've never toured with them.
Obviously, we're good friends with Architects who are good friends with Stick To Your Guns. So it's kind of nice we can make that happen. Like you say, all these bands, although they maybe float around a similar genre, in essence, they all bring their own thing to the table, like a bit more death metal in places, and they do things differently.
As a collective package, there's something in there for everyone and that's what I'm excited about. Seeing other bands do their thing, and being able to bring those bands with us on the tour is brilliant.
My last question for you, which I don't want to put you on the spot too much, but are there any other bands you've been vibing lately who you think people need to keep an eye out for?
Do you know what? I started working with a band for the first time ever. I've never managed a band or worked alongside anyone, but I started working with a band from the UK called Mouth Culture.
If you like bands like Teenage Wrist or Incubus, a bit more indie rock/ pop rock kind of stuff, they're a really great band. Every time I'm playing that band, every time I play Mouth Culture, another band from Australia comes up on suggested artists – Wayside. I've been listening to them a little bit, and they sound wicked. They've got a bit of, like a grungy element, it sounds wicked.
While She Sleeps 2024 Tour Dates
Fri 27 Sep - The Tivoli (Brisbane)Sat 28 Sep - King Street Bandroom (Newcastle)
Sun 29 Sep - Liberty Hall (Sydney)
Tue 1 Oct - Uni Bar (Wollongong)
Thu 3 Oct - Magnet House (Perth)
Fri 4 Oct - The Gov (Adelaide)
Sat 5 Oct - Forum Melbourne
