With six studio albums and multiple award nominations under their belt, Wintersleep have opened for Paul McCartney and made various TV appearances, including the David Letterman show. Formed in 200,1 the band have seen a number of lineup changes, with the current formation being together for the past 10 years. The single Weighty Ghost was included on the score of the movie One Week and the TV series Being Human, however, arguably their best work comes in the form of their 2016 album The Great Detachment.
The band recently played a set Orange Bolssom Special Festival in Germany (voted the best small festival in the world by Rolling Stone) where we met up with drummer (amongst other things) Loel Campbell.
MLM: From an artist perspective is Europe still an important market and is it still seen as a tough nut to crack?
LC: For sure it is important and it can also be tough. When we first toured in Europe, we booked our own tour and picked the venues, it was really rough and a lot of work. I remember one show in Hamburg when we setup, did the soundcheck and waited, but no-one showed up! So we tore down and packed the gear again. Fortunately that doesn’t happen too often. Since around 2007 we have had record deals and proper promotion. As a market it could be huge for us. It’s amazing playing in Europe, I mean we can travel 2 or 3 hours in a day and go to an entirely different market in say Scandinavia, Poland or Italy. To put that into perspective, when we get back home after this tour we have a festival in Burlington, the show after Burlington involves a six hour flight to Vancouver, which is pretty mental for one show.
MLM: How does touring in Europe compare with Canada?
LC: There is a huge difference. I mean the hospitality, particularly in Germany, is incredible. You know that when you arrive a meal will be waiting on you, so you’re not scrambling around looking for a Subway or something. I mean, touring can be pretty tough so it’s nice to have a couple of creature comforts, especially as you get older! There is also no kind of class system involved here. Everyone is treated the same, regardless of how big or small you are as a band, which is great. At the end of the day we are all musicians doing the same job. Canada can be really good, but it can also be quite hit and miss.
MLM: There is still have an issue where smaller venues, the type where younger bands cut their teeth, and independent labels are disappearing. Has this problem had any effect in Canada?
LC: Yeah, there’s a kind of crisis in Toronto where a lot of smaller venues, the kind who would have music seven nights a week, are going out of business. Either they can”t compete or there is gentrification in the area and they are being driven out. There was El Mocambo and the Silver Dollar have just closed and the promoter there, Dan Burke, is kind of a taste maker. He would seek out new talent and would be the first in Toronto to book them. So these institutions are disappearing. There are still a bunch of independent labels there, I don’t think there are a many as at the height of the boom in the 2000’s, but they are still there.
MLM: In general is music in Canada in a good place?
LC: I guess it is. I mean there is arts funding available, which is pretty unique to Canada, so we are pretty fortunate in that sense. In order to get funding though, you have to have a kind of track record and generally it’s geared towards more popular styles of music. So if you are, say a Jazz musician you’re probably not going to be eligible, which is pretty unfair. In general I would say music back home is in a still great place at the moment.
MLM: You signed with Dine Alone Records last year, how did that come about?
LC: We have known Joel Carriere, who started the label, for years and he has always wanted to work with us but we were contractually tied to another label. When we became available they were the first ones we talked to. We went in and met with them and they were very passionate about it, it was also very important to us was to work with someone where we wouldn’t maybe get lost in the shuffle. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
MLM: The Great Detachment was released in March 2016 and was received extremely well by both fans and the music press. Would you agree that it is arguably your best work to date?
LC: Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, we want to make music that people will connect with, that’s why we do it. I think The Great Detachment does that more than any other album we have released. It’s strange, you release an album then you wait for the reaction and you take stock, the reaction to The Great Detachment has been fantastic.
MLM: No doubt you are already working on the follow up, do you feel under pressure to produce something better?
LC: Yeah, I guess so, but not as much as when we released Welcome To The Night Sky in 2007. At that time we were touring so much and it was like “How do we find time”? Which is the main element, you need, almost endless time, to figure out what to do with all of this music and all these songs. Through experience we have managed to find a process where we are able to filter what’s worth working on. We also have studio in Montreal, which helps, and we have made a point to not tour as much. We have managed to build a kind of core fan base, which is great and probably our biggest responsibility. At the moment we are chipping away at the new album, we probably have three new songs that will definitely be included. Hopefully we can have everything done for release in Fall 2018, which will be a bit quicker than it took for the four years it took for the last one.
Wintersleep will be playing festival dates throughout the Summer:
July 1, 2017 – Steveston Village – Richmond, BC
July 20, 2017 – River & Sky Festival – Field, ON
August 5, 2017 – Riverfront Jubilee – New Glasgow, NS
August 19, 2017 – Big Feastival – Oro-Medonte, ON
August 26, 2017 – Rootstock – Pincher Creek, AB
The Great Detachment is available on Vinyl, CD and download from your usual source.
Connect with Wintersleep online: Website Facebook Twitter
Vocals/guitar: Paul Murphy
Drums: Loel Campbell
Guitar: Tim D’eon
Bass: Mike Bigelow
Keyboards: Jon Samuel
Wintersleep at Orange Bolssom Special Festival in Germany:
All photos by Spike Porteous
©2017. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
