There are a few words that could describe the sound of Brisbane based band Art Of Sleeping.
Integrity. Resonance. Honesty. But something that can’t be put into words is the easy bounce and subtle intelligence behind vocalist/guitarist Caleb Hodges’ voice, as he describes animatedly the experiences he has shared with his band over the past six months.
“We’ve enjoyed this so much, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride;” and after solid months of touring with The Paper Kites and Battleships, a rollercoaster may be the perfect analogy.
“It was quite a lot,” Hodges chuckles, “I think we had like five weeks away or something. But it was really great and we had so much fun. We’ve known the Paper Kites guys for a long time now, and since Art Of Sleeping first got together we’ve wanted to be on the road with them. We didn’t really know the Battleships guys but they’re such lovely people and we had such fun with them as well.”
It’s easy to hear the smile behind Hodges’ voice as he explains Art Of Sleeping’s touring experiences.
“Everyone that we’ve played with over the years are all such genuine, lovely guys. Everyone just kind of goes and has a great time,” states Hodges. “We’re all such good friends, it’s like you get to have a holiday with all your best mates and play music with really cool bands every night.”
From tales of naked McDonald’s drive throughs, to inappropriate photos and 3am car park hang-outs, it becomes pretty clear that Art Of Sleeping have had their share of touring tomfoolery.
But Hodges reiterates his group’s musical maturity when he explains his favourite part of his whole Art Of Sleeping experience is “the chance to play with so many great artists and in so many cities around Australia.”“I always have this little freak out where I think no one’s going to be there, and so to rock up and have all these people there to hear your music – it’s quite overwhelming.”
Live shows are also integral for Art Of Sleeping as Hodges believes that “playing a song live is really the best testament to its strength.”
“We played a lot of the songs chosen for our EP Like A Thief live,” he says, “and the five tracks we selected are the ones that stood out and we felt like people most enjoyed or most associated with.”
It is easy to hear the passion behind Hodges voice as he explains the importance of making music that really means something. “As far as writing goes, one thing we’ve always tried to do and that we all agree on no matter what the songs are, or where they’re heading, is that the lyrical content and the music is honest and real.”
“All our songs do mean something,” he continues. “We’ve never written a song just to write a song. So even when we perform it live I think a sense of vulnerability and honesty while we play that music is really important, and if that comes across then I think we’ve achieved what we were trying to.”
Ideologically, Art Of Sleeping have their shit together. Hodges elaborates further, imploring “we’ve never tried to force our sound in any particular direction. It’s all music that means a lot to us and our hope is that that transfers when other people hear us play. There’s no tricks or special effects, just five guys playing music that they really believe in a song that they really feel means a lot to them.”
The same can be said in the recording studio. With a “what you hear is what you get” mentality, Art Of Sleeping aren’t ones to make use of that recording studio magic.
“There’s no special effects added on after we track, it’s kind of just us playing in the studio,” says Hodges. It’s old-school, but it sticks to Art Of Sleeping’s honest mentality, and it comes through especially in how they create their music.
Hodges laughs nervously as he explains, “I kind of have to do these performances in front of the other guys and play the songs that I’ve been working on for them. That’s pretty nerve wracking because they’ll shut me down straight away if they don’t like it.”
“But if they like one,” he counters, “I get really excited and so we start playing through it all together. All the other guys are really talented, brilliant musicians, and I guess they all have their own influences and styles that they bring to the song, so the end sound will be quite different from how I first imagine it.”
“The best thing I’ve learnt is not to hold onto any song structure too hard, you know it can always be moved around or made better,” says Hodges.
Group dynamics are integral to any band, and Art Of Sleeping seem to have that down pat as well. Hodges detailing that, “we’re all really emotional musicians, so if one guy is in a down mood, we all tend to get a bit of a downer. So we are all really aware of that now and we all have a bit of a chat, a bit of a pow-wow backstage before we get up to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
On tour, the deal is mostly the same. Hodges laughs, saying “we’ve never had any brawls or any knife fights, smashed bottles on tour. We all get along really well and I think everyone is pretty good at knowing when they’re a bit tired, or when they need some time out. The whole experience has just been really fun, to be honest.”“We’ve never written a song just to write a song. So even when we perform it live I think a sense of vulnerability and honesty while we play that music is really important.”
So it would seem that the five dudes from Brisbane are living the dream; including an impending appearance at the Falls and Southbound festivals at the end of the year.
“I’m so excited; it’s going to be wonderful,” the singer enthuses. “For one thing playing, and then secondly, they’re such great line-ups so we’re really excited just to go around and check out all these bands and watch them all side-of-stage.”
And it would seem that to top it all off, wedding bells are ringing. “I’m actually getting married in two weeks!” Hodges explains excitedly. “So my wife’s going to come along and we’re going to spend New Year’s together. She’s a really amazing musician as well, so we’re going to go around together backstage and watch all these cool bands that we really love.”
But for those not attending the intended nuptials, they got the next best thing in the band’s recent tour for Like A Thief, which went off through Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney over the last month.
Hodges explains how they “tried to keep it really simple, not heaps of shows everywhere… [what we] tried to do is go all out and make it a little bit more than just a gig, more of an experience.” Including having artists’ graphic designs projected onto a screen behind them while they play.
So what now that the tour is done and dusted? “I think we’ll have a little bit of down time and maybe focus a bit on writing and getting some new material together,” says Hodges, “which should be great.”
The words integrity, resonance and honesty may be used to describe Brisbane based Art Of Sleeping, but after a chat with Caleb Hodges, a few more can most definitely be added to the mix.
If anything, Art Of Sleeping are, and will remain to be, openly and fearlessly vulnerable; and that’s something.
Like A Thief is out now through Dew Process, read the Tone Deaf review here.
