THE SLEEPYHEADS // Return Of Our Indie Punk Kings

After an almost two-year-long slumber, The Sleepyheads have returned with Nihilist.

MORE: LOSER: Call Them Winners // BLOOD COMMAND: Nikki Brumen Discusses Pagan, Blood Command and Why ‘The End Is Her’ // CLOWNS: Unleash New Single ‘Sarah’ REVIEWS: THE BRONX: VI // JINJER: Wallflowers // TURNSTILE: Glow On // LOSER: All The Rage // THE DEATH SET: How To Tune A Parrot // SPIRITBOX: Eternal Blue // THE SLEEPYHEADS: Nihilist

Featuring Connor Brooker of Bugs, it’s a tongue-in-cheek take on the struggles of 2020. We caught up with frontman Pat Broxton to chat about how it all came together.

Hysteria: Congratulations on the release of Nihilist. What inspired it?

Pat: It’s our first single in almost a year and a half. We were laying pretty low for a while, mostly because of COVID. I first started writing it mid-last year. It was inspired by the whole industry being paused and how things seemed to be getting worse. It’s kind of a tongue-in-cheek look at it, rather than a depressing one. That’s why the song’s so upbeat. It was definitely a challenge to write a fun sounding song when it was inspired by something really not fun (laughs).

Did you run into any challenges whilst writing/recording it?

We were pretty lucky. When all the lockdowns came into play, we were laying pretty low anyway. I was writing on my own. It was about 80% done, and then I took it to our drummer Sean Zolnierczak. Dan (Barton, guitar) and I also moved down to Hobart, so we’re now split between there and Launceston. It’s a couple of hours away, so we’ve been writing online, using things like Google Drive to share our ideas.

It was definitely a challenge to write a fun sounding song when it was inspired by something really not fun.
[ Pat Broxton ]

Can we expect to see more music following this?

We’re doing an album! We should have another song out relatively soon and some more info. We’re about 90% done with it. Super exciting!

Who are some bands you’ve been digging recently? 

Over the last 12 months or so, I’ve been loving Sly Withers. Their new album is amazing. I’ve also loved Alexander Biggs from Melbourne; his album is incredible. They’re two pretty different sides of the coin. I’ve also been listening to lots of The 1975. I’ve been rediscovering their older stuff and listening to their newer album.

What’s been getting you guys through pandemic living?

Being in Tassie, we’ve been relatively lucky. We’ve had shows, albeit COVID capacity ones. It’s been the perfect time to plan out our album and release shows too. In a way, it’s been a nice pause. And a chance for us to wind up and come out swinging again.

What’s next?

We hope to have the album released by the end of the year. Then, we want to play as many shows as possible. We want to get over to the mainland.  We’ve been trying since April, but we’ve been stopped at every chance. We’ve had shows pushed back and some cancelled. Honestly, we’re not the only ones though. Plenty of our mate’s bands are in the same boat. That’s how we’ve been looking at it.

Purchase and stream here.