#MusicianStories: Melodic post-punk "Slept In"

Noisy-melodic post-punk outfit "Slept In" from Austin, Texas, shared their story with Musicngear. Read it below while listening to their music!

By Chris RoditisMusicngear Lead Editor

Article photo - #MusicianStories: Melodic post-punk

Originally, Slept In is a Craigslist hookup band that went right. After a few awkward, late-night meetings in the Spring of 2017 in Austin, TX and some cases of Lonestar, we [guitarist Sky Heinsohn, bassist Colby Wendeborn, and drummer Mason Posch] realized that we had a lot in common regarding our musical interests and intentions, so we decided to stick to it. All three of us had played in our share of indie/punk/hardcore bands in the past, so one thing that was completely agreed on from the beginning was to build up something solid before we ever showed it off. 

Vinny [vocalist Vinny Stanco] joined the band six months in and once that obvious void was filled, we knew it was time to get an album out and start playing shows around the Austin music scene. 

Arousal of Drifting

Article photo - #MusicianStories: Melodic post-punk We’ll be the first to admit that this album is not the most cohesive collection of songs we knew we could write. However, it’s full of songs that have been shaped and molded by all four of us together, which we took our time with, and didn’t let up on them until we were all completely satisfied. That would be the approach that we took with this entire album. Throughout the entire writing and recording process, which took little while longer than we care to admit, but there were very few instances where an executive decision needed to be made. From each riff, drum-fill, chorus, and even the song and album names – we were constantly checking in with each other.

Myra Hindley, Castling, Recycle Me Dude, Only Sometimes

The original four. Fortunately, Sky had these in his back pocket when we all first met, so that made it easier to pick up and start playing music together. Our preconceived influences stand out on them more than anything else, with heavier fuzz, punk drum beats, and the need to impress each other with how good we are. While we’ve been playing these songs the longest, and have most likely played them more than all of the others that we’ve written, they probably took the longest to fully complete. Since they were written before Vinny came into the picture, they easily went through the most transformation since their conception.

King Princess, Mankind is Unkind Man, Tike Myson

While King Princess and Mankind are probably the most opposite of each other tempo-wise, these are what came to be when Vinny was fully a part of the band, and we were coming to realize that we wanted to remain with an aggressive sound, but that it was more important to each of us to keep it simple, solid, and interesting, rather than constantly showy. This is the time that we really started to get in a groove with our song writing process. Instead of trying to mold something that already existed, we’d sit back and look at each part over and over again, until we were all happy with it, both with what each of our parts were, and the dynamics that they were played with. The name for King Princess came from a compromise. Originally, it was being pushed for pretty hard as the name of the band (honestly before ever realizing that the huge indie-pop artist, King Princess, already existed), but couldn’t be completely agreed on, so song name it was.

Screenwatchers

The last song on the album and the last song on the album to be written. In fact, it almost didn’t make it on to album. It was originally supposed to be an EP, but thanks to a few solid takes, and some quick clean-up writing for drums, and a pretty lengthy recording process -- it made it through. It’s actually pretty unanimously agreed on by all members of the band that this is our favorite song from Arousal. The way it was written and the energy we all get from it has become the baseline for how we’ve approached writing post-Arousal. 

Make sure to check out Slept In at their official website, follow them on Twitter, and support them on Bandcamp.

About Chris Roditis

Chris Roditis has been an active musician since 1995 in various bands and projects across a variety of genres ranging from acoustic, electronic to nu metal, british rock and trip hop. He has extensive experience as a mixing engineer and producer and has built recording studios for most of the projects he has been involved with. His passion for music steered his entrepreneurial skills into founding MusicNGear in 2012.

Contact Chris Roditis at chrisroditis@kinkl.com

About #musicianstories

#musicianstories is a place where established and rising musicians alike sit in the writer's seat and share their own personal stories, to inspire, educate and motivate the rest of us.

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