Sleepy Days
Sleepy Days are an up-and-coming indie-rock band from Dublin, on a mission to leave their mark on the Irish music scene. Made up of Conor Dwyer (lead vocals & rhythm guitar), Michael O'Kane (lead guitar & backing vocals), Alex Ganje (bass) and Aaron Lacumber (drums), the band met while studying at BIMM Dublin, where they founded Sleepy Days after hitting it off during an impromptu recording session in the colleges' recording studio.
Sleepy Days' second single, ‘Night Owl’, captures the bittersweet nostalgia the singer feels in the twilight of his college days, as he struggles to balance his nocturnal lifestyle with the requirements of the early bird's "real world", which he finds himself about to enter. Recorded and produced at the legendary Windmill Lane Recording Studios, the track embodies an energetic, alternative pop-rock style, inspired by the likes of Two Door Cinema Club and Dayglow.
To celebrate the release, Sleepy Days will headline a vibrant and exhilarating show with support from Twoshoes and Driving Blue in The Workman’s Club Main Room, Dublin, hosted by Ex-Oh Promotions, on Friday, March 7th.
Tickets available here: TICKETS
For more from Sleepy Days, click here: https://linktr.ee/sleepydaysband
Give It All - Rise Against
Alex: The song Give It All is from the album Siren Song of the Counter Culture, was the first CD I ever bought. Back then it set me back an entire month's worth of pocket money, but it was totally worth it!
Walking Disaster - Sum 41
Alex: Walking Disaster is the song that first got me thinking about writing my own music. It was the first time I found myself able to pick out new things about a song I hadn’t noticed before on every listen, even after listening to it hundreds of times. I particularly love how the vocals at the start and the end have the same melody, but the lyrics couldn´t be further apart.
Kyouran Hey Kids!! - Oral Cigarettes
Alex: This is one of the songs that first introduced me to JRock. Japanese songs often have extensive chord progressions that follow the melody, and it’s that along with this song’s vivid bass lines that have both influenced me as a songwriter and bass player. You’ll hear this influence shine through the brightest in our song Momentum.
This Charming Man - The Smiths
Michael: This Charming Man influenced me and the parts I write for the band with its jangly, intricate guitar work and Morrissey's poetic and emotive lyrics. Its timeless energy shaped my guitar sounds, songwriting and approach to melody.
The Borders - Sam Fender
Michael: Sam Fender’s first album, Hypersonic Missiles, was one of my most-listened to albums while we were in college. It made me question what rock and guitar music could sound like, and its lyrical content always brought back memories for me of growing up in a small town.
Old White Lincoln - Gaslight Anthem
Aaron: Old White Lincoln has all the hallmarks of the kind of music I want to make. It’s a perfect mix of the energy of punk like The Clash and the storytelling of Bruce Springsteen.
Last Chance to Lose Your Keys - Brand New
Aaron: I think that Last Chance to Lose Your Keys perfectly combines the intricate vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys with a harder, early 2000’s rock style. This is what inspired us to experiment with combining genres, which is how we wound up writing songs as different as Foggy Memories and Suburban Dystopia!
Undercover Martyn - Two Door Cinema Club
Conor: Our new single Night Owl started life as a song I wrote for one of my final assignments at BIMM, and it was initially inspired by the warbly, chorus-drenched guitars and bittersweet vibe of Dayglow’s Can I Call You Tonight? Not wanting it to gather dust after graduation, I brought Night Owl to the lads, and together we cranked up the energy, rocked it out and completely transformed it into the dynamic, punchy track you hear today. Throughout this process, we were prominently influenced by the infectious, danceable sound of Two Door Cinema Club, and you can hear the DNA of tracks of theirs like Undercover Martyn all over Night Owl, particularly in Michael’s lead guitar part in the final chorus.
Come Alive - Foo Fighters
Conor: We’ve often had people tell us that our sound has an element of Foo Fighters to it, but weirdly enough I didn’t really listen to them all that much before we started Sleepy Days. My sister Emma loves them though, so I’d always hear them around the house growing up. Looking back, I definitely agree that they’ve had an influence on us, and I think that’s at least partly how traces of them wound up in our music, so thanks Emma!
I’d point to Come Alive as a specific influence, particularly for me vocally, as in that song Dave Ghrol showcases his range by going from some relatively softer and more sweet, melodic vocals all the way up to his signature gritty belt and growl. This is something I’ve found myself admiring and trying to replicate in my own voice as I’ve developed and tried to improve as a vocalist, and I think one place this can be heard fairly distinctly is in our song Devil on the Shelf, particularly in how I perform it live and in the new version of it we recorded recently!
Radioactive - Imagine Dragons
Conor: Okay, I know how this looks, but please hear me out. When Radioactive released in 2012, it featured in a TV ad for Assassin's Creed 3, one of the biggest video games to release that year. At that point I was learning drums and had attempted to learn guitar twice before with little success, but hearing Radioactive on that ad made me believe that I could not only learn it on guitar, but learn to sing it too. So, I showed up to my next drum lesson with my dad’s guitar, much to my teacher’s surprise, but he switched my lessons over seamlessly and we got to work.
Three months later, I entered my school’s talent show and performed an acoustic version of Radioactive (my mother was terrified), and I ended up winning first place! With its steady 4/4 beat, simple four chord structure, confidence-boosting lyrics and overall rebellious attitude, I feel that this song is perfect for beginners, and I whole-heartedly credit it as the song that opened the door for me to become the musician and songwriter I am today.