20 years in the music industry can take a heavy toll, with the pressures of writing, recording, releasing and performing around the world adding onto the normal strains of everyday life. For British metal band While She Sleeps, they’ve gone from jamming together as teens, to playing in dive bars, to selling out the Alexandra Palace, with few opportunities to catch their breath. In a documentary video released today, which clocks in at just under 7 minutes, they recap their history, their hardships, and the reason why they’re taking a step away from live shows to prioritise the quality of their music.
The video titled ‘the paradox of progress’ details their beginnings as school friends growing up just outside Sheffield together, before forming the band in 2006. This was the same year that Sheffield’s music scene had been placed on the map in dramatic fashion by Arctic Monkey’s debut ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’, as well as Bring Me The Horizon’s first deathcore full-length ‘Count Your Blessings’.
After showman vocalist Lawrence Taylor joined in 2009, they set about independently recording their breakout EP ‘The North Stands For Nothing’ in a converted barn owned by guitarist Mat Welsh’s father. Having tracked and mixed it all themselves, it released originally in 2010, before being distributed for free with Metal Hammer magazine in 2011. Their early sound was a feverish frenzy of modern metalcore enhanced by the DIY production quality, pairing metal guitar riffs with the impassioned screaming found in hardcore punk. The buzz generated led them on frantic tours of small venues around the UK and Europe, where their energetic live shows drew ever larger audiences.
In the video they then give an impression of how fast things moved after their initial success. The members say “From there, life just sped up so quickly. We get signed to Sony, and we sign that f*****g contract in the toilet. Then we go into the studio to record ‘This Is The Six’. The tours were getting bigger, the crowds were getting bigger, we start winning awards.” After winning the Kerrang Award for Best British Newcomer, debut studio album ‘This Is The Six’ released in 2012, peaking at 27th on the UK Official Album Chart, and 2nd on the Rock and Metal Chart. BBC Radio 1 received numerous complaints regarding the first single ‘Dead Behind The Eyes’ being played on daytime shows, with listeners considering it too harsh for the general public.
Then problems began to arise. Singer Lawrence Taylor had to have throat surgery to treat his vocal cords in 2013, leading the band to cancel prospective tours for 2014. Excessive partying on Warped Tour in the US while also writing second album ‘Brainwashed’ was starting to cause some fatigue in the members. One member says the quote “we put a plaster on a wound, and we’d take it all around the world.” At this point they’d also become disillusioned with much of the music industry, and they’d started proceedings to become independent once more. They built their own studio that they named “Sleeps Warehouse”, and with it decided to cut loose from labels and release third album ‘You Are We’ on their own through crowdfunding measures. This 2017 LP released through their own label Sleeps Brothers, topping the Rock and Metal chart and finishing 8th on the Official Albums Chart.
Now the members were really suffering from their success, with Taylor needing a further surgery on his throat, and the scale of their tours and shows becoming far more demanding. Just like that, the global COVID-19 pandemic stopped the world of music in its tracks. While She Sleeps took the time to develop a subscription service to connect with fans and release music directly to their audience. After the pandemic ended, they achieved a dream of selling out the Alexandra Palace in 2023, on their biggest headlining show in front of over 10,000.
The video begins to close out by explaining the pressure the band was under, feeling compelled to consistently release songs to stay ahead in the rat race, at great detriment to their physical and mental health. Mat Welsh says “I want this band to live forever. If we want it to live forever, we have to stop something.” They reveal that for the foreseeable future, they will be withdrawing from touring in order to dedicate all their attention to writing music. Citing issues with the way the industry demands efficiency at the expense of quality, they aim to continue to do things on their terms and release their perfect album when the time is right. The video ends with a caption – “Bye, for now.”
While they won’t be touring, While She Sleeps’ extensive back catalogue including 2024’s ‘Self Hell’ is available on streaming platforms and their website. Updates can be expected through their Sleeps Society news subscription service.
