Sleep Decade is Casey and Monty Hartnett, Thom Plant, and Tom Milek. We grew up in Geelong/Jan Juc/Aireys Inlet and met when we were at high school together. We make ethereal, hazy pop music that has been described as “delicately executed” and “deeply atmospheric”. Over the last few years we spent time in Point Lonsdale with Nick Huggins (Kid Sam, Seagull), where, between surfing and kicking the footy, we recorded our debut LP, Into Spinning Lights, in Nick’s family’s home. It got released on November 8th though new Melbourne imprint Flightless, and digitally through Gaga Digi. We also recently released a video clip for our song “Mexico” which was shot in Aireys Inlet with an incredible director/cinematographer named Dylan Wiehahn.
Your debut record Into Spinning Lights out now, are you happy with how it has turned out?
Yeah we are. We finished making the album more than a year ago, so it’s taken a really long time to release, but it has actually been a really nice thing to be away from it for so long. Often when you finish working on something, you’ve been so deeply involved in every little facet of its creation and heard it so frequently that you can really become pretty disillusioned about it. A lot of these songs are quite old, so by the time we’d finished recording them we were pretty sick to death of hearing them – of course there was a sense of satisfaction completing it, and we always felt good about the way it sounded (Nick is an incredible producer!), but it definitely felt like old material and we weren’t excited to play the songs live. Now when I listen to the album I feel really pleased with it. I can appreciate the time we spent making it, and I can appreciate the songs. It’s definitely something we’re all really proud of.
Were you nervous at all about the release of the debut?
Yeah for sure- particularly as it’s taken so long to release. We were also really excited though and there’s huge sense of relief. Finishing things is a great feeling, and putting out this record has definitely got us enthusiastic and motivated to start recording for our next one very soon.
Were there any particularly memorable moments during the recording process?
Yeah there are heaps. Making the record in Point Lonsdale was a lot of fun – Nick lives not far from this really awesome surf spot, and the first week when we were tracking drums and bass the waves were absolutely amazing! We didn’t get as much recording done as we’d hoped, but it was one of the best weeks of my life. We took a disposable waterproof camera out one day and I think I snapped an absolute beauty of Nick getting barrelled (we still haven’t got the photos developed). Nick says one of his highlights from recording was “seeing Casey go over the falls on a heavy lefthander whilst Thom, Monty and I laughed and laughed on the paddle back out”. Nick also lives about 100m from the Point Lonsdale football oval so there were lots of breaks from recording to kick the footy. Nick is super competitive! I remember one time when he’d lost the ball and was on the ground, he flung out his leg to try trip someone up and totally fucked his knee. It probably meant we got a lot more recording done in the days following that incident than we would have otherwise though.
Nick Huggins produced the album, were you hoping to work with him from the outset?
Yep. We always planned to make the album with him – he’s such a lovely person and immensely helpful. We did an EP with him in 2009 and things just clicked. He has a really great approach to space and subtlety in his production, both of which are things we take into heavy consideration when playing our music. Nick’s really big on microphone selection and placement – like he won’t just set something up and try and fix it later in the mix, he’ll move around the instrument and around the room to get the right sound. He has a really fantastic ear, and some interesting recording tools like a plate reverb and lots of ribbon microphones, so the end result is something very natural and warm. Another thing we love about the way Nick works is he’s often in the same room as you when you’re tracking. It makes fine-tuning of a sound a fast and easy process, and also means he’s immediately engaged with the vibe of the performance.
Do you feel like your environment plays any role in your songwriting?
It definitely does. It certainly did for this album. I started writing some of the songs when I was seventeen and first moved out of home up to Melbourne. It was a big move, and getting used to the big city environment took some time. Even though it’s not all that far away, there are a lot of things I miss about living near the coast and the community of people down there. We went down to my family’s home in Aireys Inlet to do some pre-production for the record, then I lived in Geelong whilst we were recording the album in Point Lonsdale. I’m now back up in Melbourne and it definitely feels like I’ve gone full circle a few times in making this record. Each of those environments has had a profound impact on the songs, initially in the writing process and later on in the recording. The album title “Into Spinning Lights” is actually a bit of a reference to our environment. Both Aireys Inlet and Point Lonsdale have lighthouses.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
For Monty, Thom and I it was at an open mic type thing that used to run in Anglesea (and possibly still does) called “Anglesea Live”. They were actually these really big day/nights at the pub down there that had heaps of people getting up and performing with a lot of local support. It’s probably the one of the first places I saw Tom Milek play too. That was in about 2002. I think both Monty and myself owe our involvement in music largely to our Dad. He plays saxophone, clarinet and harmonica (all really well), and him and Mum used to take us to heaps of festivals and shows when we were very young that inspired us. They always encouraged us to play music and have shown the most incredible support over the years.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
No.
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
