For a few years now, Victorian outfit Ocean Sleeper have been making a name for themselves as one of the wildest and most exciting metalcore acts on the scene.
Having formed only a handful of years ago, it didn’t take long before the quartet were selling out their own shows, touring alongside international heavyweights, and even appearing on the UNIFY Gathering lineup in 2017 and 2019.
Needless to say, they’ve made some huge strides in just a few years, and now, they’re about to make another one, releasing their album Don’t Leave Me This Way on November 8th.
Recorded with legendary producer Kris Crummett (Issues, Dance Gavin Dance, Sleeping With Sirens), the group are giving fans one last sneak preview of the upcoming record with the release of their latest single, ‘Killing Me’, today.
Following on from powerful tracks like ‘Light In My Dark’, the new single is a continuation of the group’s exciting sound, and undoubtedly makes us all the more excited about the forthcoming record.
To celebrate the release of Don’t Leave Me This Way, we had a chat with vocalist Karl Spiessl to get the lowdown on what Ocean Sleeper are all about.
Check out ‘Killing Me’ by Ocean Sleeper:
Get To Know: Ocean Sleeper
How did your artist name come about?
When we started throwing around names for the band, we all just wanted something that didn’t sound like a heavy band.
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We also wanted something easily found when searching online, so that when you searched on the internet we would be the first thing that came up. Ionei came up with the name Ocean Sleeper and we were all happy with it.
How would you describe your music to your grandma?
My grandma thinks there isn’t a difference between heavy metal and rap music, so I’m not too sure. But she tells all her friends I’m a rapper so that’s fine with me too.
Tell us about a few of your tracks; their titles and what they’re about?
‘You’ll Never Know’ from our debut album is one of the heavy ones – really fast paced and some really cool riffs! The demo name of the song was ‘gimmie that warped tour’ which Ionei wrote all the music for one night, thinking about how cool it would be to be on Vans Warped Tour in America.
The theme of the song carried to striving to achieve our goals and dreams in music, and leaving behind people holding us back from that.
‘Running Through My Head’ is the softest song on the album and musically something I was super stoked on from the start because of how different it was! The verses had inspired guitar parts from The 1975 and the clean vocals throughout it are just some of Ionei’s best work.
The chorus that he and Stan came up with just hits so hard when it first drops. Lyrically it shares themes of longing for someone who always leaves you behind.
What do you love about your hometown?
Living in the country is really nice and easy going. Away from the stress and noise of the city.
Career highlight so far?
Playing Heart-Town festival in Taiwan, performing in a country where the main language isn’t English and hearing the huge crowd sing our lyrics back to us was absolutely unreal.
Fave non-music hobby?
BMX is something I really love, and I’m very proud of a lot of my friends who now are on a professional level!
What’s on your dream rider?
Our UNIFY Gathering rider was about as good as you can get, two casks of goon and some orange juice!
Dream music collaboration?
Working with Jeremy McKinnon from A Day To Remember would be a huge experience, or Caleb Shomo from Beartooth! Both insane musicians and producers.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’d like to hope I’ll be looking back with heaps of fun memories around the world with Ocean Sleeper, and more albums under our belt.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Old school emo hits forever being our favourites easily. Contenders being the likes of ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers or The Getaway Plan’s ‘Where The City Meets The Sea’. Depending on the mood Ludacris’ ‘Act A Fool’ will make an appearance too.
Check out ‘Light In My Dark’ by Ocean Sleeper:
Ocean Sleeper’s ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ Australian Tour
Thursday, November 21st
Rocket Bar, Adelaide, SA
Tickets: Moshtix
Friday, November 22nd
Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets: Northcote Social Club
Friday, November 29th
Burdekin Hotel, Sydney, NSW
Tickets: Eventbrite
Saturday, November 30th
Crowbar, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets: Oztix
