Interview with Lauren Holden
With the charts awash with indie clones, Cardiff's sleepgoodfeelgood's arrival on the scene is long overdue. Well-crafted songs, jingle-jangle guitars and no frills drumming combine to complement lyrics without a hint of pretence.
"We're not worried about trends or styles either," stresses lead guitarist, Chris, "for us it's about making music we like and hoping the world likes it too."
Comprising Owen Griffiths on vocals and rhythm guitar, Chris Jones on lead guitar, Lee Oliveri on drums and Tony Jones on bass, the band have never been more determined to rack up as many live gigs as possible.
"We're looking for gigs anywhere and everywhere." says Lee. "We've had a few gigs outside Cardiff over the summer, which was great, and we've got a few gigs in Cardiff over the next month or so."
And if that wasn't enough, the lads are busy putting the finishing touches to new tracks for their second 11-track CD. The new material follows debut album 'The Wake Up' - a collection that the band say attracted nothing but praise. "Most have commented that they're amazed we're not signed and that we can go as far as we want to." adds Chris.
Having formed last year, Chris and Owen (already members of a Cardiff-based band) later found Tony and Lee and sleepgoodfeelgood became a reality. "In no time at all we'd compiled a list of songs as long as Tony's arm." says Owen. "Even though we've got a wide variety of songs we'd hope they all have a sleepgoodfeelgood sound."
In parts, their music harks back to a time when bands such as The Police were churning out banging pop tunes. The writing, however, is bang up to date and their crisp, uncluttered sound is of the moment.
"Lyrically, I never set out to write about one particular thing," says Owen. "I suppose everyday life gets in there subconsciously. I find myself with pockets full of scrap paper with little bits written down throughout the day and I try and piece them together."
Gigging wise, the band say their highlight to date was playing The Point in Cardiff "to a big crowd and hearing the crowd singing our songs back to us." So, what next for the band?
"We're going to be getting some London gigs soon," continues Tony. "And we've got lots of fans in the North of England so we'll be trying to get some gigs up there too. We're in the process of mailing our press pack to record companies so hopefully we'll be signed within the week!"
