Wintersleep

This article is about the Canadian rock band. For the wintersleep in biology, see Hibernation.

Wintersleep
Wintersleep performing in 2004
Background information
Origin	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada[1][2]
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock[3]
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Labwork Dependent Hand Drawn Dracula Dine Alone
Members	Paul Murphy Loel Campbell Tim d'Eon Jon Samuel Mike Bigelow
Past members	Jud Haynes Chris Bell
Website	wintersleep.com

Wintersleep is a Canadian indie rock band formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2001.^[4] The band's original lineup consisted of vocalist and guitarist Paul Murphy, guitarist and keyboardist Tim d'Eon, and drummer Loel Campbell. In 2002, Jud Haynes joined the band as bass guitarist until 2007. In 2005, Mike Bigelow joined on keyboards until 2006, after which he played bass, until 2016. Since 2006, Jon Samuel has served as a backing vocalist, keyboardist, and guitarist, while Chris Bell has served as a backing vocalist and bass guitarist since 2016. Bigelow returned to the band in 2021. In 2005, Wintersleep opened for Pearl Jam for two shows in St. John's, Newfoundland at the Mile One Stadium.^[5] The band received a Juno Award in 2008.^[6] To date, Wintersleep have released seven studio albums.

History

First three albums: 2001–07

Wintersleep formed in 2001.^[7] Originally from the small town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, members Paul Murphy and Tim d'Eon had known each other through their previous progressive rock band, Kary, which they formed in the mid-1990s, while still in high school, with drummer Mark d'Eon and bassist Jesse Luke.^[8] Kary released two official albums, The Sound of Beauty Breathing in 2001 and Light in 2004, before disbanding.^[9] Murphy was friends with drummer Loel Campbell, a native of Stellarton, with whom he recorded a number of songs. Tim d'Eon and bassist Jud Haynes soon joined them, and they named themselves Wintersleep.^[10] They released two albums through Dependent Music, a label and artist collective formed in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 1994.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Wintersleep signed with Labwork Music, a partnership label of Sonic Unyon and EMI Music Canada, and re-released their first two studio albums. The re-releases included bonus tracks and videos not featured in the originals.^{[citation needed]}

On October 2, 2007, Wintersleep released their third full-length album, Welcome to the Night Sky. A limited edition of the record, on vinyl, with alternative artwork, was published by Hand Drawn Dracula. They won the 2008 Juno Award for New Group of the Year.^[6]

New albums, increased exposure: 2009–14

Wintersleep was selected as one of the opening acts by Paul McCartney for his concert at Halifax Common on July 11, 2009.^[11] That year, the band toured in support of Welcome to the Night Sky and also began writing their next record, New Inheritors, which came out on May 17 in Europe and May 18 in North America.^[12] Their fifth album, Hello Hum, was published in 2012.

Original lineup of Wintersleep, in 2003

The group's song "Weighty Ghost" was used in the 2008 film One Week, in both the trailer and one of the final scenes. In 2010, the song was included in The Top 100 Canadian Singles by National Post's Bob Mersereau.^[13] Wintersleep performed "Weighty Ghost" on the Late Show with David Letterman on January 14, 2011.^{[citation needed]} In 2011, the song appeared on the TV series Being Human and was also used in the background of a Molson Canadian commercial, advertising the "Red Leaf Project".^{[citation needed]} In 2013, "Weighty Ghost" became the theme music of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television crime drama Cracked.^{[citation needed]}

Wintersleep toured extensively during 2013, including as the opening act for Scottish indie band Frightened Rabbit, who invited them on their UK tour and later their North American tour. Wintersleep also opened for Frightened Rabbit on the latter's North American dates in early 2018.^[14]

In 2014, the band recorded eleven tracks at The Sonic Temple studio in Halifax.^{[citation needed]} That year, they also performed on a moving streetcar at the North by Northeast festival in Toronto.^[4]

New label and further releases: 2015–present

In December 2015, Wintersleep signed with Dine Alone Records.^[15] In January 2016, they premiered the song "Amerika" through The Wall Street Journal's blog.^[16] On March 4 of that year, the band released their sixth studio album, The Great Detachment, through Dine Alone.^{[17][18][19][20]} Rush bassist and vocalist, Geddy Lee, played on the track "Territory".^[21]

On Valentine's Day 2018, Wintersleep announced that their first three albums would be reissued on vinyl, with a bonus 7" single including previously unreleased tracks.^[22]

In December 2018, the band announced their next album, In the Land Of.^[23] It was released on March 29, 2019, by Dine Alone.^[24] The album release was supported by a national tour, from March 20 to May 3, 2019,^[24] with some but not all dates featuring Partner as the opening act.^{[citation needed]} Wintersleep was joined by Montreal band Caveboy as the opening act at four Ontario tour dates.^[25] In the Land Of went on to be long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize.^[26][27]

In September 2019, Wintersleep embarked on a tour of Europe, following the worldwide digital release of "Free Fall" and "Fading Out", on September 9, 2019.^[26] The two singles were originally released on Record Store Day and became the top-selling release of the national event.^[26]

Other projects

Drummer Loel Campbell is a member of several other projects, including Contrived, Holy Fuck, Hayden, Chikita Violenta, Land of Talk, and the Remains of Brian Borcherdt. Paul Murphy has collaborated with various other musicians, including his brother, on his solo project Postdata. Mike Bigelow plays bass in Contrived with Campbell and also performs with Holy Fuck. Tim d'Eon played guitar for Contrived before JonSamuel joined the group, appearing on Contrived's first record, Pursuit of Plots, and their second, Dead Air Verbatim.

Band members

Current

• Loel Campbell – drums, guitar (2001–present)
• Paul Murphy – vocals, guitar (2001–present)
• Tim d'Eon – guitar, keyboards (2001–present)
• Jon Samuel – keyboards, backing vocals, guitar (2006–present)
• Mike Bigelow – bass guitar (2007–2016, 2021–present), keyboards (2005–2006)

Past

• Jud Haynes – bass guitar (2002–2007)
• Chris Bell – bass guitar, backing vocals (2016–2020)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions
		CAN [28]
2003	Wintersleep	—
2005	Untitled	—
2007	Welcome to the Night Sky	—
2010	New Inheritors	12
2012	Hello Hum	20
2016	The Great Detachment	19
2019	In the Land Of	-
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions				Album
		CAN [28]	CAN Air [29]	CAN Alt [30]	CAN Rock [31][32]
2007	"Weighty Ghost"[6]	54	—	×	9	Welcome to the Night Sky
2008	"Oblivion"	—	—	×	17
2010	"Black Camera"	—	—	14	×	New Inheritors
	"New Inheritors"	—	—	—	×
	"Trace Decay"	—	—	31	×
	"Preservation"	—	—	33	×
2012	"In Came the Flood"	—	—	7	×	Hello Hum
	"Nothing Is Anything (Without You)"	—	—	31	×
2016	"Amerika"[6]	—	50	1	1	The Great Detachment
	"Spirit"	—	—	—	5
2017	"Freak Out"	—	—	—	45
2019	"Free Fall / Fading Out"	—	—	—	—	non-album single
	"Beneficiary"	—	—	—	44	In the Land Of
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. "×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived.

Videography

Year	Song	Director
2003	"Caliber"	Brian Borcherdt
2004	"Sore"	Sean Wainsteim
2005	"Danse Macabre"	Sean Wainsteim
2006	"Jaws of Life"	Sean Wainsteim with James Mejia
	"Fog"	Mirco Chin
	"Lipstick"	4030 CREW
	"Faithful Guide"	Sean Wainsteim
	"Insomnia"	Jesse Luke
2007	"Weighty Ghost"	Sean Wainsteim
2008	"Oblivion"	Darren Pasemko
2010	"Black Camera"
	"Trace Decay"
	"Preservation"	Sean Wainsteim
2011	"New Inheritors"	Danny (Think Tank Creative)
2012	"In Came the Flood"	Sean Wainsteim
	"Nothing Is Anything (Without You)"	Christopher Mills
2016	"Amerika"	Scott Cudmore

Awards

• 2008: Juno Award for New Group of the Year
• 2008: Much Music Video Award – VideoFACT Award for "Weighty Ghost"

References

1. Herygers, Andrew. "Wintersleep | On the Edge of East Coast". hurrah.ca. Hurrah. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
2. Conner, Shawn (October 31, 2007). "Nova Scotia's Wintersleep gets a Snow Patrol vibe going". straight.com. Straight. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
3. "Wintersleep reviews, music, news - sputnikmusic". Retrieved December 26, 2014.
4. Heidi Ulrichsen, "Wintersleep offers 'sneak peeks' of new album at Boreal". Sudbury Star, June 30, 2014.
5. "09/24/2005: Pearl Jam / Wintersleep @ Mile One Stadium | Concert Archives". www.concertarchives.org. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
6. Ben Rayner, "Wintersleep's hit echoes U.S. political tenor". Toronto Star, November 29, 2016. page E1
7. True, Chris "Wintersleep Biography", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
8. "Kary - The Sound of Beauty Breathing Review". www.theprp.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
9. "Kary (2)". Discogs. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
10. Lynn Hemeon (September 15, 2012), Wintersleep - ECMA 2003, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved March 15, 2019
11. "McCartney hires Halifax musicians as opening acts". CTV News, July 9, 2009.
12. Persuad, Travis Wintersleep Find Their Groove atExclaim! June 2009
13. "The Top 100 Canadian Singles". National Post, | October 4, 2010
14. BBC 6 Music - Wintersleep speak to Marc Riley. March 9, 2013
15. Alex Hudson (September 25, 2015). "Wintersleep Plot 'The Great Detachment' LP". Exclaim!.
16. Danton, Eric R. "Wintersleep takes inspiration from Walt Whitman on Amerika exclusive song | Wall Street Journal blog". WSJ. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
17. "Spill Album Review: Wintersleep – The Great Detachment". The Spill Magazine. March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
18. "Album of the week: Wintersleep The Great Detachment". Now Toronto, by Vish Khanna. March 2, 2016
19. Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen Updated: March 1, 2016 (March 1, 2016). "Wintersleep out of hibernation". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
20. "Wintersleep out of hibernation". Ottawa Citizen, Lynn Saxberg. March 1, 2016
21. Hank Shteamer (February 18, 2016). "Hear Wintersleep's Soaring Song with Rush's Geddy Lee". Rolling Stone.
22. "Wintersleep Vinyl Reissue: Wintersleep, Untitled, Welcome to the Night Sky". Dine Alone Records. February 13, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
23. "Wintersleep Announce 'In the Land Of' LP, Share New Single". Exclaim!, December 10, 2018.
24. "Canadian band Wintersleep discusses their relationship with the land in latest album". The Ontarion. March 28, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
25. "Montreal's Caveboy release brand new video for "Landslide"". What's the Story?. March 19, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.^{[permanent dead link]}
26. "Spill New Music: Wintersleep Announce Two New Singles "Free Fall" & "Fading Out"". The Spill Magazine. August 10, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
27. "Wintersleep - Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
28. "Wintersleep - Chart history". Billboard. February 9, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
29. "Billboard.biz - Canada All-Format Airplay". billboard.com. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
30. Peak positions for Wintersleep's singles on Canadian Alternative chart:
    • For "Black Camera": "Canadian Active/Alternative Charts | Media Source". Mediasource.proboards.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
    • For "Trace Decay": "Canadian Active/Alternative Charts | Media Source". Mediasource.proboards.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
    • For "Preservation": "Canadian Active/Alternative Charts | Media Source". Mediasource.proboards.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
    • For "In Came the Flood": Canadian Rock/Alt (July 31, 2012). "Canadian Active Rock & Alt Rock Chart Archive". Retrieved November 21, 2014.
    • For "Nothing is Anything (Without You)": Canadian Rock/Alt (September 19, 2012). "Canadian Active Rock & Alt Rock Chart Archive". Retrieved November 21, 2014.
31. Peak positions for Wintersleep's singles on Canadian Rock chart:
    • For "Weighty Ghost": "RR Canada Rock" (PDF). p. 54. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
    • For "Oblivion": "RR Canada Rock" (PDF). p. 50. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
32. "Billboard.biz - Canada Rock". billboard.com. Retrieved January 3, 2017.

External links

• Official website
• Labwork Music record label
• 2012 Off-stage video recording session with They Shoot Music Don't They