The Sleepover Disaster

(All Questions Unless Otherwise Noted Answered by Vince Corsaro)

How did The Sleepover Disaster come to be?

Luke and I were at a show to see friends of ours, Flaming June, play, and we were inspired to start something of our own.


If you didn’t mention above, how did the members all meet?

Luke and I played in a band together a couple of years before The Sleepover Disaster began, and we had remained friends after that band was finished. After a couple of bass-player friends came and went, Eric- whom we know as a drummer and guitarist- offered to play bass for us (turns out it was his first instrument). He's a stellar recording engineer, and had put mixed and mastered our first CDEP, so he was already familiar with our material up to that point, plus it turns out that he's a really talented bass player with a good voice for backing vocals.


How, if it did at all, did being in California influence your music?

The only real influence is that we live halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, so we've always been able to see the bands we like, even if they didn't pass through Fresno .Other than that, being in (Central Valley) California means short, late rehearsals in summer, because it gets HOT! Recently, we hit desert-like temperatures between 110-120 for 15 straight days, which was almost unprecedented. Air conditioning does very little good at temperatures like that.


What bands influenced The Sleepover Disaster, and what drew you to the type of music you play?

We're primarily influenced by the "shoegaze" bands of late 1980s UK like Ride, Kitchens of Distinction, Lush, Cocteau Twins, and of course, My Bloody Valentine. Other bands of interest in the 80s: Echo & the Bunnymen, The Smiths... Later 80s-early 90s: Catherine Wheel, Radiohead, Lilys. More recent influential bands include: Muse, Doves, Interpol...


What are your current favorite bands?

Luke: Interpol, Mogwai, Doves, Shins, Arcade Fire...
Eric: Elbow, Kings of Convenience, Kent, Living Things, Catherine Wheel
Vince: Editors, Doves, Interpol, Muse, God is an Astronaut, VHS or Beta


You’ve all been in quite a few bands before Sleepover Disaster. What effect did these bands have on you, what were they called and what kind of music did they play?

Yikes. too many to mention, but most in one form or another of alt./indie rock. A few cover bands for fun and to pay the bills...


What makes Sleepover Disaster different from those former bands?

We're friends first. That makes the rest of it, (songwriting, performing, traveling, promoting, etc.) easy.


What were the early days of Sleepover Disaster like? Heavy touring/shows or locking yourselves in the practice room?

When the band got started, Luke had several songs almost finished, so we had a good batch of material within the first month or so. Our first couple of shows happened less than 3 months after we got together, so I'd say we played a ton of shows early on, but we also rehearsed 2-3 times/week.


What do you find more enjoyable, playing live or recording?

Luke: Recording after the point that tracking and vocals are done.
Eric: Recording is the no-brainer answer since I'm a recording engineer, but I do enjoy live performance except for setup/teardown and all of the driving.
Vince: There's no substitute for the rush of playing live. I do enjoy the recording process after the tracking is done and mixing and the production end of things get started.


What has been your best live performance and why?

Unanimously: Probably a tie between:
1) Berbati's Pan in Portland a couple of years back. This was probably the only all-"shoegaze" bill we've ever done. It was the CD release for The High Violets (Reverb Records), and Tagging Satellites (Seattle, WA) played. There was a great crowd, and the hospitality and sound at the venue were awesome.

2) Our CD release for "Loud is the New Quiet" at The Starline in Fresno, CA (March, 2004). Some friends recorded the show live and shot the entire thing with multiple cameras inside and outside the venue, interviewing people arriving at the show in front of the place...it was nuts. The place was sold-out. We made a full-on production DVD that we may duplicate and give out to fans at a future show.


Which do you think is better in general, listening to music live or on a recording?

Luke: 50/50
Eric: Recording 70%, Live 30%
Vince: Recording slightly edges out live for me because of all the interesting production tricks and layers that add to recorded music.


What’s the California music scene like?

Central California is dominated by punk and metal bands. By dominated I mean just the sheer number of those types of bands. When we've travelled around California, we've found that Sacramento has a really strong scene, as does San Diego these days. San Francisco is not a bad scene, but it seems like there, and in Los Angeles, bands are a lot more competitive with each other, so instead of strengthening their respective music scenes, they really dilute them in a lot of ways.


Are you close with any other bands?

We're close with local bands The Dalloways, Gypsy Cab, The Nancies, Six Ounce Gloves, and Sparkle Jet, as well as Malbec (L.A.), Climber (Portland, OR), and Man of the Year (Portland, OR)...there are several others around the West Coast...


How are songs written in Sleepover Disaster? Is it a solo work or more group composure?

Usually Luke comes in with the skeleton of the song, maybe just a basic guitar part and a rough idea of the lyrics, then Eric and I add rhythm parts. We'll typically play through a new song several times, trying different feels and working out the arrangement. Once that's in place, Luke has a better idea of what the song feels like and finished lyrics or writes new ones .Every now and again a song comes from a random jam at a rehearsal. Something about it will catch our ears, and we'll work it into a song.


What do you feel is more important in a song? Lyrics or instrumentals?

Luke: The instrumental parts. strangely enough, the lyrics are the last thing I listen to.
Eric: The instrumental parts.
Vince: I listen to guitar tone first, then voice (as an instrument; listening to the lyrics generally comes last for me).


What is recording like for Sleepover Disaster? How long does it usually take, how does the band function, things like that.

With Eric being an engineer at Fast Traxx, a local studio (which is also where our rehearsal space is), we have access to the main tracking room to demo new songs, so that we can move on to new material. This process also allows us to work on our mixing/producing chops.


What recording was the most fun to do?

Luke: The last one (The Oceanographer EP)
Eric: I agree.
Vince: The next one...


When you look, or rather, listen back on your previous work and your newest, do you feel your sound and style have changed, or stayed fairly constant?

I think we'd all agree that our sound has remained largely the same; it is more mature and refined at this point, though.


When might we expect your newest album to be released?

We're hoping to find a label to release it by Summer 2007. Otherwise, we'll likely release it ourselves next Spring.


Could you give us a feeling of what the new album sounds like?

I think we've hit on something with the way we've been writing recently. We're getting more enthusiastic crowd and fan response than ever. That said, it's difficult to say what the next record will sound like. We're doing demo recordings of our latest batch of songs to see which of them if any will fit on the next record. So far it seems like "The Oceanographer" CDEP is a good gauge...


What’s next in store for The Sleepover Disaster?

Luke: Fame, fortune, TiVO
Eric: Roadies!
Vince: Goodbye day job, hello all of the above.


What hopes or goals do you have for the band in the long run?

Ultimately, we'd like to be on a label like Matador (or one of a few choice majors) and sell enough records to be able to afford to tour around the world a bit.


What do you think "success" is in music today?

Not having a "day job". making enough of a living at music to survive, at least for a year or two... maybe money enough for a tour van and some new instruments/studio gear...


Do you think Sleepover Disaster can achieve this success?

Absolutely. We may not succeed on a "boy band" level, because I don't think anyone will put that much into promoting us, but there's a market for what we do out there.


What got you into music? Why start a band?

Luke: Getting into music is kind of like falling in love. that initial spark just hits you at some point.
Eric: I've been doing music for so long, I can't remember how it started. At this point, though, I wouldn't know what else to do.
Vince: I've been all about music for as long as I can remember. Starting a band -if you can find the right group of people- is just an extension of that...wanting to share what you make with others.


What has been your best/worst/favorite/funniest experience with The Sleepover Disaster?

As much as we love playing in Portland, our last couple of trips there have been kind of trying.


I have to ask, is there any significance or reason to the name?

The name just happened. it seems to have a different personal significance to everyone who asks about it, though.


Has it all been worth it up until now?

Absolutely.


For more information head to http://www.thesleepoverdisaster.com/index.php