We sat down for a chat with the guys from Losing Sleep to discuss their break-up announcement, and the final record '2011-2017 Rarities', a compilation tape being released March 31st, 2017 through Beth Shalom records.
PT: What has brought about the end for Losing Sleep?
Sean: For me, the end has just been brought due to time. Things run their course, and that isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact it can be refreshing to realise that as much as it can also be difficult.
Liam: Once Sean decided he wanted to leave the rest of us spent a while chatting about what we would do next. We decided it wouldn’t be the same without Sean and that we would call it a day.
PT: What has LS meant to each of you over the past few years?
Sean: Losing Sleep has meant so much in so many aspects of my life. Of course I can only talk for myself but I hope the others are on the same page.
Liam: Personally it’s been a huge part of my life for last 5 years. Me and Sean had talked about doing a band for a long time and there were so many things that we were excited to do with it. It feels really good to look back at everything we’ve done and feel a real sense of achievement. And to have the records as a reminder of the time when we wrote and recorded them.
Chris: Losing Sleep has been so much fun. We’ve had the opportunity to travel around Europe and up and down the UK playing music we love with some of our best pals. Its always just been about having fun, never taking it too seriously but taking on every opportunity that came upon us along the way.
Sam: For me, only joining in 2016, it’s been a short but sweet run – and more fun than I ever could’ve imagined back when I had that first practice about a year ago.
PT: Can you see a future where you reunite? Or is this the end once and for all?
Sean: I personally can’t. Not in the way we can’t be in the same room together but mainly because I can’t imagine there ever being a demand for it. I don’t think any of us are gonna text each other out of the blue saying “Let’s get the old band back together,” but I can definitely imagine a text saying “Let’s get together and write some new music,” so the only reason for the 4 of us to reunite as Losing Sleep would be for a good cause, to raise money or awareness for something close to our hearts, but I can’t imagine we will ever be THAT band to reform for THAT show. I definitely think members of this band will play music together, and it doesn’t seem too far fetched too imagine us all playing music in some other incarnation either.
Liam: I totally agree with what Sean said. There’s always a possibility but this is it for now.
Chris: I’d never say never, but for the moment it doesn’t necessarily seem likely. We’ll no doubt remain good pals and I hope to play music with the guys for years to come. Can’t wait see what new projects the guys work on down the line.
Sam: Sean’s lying. Reunion shows at Warped Tour 2018 being pencilled in now.
PT: Your final release, a compilation tape, is coming out March 31st, how do you feel about wrapping it up on that note?
Chris: It’s come at a very organic time for us and it’s quite nice how it marks 5 years of us being a band. I’m really glad we’re having a big send off rather than letting things fizzle out and I’m super psyched for the last show with some great friends and great bands we’ve met along the way.
Liam: It feels really good to me. A great way to end the band and a celebration of what we created over the 4-5 years. I’m so glad that the last two songs that we wrote and recorded are getting a physical release and I’m really excited for people to hear them.
Sam: I always find that it’s a real shame when a band you like just kinda… disappears. So to be able to round ourselves off with the final songs and the final show is pretty satisfying even if in a bittersweet way.
Sean: It’s nice. It’s mainly surprising and really great that Joe who runs Beth Shalom felt inclined to ask us to put something like this together! PT: There are a few songs on the tape that are going to be in physical format for the first time, how did you decide what made it onto this record?
Sean: We were always going to release the two new songs before the last show, so when Beth Shalom asked us to do a compilation of our songs that was definitely at the forefront of our mind. I think the two songs work great as a single, but am also real glad it’s part of a physical release too. Beth Shalom initially asked that the release be a discography, everything we had ever done, which we thought about a lot but decided that we feel like our album ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ that came out last year should be left as just a stand alone album. We are really proud of that body of work! We then all thought back to all our recordings we had done over the years and decided which ones we wanted to release for the comp and which we didn’t. It was really fun looking back other some of these songs!
Liam: Exactly what Sean said. I think it’s nice that we managed to get all these songs into one place. Some of my favourite albums have been b-side and rarities compilations. I was thinking about the Saves The Day one – Ups And Downs. I love the mixture of songs on that and the different eras and progressions of the band that you can hear so I hope this can act as a similar collection for Losing Sleep.
PT: Is there a show or song that you’ll forever look back on fondly?
Sean: Our shows in Ireland were really huge for me. Everything about that weekend. It was a huge buzz flying somewhere to play our music, all the shows were really different from each other and really really fun and we met some amazing people. Growing up my family always spoke about how special Ireland is so to be going back there to play music is something that fills me with a huge amount of pride.
Liam: Both of our record release shows (for the album and for the split) were really special for me. The fact that a lot of people wanted to come out and support what we were doing meant so much. The songs will always mean a great deal to me. Playing them recently in preparation for our last show has been a lot of fun and brought back loads of memories, like I’d forgotten that I put that American God’s reference into Card Sharp and I’m really excited for the new American God’s TV show this year!
Chris: I always loved our cover of ‘Shake It Off’. Not sure the open mic audience in Edinburgh enjoyed it so much. Favourite show was probably the house show in Freiburg. Most hospitable dudes and a great reception… human pyramids galore. Followed by some party in the woods. Good times.
Sam: I don’t think I’ve ever told this story, but there is a song on the first Losing Sleep demo circa five years ago called ‘This is Kingston not LA’, if I recall correctly; and bearing in mind this was back before I even knew the boys! When I found it on bandcamp I just assumed they’d be a fun Title-Fight-y lil band from America because of the Kingston thing, and I carried on thinking that for a couple of months even after listening to all those songs – until they suddenly played a show in Kingston, er, England… I mean, obviously I’ve got a lot of fond memories of tour hijinks but every time I see that song title it reminds me quite nicely how much of an idiot I am and how fun this whole ~thing~ is.
PT: Looking back on LS, is there anything you wish you could experience again?
Sam: Tourstoursgigsnshows. Not smashing through songs in practice with everyone weekly is gonna suck too! :((
Liam: Pretty much all of the tours I think! The European tour we did was so much fun and we’ve played with so many great bands over the years. The Modern Baseball tour was also really special. It was surreal to play on a tour of that size but really fun and exciting.
Chris: The tours will definitely be the thing that I miss the most. Meeting the nicest people and discovering new, cool places was the best. It’s always amazing to see peoples reaction to music over the world. We’ve been really looked after over the years and been fortunate enough for people to have supported and enjoyed our music despite being thousands of miles from home.
Sean: For me the album release tour we did at the start of 2016 was really really great! It was with our old friends The Winter Passing. Getting to see them play every night was nothing but inspiring. The shows on that tour were put on by people that had been really supportive to our band over the years, so it felt like it was all coming together to make that week and a half as amazing as it could be. The four years of the band before that all building to towards that week!
Though the time has come for us to bid adieu to Kingston’s Losing Sleep, they will live on in our hearts, and music libraries for many years to come.
