Wintersleep

Wintersleep formed in 2001.[7] Originally from the small town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, members Paul Murphy and Tim d'Eon having known each other through their previous progressive rock band Kary, which formed in the mid 1990s 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 indefinitely.[9] Paul Murphy and Loel Campbell, a native of Stellarton, were friends and lived 15 stories up in an apartment building and recorded 5 or 6 songs there, Tim d'Eon and bassist Jud Haynes were interested in being a part of the project and formed as Wintersleep.[10] They released two albums with Dependent Music, a music label and artists' collective that began in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 1994.

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 to the U.S. and Canadian markets. The re-releases include bonus tracks and videos not featured in the originals. Their debut album was remixed and re-mastered by Laurence Currie for the re-release.

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

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 their album Welcome to the Night Sky, while writing for their fourth studio album, New Inheritors; the album was released on May 17 in Europe and May 18 in North America.[12] They released their fifth album, Hello Hum, in 2012.

Original lineup of Wintersleep in 2003.

The group's song "Weighty Ghost" was used in 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 Late Show with David Letterman on January 14, 2011. 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". In 2013, "Weighty Ghost" became the theme music of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television crime drama Cracked.

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 11 tracks at The Sonic Temple studio in Halifax. That year they also performed on a moving streetcar at the North by Northeast festival in Toronto.[4]

In December 2015, Wintersleep signed with Dine Alone Records.[15] In January 2016 the band premiered "Amerika" through The Wall Street Journal's blog.[16] In March 4 of that year the band released an album, The Great Detachment, through Dine Alone.[17][18][19][20] Rush bassist, Geddy Lee, played bass guitar on the track "Territory".[21]

On Valentines Day in February 2018, Wintersleep announced that their first three albums would be reissued on deluxe vinyl with a bonus 7" single including previously-unreleased tracks. These reissues came out in May 2018, a limited amount of them being colored vinyl.[22]

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

In September 2019, the band embarked upon a tour of Europe following the worldwide digital release of "Free Fall" and "Fading Out" on September 9, 2019.[26] These two singles were originally released on Record Store Day earlier that year via Dine Alone Records and became the top-selling release of the national event.[26]

The band's members frequently collaborate outside of Wintersleep. Murphy and d'Eon played together in the band Kary. Drummer Campbell also performed with Kary, and is a member of several other projects, including Contrived, Holy Fuck, Hayden, Chikita Violenta, Land of Talk, The Holy Shroud, and The Remains of Brian Borcherdt. Murphy collaborated with various other musicians, including his brother, on his solo project Postdata; Let's Be Wilderness, the 2018 album by Postdata, features Campbell and d'Eon. Bigelow plays bass in Contrived with Campbell, and also plays in Holy Fuck and The Holy Shroud. d'Eon played guitar for Contrived before Samuel joined the group, appearing on Contrived's first record, Pursuit of Plots, and the second album, Dead Air Verbatim. Samuel was a member of Halifax band Slight Return.

• 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)

Former members

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

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

• Wintersleep official website
• Labwork Music record label
• Off-Stage Video Recording Session (2012) with They Shoot Music Don't They