Wintersleep is a Canadianindie rock band formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2001. Based in Halifax, the band's original lineup consisted of lead 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 the band as a keyboardist until 2006, when he then acted as a bass guitarist from 2007 to 2016. Since 2006, Jon Samuel has served as a backing vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist while has Chris Bell served as a backing vocalist and bass guitarist since 2016. The band received a Juno Award in 2008.
Background
Wintersleep formed in 2001, 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. Kary released two official albums, The Sound Of Beauty Breathing in 2001 and Light in 2004 before disbanding indefinitely. 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. 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. The band's members frequently collaborate outside of Wintersleep. Murphy and d'Eon played together in the band Kary, now on indefinite hiatus. Drummer Campbell has also performed with Kary, and is a member of a number of other projects, including Contrived, Holy Fuck, Hayden, Chikita Violenta, Land of Talk, The Holy Shroud, and The Remains of Brian Borcherdt. Murphy collaborated with his brother in the project Postdata. 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. Wintersleep was selected as one of the opening acts by Paul McCartney for his concert at Halifax Common on July 11, 2009. 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. They released their fifth album, Hello Hum, in 2012. 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. 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 dramaCracked. 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. In December 2015, Wintersleep signed with Dine Alone Records. In January, 2016 the band premiered "Amerika" through The Wall Street Journal's blog. In March 4 of that year the band released an album, The Great Detachment, through Dine Alone. Rush bassist, Geddy Lee, played bass guitaron the track "Territory". 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 occurred in May 2018, a limited amount of them being colored vinyl. In December 2018, the band announced that their next album, In the Land Of. The album was released on March 29, 2019 by Dine Alone Records. The album release was supported by a national tour with dates from March 20 to May 3, 2019, 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. In the Land Of went on to be longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize. 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. 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.
