If you’re not yet around sleepazoid, then now might be the time to change that, because according to all and sundry, they’re on their way to becoming the ‘next big thing’ in Australian music.
It’s easy to see why, however. One only needs to take a look at their blissful mix of – as a colleague of mine described it – “gritty grunge and dreamy shoegaze” to see why they’re drawing a crowd everywhere they go.
And draw a crowd they do. Having shared their debut tracks back in 2024, sleepazoid released their debut EP running with the dogs just last year. By the time I caught them, six months after that EP arrived, you’d be forgiven for thinking they’ve been around a decade or longer given how voracious their fanbase is, how packed their shows can be, and how intense they are as performers.
Fast forward even further, and now, they’ve just released their latest EP, NEW AGE. As you’d expect, it’s another stunning piece of work from this group who simply can’t help but make some amazing music, and it truly leaves you wondering just what amazing heights sleepazoid are about to scale next.
This week, I was lucky enough to be joined by Nette France, Jo Pabis, Jim Duong, and George Inglis from sleepazoid (sadly, Luca Soprano couldn’t make the chat) for an in-depth chat about their career and the new EP. This is one of my rare in-person chats, so excuse the spotty audio that occurs when five people chat over two shared microphones.
Anyway, have a listen to sleepazoid’s NEW AGE EP, buy a ticket to their upcoming shows, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.
Jim Duong, Nette France, George Inglis & Josef Pabis’ Trusty Chords
Jim’s One Influential Artist
- Jeff Buckley
Nette’s One Influential Artist
- Wolf Alice
George’s One Influential Artist
- David Bowie
Josef’s One Influential Artist
- Wolf Alice
Jim’s Three Impactful Albums
- Jeff Buckley – Live At Sin-é (1993)
- At The Drive-In – Relationship Of Command (2000)
- Mid-Air Thief – Crumbling (2018)
Nette’s Three Impactful Albums
- Alanis Morrisette – Jagged Little Pill (1995)
- Mac DeMarco – 2 (2012)
- Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life (2017)
George’s Three Impactful Albums
- Rage Against The Machine – Evil Empire (1996)
- D’Angelo – Brown Sugar (1995)
- D’Angelo – Voodoo (2000) (These two D’Angelo records were mentioned in the same breath, but separated for clarity.)
- Connan Mockasin – Jassbusters (2018)
Josef’s Three Impactful Albums
- Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork (2022)
- Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia (2022)
- Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life (2017)
Jim’s Five Trusty Songs
- Frank Ocean – ‘White Ferrari’ (2016)
- Mulatu Astatke – ‘Tezeta (Nostalgia)’ (1998)
- OutKast – ‘Da Art Of Storytellin’ (Pt. 1)’ (1999)
- Janet Jackson – ‘Any Time, Any Place’ (1993)
- Anna Wise – ‘nova (feat. John Bap)’ (2018)
Nette’s Five Trusty Songs
- Cocteau Twins – ‘Heaven Or Las Vegas’ (1990)
- Mac DeMarco – ‘My Kind Of Woman’ (2012)
- Björk – ‘Come To Me’ (1993)
- Wolf Alice – ‘Smile’ (2021)
- Norah Jones – ‘Turn Me On’ (2002)
George’s Five Trusty Songs
- George Benson – ‘Breezin” (1976)
- David Bowie – ‘Sound And Vision’ (1977)
- Melody’s Echo Chamber – ‘Desert Horse’ (2018)
- Todd Terje – ‘Inspector Norse’ (2012)
- Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention – ‘Inca Roads’ (1975)
Josef’s Five Trusty Songs
- Pink Floyd – ‘Us And Them’ (1973)
- Wolf Alice – ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ (2017)
- Nirvana – ‘All Apologies’ (1993)
- Mac De Marco – ‘Moonlight On The River’ (2017)
- Neil Young – ‘Harvest Moon’ (1992)