THE NEW INHERITORS – A WINTERSLEEP INTERVIEW

- Interviewed By Gavin Hughes




It may sound like the punch line to some joke, but what do you get when long time friends from Halifax, start a band called Wintersleep? You get five of the hardest working musicians, four records, ten videos and a Juno in 2008 for New Group of the Year! If you haven’t heard of them yet, just wait, you will.

Our man Gavin got a chance to talk with Wintersleep bass player Mike Bigelow, the last addition to the band, but certainly not the least. Mike gave insight on the band’s beginnings; time spent playing with other bands and Wintersleep on the world stage. Their new album, The New Inheritors may be a reference to a Nathaniel Hawthorne story, but it might also be safe to assume that we’re all the New Inheritors of Halifax’s Wintersleep.

What should the name Wintersleep mean to us?
It’s actually the word hibernation translated from German; the actual English would be winter sleep.

You personally were a late arrival to the Wintersleep after Jud Haynes left. How did you get hooked up with the rest of the band?
I actually played keys with those guys for a little around the time of the second record, but it was 2007 when I joined the band. Loel (Campbell, drummer) and I grew up together in the same town and we’ve been playing music together since we were teenagers.

Your Juno in 2008 for New Group of the Year was awhile coming since you had already been together since 2001. Tell us about the album Welcome to the Night Sky that sparked the award.
When I heard that record I felt like the guys really stepped it up a notch. Working with Tony Dugan who is a great producer, it was just really tight and cohesive. Sometimes you just get a record where it all works, the writing, composition and even the artwork.

You guys have always played in a bunch of different other bands with and without each other. With the recognition that Wintersleep has found, has this become the musical priority?
For the last three years, since Welcome to the Night Sky this has definitely been the priority, but I think we’ll always find time to get to play with other people. I just think that’s really important. It definitely contributes and is just a lot of fun to keep playing music.

What makes the keyboard such a focal instrument in Wintersleep?
Well John writes really great key parts, especially on the new record. I think it’s a great instrument and works really well. And John is so confident on it now that there is just something epic about it. It just adds a really nice element and another layer.

What separates Wintersleep from the current musical landscape?
We are not doing something gimmicky. There are so many bands and so many different music mediums now that it’s making it easy to buy into bullshit hype bands that have one decent song and are a waste of time. We’re trying to be honest and make records that flow and are consistent; so there’s not one good song on a ten-song record, there are ten. It’s honest music and it comes from an honest place.

Your newest record, The New Inheritors is already out in stores, so who exactly are the New Inheritors?
It’s actually a derivative of a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story called The New Adam and Eve. It basically talks about them becoming the new inheritors of earth.

* PHOTO CREDITS: DUSTIN RABIN

Whether it’s on a novel, short stories or a screenplay, Gavin can be found constantly writing. However being a generous man, he gives up some of his limited spare time doing interviews for The Tuesday Guide. Otherwise he’s checking out new flicks, new music or putting his stinky feet up with a new book. Gavin Hughes lives with his wife in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.