Sleepless Nights look to wake up Yarmouth during Music Week

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Aaron Wallace knows the exact point he wanted to be a musician and nothing else. “I bought an Eric’s Trip record through the mail in 1994,” Wallace, the lead singer and guitar player for Sleepless Nights, says of the seminal east coat group.

For Josh Pothier, the group’s drummer, that moment came a little more recently. “For me, it was when I took a loan out to buy our van,” says Pothier, adding with a laugh “I’m in debt, serious debt.”

Such is the commitment for anyone who really, truly wants to be a musician, and members of Sleepless Nights are no different.

The Halifax band, which features Yarmouth natives Wallace, Pothier and Trevor Murphy, is embarking on an ambitious project that will see them release three four-song EPs during the next year. They will all be online and they will all be free. The first, King Diamond, is available now at the band’s website www.thesleeplessnights.com.

Part of the reason for such a unique project, says Murphy, is because it’s a way for the band to stay current and in the minds of listens even when they aren’t out on the road. It’s also a way to build momentum for when the band finally releases its next full-length album. The band wants people to have their music, and members say they no longer believe the money they make off physical releases justifies the cost of producing them.

Although some bands might find the task of coming up with so much material daunting, Wallace maintains that, for them, it’s really not that big of a deal. “We could put out three records a year and it wouldn’t be a problem,” he says. “I’m not interested in anything else. When I have free time (I write songs). I don’t play video games or golf or basketball. I write songs. That’s it.”

It’s this singlemindedness that is making the band one of the must-see acts in Halifax and beyond. Yarmouth music fans will get their own taste of Sleepless Nights when the group performs as part of the showcase events next month during Nova Scotia Music Week.

The week will be a homecoming of sorts for the band, which has been involved in the process of getting the event in Yarmouth from almost the very start and also performed at a preview show for the event during the launch earlier this summer.

Growing up here, all three say they didn’t always feel like what they were interested in musically was embraced by their peers — often times the feeling was reinforced with outright criticism. But to see such a celebration of music — and in particular the music they play — happening in their hometown, is satisfying for the three of them. “It’s good to see these things coming back (to Yarmouth),” says Murphy. “We hope the audience isn’t a one-time thing,” adds Pothier. “I hope people realize that this is trying to kick-start something that used to be a regular thing in Yarmouth.”

As Murphy notes, there are people in the community trying hard to keep the music scene in Yarmouth vibrant, to grow it and nurture it. He believes an event such as music week could be just the ticket to pushing that process over the top.

All three Yarmouth members of the band grew up at a time when the local music scene was as active and creative as it’s been in years, when shows were plentiful, there was a number of active bands in the area and bands from around the province and beyond would make the trek to Yarmouth because they knew there would be an enthusiastic and appreciative audience waiting for them. “The most positive thing that’s going to come out of this is that we’re going to go home with a whole bunch of our friends and be able to play some songs to, maybe, hopefully, some kids who are 15 and 16 and want to play in bands,” says Murphy, “and they can see the same thing that we saw when we were 15 and 16 — that bands can do it and they are doing it.”

Sleepless Nights is indeed doing it and soon local music fans will be able to see that for themselves.

WIN TICKETS TO NOVA SCOTIA MUSIC WEEK

Nova Scotia Music Week is coming to Yarmouth Nov. 5-8 and The Vanguard is giving away tickets. For your chance to win a two-ticket package to the gala event, songwriters circle and showcase events, tell us the name of one of the songs from Sleepless Nights’ new EP. Send your answer to info@thevanguard.ca by noon on Friday. The winner will be selected by a draw. Please include your name, phone number and e-mail address.