| 1. Besides Louise Wener, who are the other band members? |
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Ah yes, the Sleeperblokes! There's Jon Stewart, lead guitarist. he co-wrote a lot of Sleeper's older songs. He's a complete rock n'roll star, by the way :)
Andy Maclure, the drummer (and sometimes guitarist and keyboard), co-write songs with Louise since "The it Girl". he's completely crazy in concert, by the way. Diid Osman, ex-bassist, is half-somalian. he's very tall, by the way. Dan Kaufmann is the new Sleeper bassist. not much is known about him, he's not from any previous bands or anything. I'm guessing he answered the music ad and was chosen. Sleeper, when on tour and recording, actually has two (now three) extra members. They are John Green, the keyboardist, and Justin Parker, the rhythm guitar. Justin takes place of Louise, who used to play guitar on tour prior to "The it Girl". Extra guitarist Stuart Copestake replaced Justin Parker on the "Pleased to Meet You" tour. I have no information on Copestake except he's probably a session musician much like Parker or Green. And finally Chris Giammalvo joined Sleeper for a few seconds for the recording of "Pleased to Meet You" and on tour. Jon is a big fan of Madder Rose, by the way. For pictures of what these people look like, check out the lineup section. |
| 2. What is Surrender Dorothy? |
That was the trade name of Sleeper before they were signed to Indolent Records. Previous written articles about Sleeper confused that to be the name of a totally different band that Louise Wener was in. But with the Dec '96 Select article, it set everything straight.
This quote by Jon Stewart was derived from that interview which really explained everything neatly: "Believe it or not, there were four other bands in Britain called Surrender Dorothy. It comes from that bit in The Wizard of Oz when the witch paints it on the sky with her broomstick. You're sitting there stoned out of your head, trying to think of a name. Judy Garland's just been chased by the monkeys and you're really monged, and suddenly, this amazing phrase appears before you. It obviously happens all over the world, because there were about a dozen Surrender Dorothys in America. After we binned that name, we had a long list... As soon as Lou came up with Sleeper that was it. It had another film connection, and it could mean a lot of different things. Plus, it had lots of Es in it. Es are good... in a band name, at least."
Here are two pictures of Surrender Dorothy:
 
images from Select (Dec 96) |
| 3. Where did the name "Sleeper" come from? |
It's a 1973 Woody Allen film. The plot summary found at the Internet Movie Database (written by John Vogel):
"A saxophone player who also runs a health food store is frozen and brought back in the future by anti-government radicals in order to assist them in their attempts to overthrow an oppressive government. When he goes off on his own, he begins to explore this brave new world that has Orgasmatron booths to replace sex and confessional robots." In an interesting allusion: "Orgasmatron" is sort of like a masturbation tool for sex in the future, ermmmm Louise !
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| 4. Where does the title to each album come from? |
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The 'Smart' title came from "Inbetweener" which described the character "she's not too smart". But ironically the album is very 'smart'.
'The it Girl' is a line from "Lie Detector", which goes "she's got green eyes and she's lovely/reminds me of the 'it' girl with her lips". What is the 'it' girl ? Louise explains it (from the Arista press release): "It's an American phrase which dates back to the 1920s, when Clara Bow was the first it Girl, and it sort of carried through to the '40s, when Betty Grable was the it Girl, the '50s, the '60s, there was always a different one." [perhaps Louise is the it Girl of the '90s?] 'Pleased to Meet You' is yet another line from a song off the same album. This one comes from "Rollercoaster" which the first line goes, "Pleased to meet you Mr. Morgan/How you feeling today?" It's very seductive and describes the album quite well, we are re-introduced to a kinder-gentlier Sleeper. |
| 5. Sleeper has an awful lot of singles for a band with only three albums? |
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I thought I'd put this in because a lot of people have commented to me that they have a LOT of singles... then I refer them to my Morrissey/Smiths collection (which is pretty sizable- but not complete) and it usually justify Sleeper !
Well not counting promos and pre-Smart EPs (like Bucket and Spades and Alice EP), Sleeper have released (so far) 8 singles. If you think about it, that's an average of three singles per album. Looking at Radiohead UK singles, you see they've released about four singles per album! I think it's safe to say that even Oasis release more singles than Sleeper. On a side note, being in the USA releasing that much singles per album is scary (except in the case of Alanis Morrissette) because this is not a country that buys singles. |
| 6. Why were the tracklisting mixed up (and "Glue Ears" left off) on the US release of "The it Girl"? |
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No one really knows.
But here's my guess: its really a marketing ploy. Fans who have already bought the album on import can look forward to buying the album domestically with new pictures and tracklisting (and vice-versa for UK fans).
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| 7. Is it just me or does anyone else think that Smart was desperately poor? |
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I did not make up that question !
While everyone has their own opinions on what is good and what is poor. You must understand that each of the Sleeper album are really unique and different in sounds. This is mostly because of creative inputs.
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| 8. Is there another band with the name Sleeper? |
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Yes. There is punk band in America that released an album on Excursion Records called "Prepare for Tomorrow's Breakdown" which most online music store erroneously grouped together with our Sleeper.
I have seen another band with the same name, Sleeper, on a Seattle record label, but that is a long time ago. It was a 7" record with a house on the cover. Apparently, Sleeper's people paid off the American Sleeper band lots of money. It's a good thing, otherwise, Sleeper would probably be known as Sleeper UK! |
| 9. What is this Blur connection? |
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1. Well, back in the day, Sleeper used to support Blur on their tour through the UK. Blur stole some music from Sleeper and used it on their "Great Escape" CD. This information are available in several sources, some being Select Magazine and Goldmine. Here is the quote from Select: "After cocking an ear to Sleeper's intro tape - excerpts from the soundtrack to The Great Escape - Damon would wander over to dispense advice 'You lot shouldn't be so friendly with your crew'"
2. Sleeper's producer happens to be Stephen Street who have produced Blur's last couple of albums. Stephen Street thinks that Jon Stewart is one of the best guitarist he's worked with. Here's the quote from Q Magazine (May 96): "Jon Stewart's one of the best guitarists around- and I've worked with some good ones." 3. Graham Coxon (of Blur) played on Sleeper's fifth single, Vegas, under his pseudonym Morgan C. Hoax from Doof [Food] Records. Andy Maclure said that Blur really liked Sleeper. 4. As a joke, Andy Maclure made up a song and played it live on their KROQ radio interview, called "Going down the dogs with Blur". 5. One of Sleeper's song on the new album made reference to Blur with the lines "Hello work life, farewell parklife"
This really isn't a frequently asked question, but I thought the Blur connection is pretty interesting.
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| 10. Why are exclusive songs only on those ancient vinyl? |
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According to Maclure "it's for the fans."
If you don't have a record player, you are missing out on some cool tracks! And not to mention some exclusive covers on many of the 7". Exclusive songs on vinyl only:
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| 11. How come Sleeper stop putting etchings on their records? |
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From Jon Stewart (off of The it Zine #3):
"The etchings are made at the 'cut' of a single, and are written onto the vinyl master disc from which all other singles are pressed. "They were great fun to do when we put out our first records and we often had long and involved discussions about which singles should say which things.... "Then gradually, as your band makes progress and maybe has a hit (yippee!) and goes on to make more and more records, the novelty of being at the cut of every single wears off.... So to go to every cut for every single just wasn't practical. We would ask the record company to put etchings on for us at the cut but they would forget, or mess it up, so we stopped altogether." There you have it! Some vinyl etchings I have:
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| 14. What year was when Louise Wener born ? |
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A lot of earlier magazines, Louise Wener would not reveal her real age, or at least lie about it. This magazine below makes her birthdate in 1967. Here is a quote from Select - December 1996
This one makes her 1970. (from Volume - Aug 94):
According to CDNOW, she's born in 1966
Answer: I believe she was born in 1967. In two really good interviews, the Koolmag and on Select (Dec 96), she's quoted. Plus, I personally think Select (Dec 96) is the bible of all things Sleeper. The article cronicles the band's early days as well as what was current in 1996. A good read. I'll transcribe it one day. I'll even update the year thing.
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| 15. How do I contact Louise Wener? |
This is an unofficial Sleeper website. I am not affiliated (or do I have access) with Indolent, Arista, BMG, or Louise Wener. There are several ways of contacting Louise:
Please understand that replies are not guaranteed. |
| 16. Where can I get more information on Sleeper? |
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This website isn't enough ?? Just kidding.
You can try the Sleeper discussion list
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