Growing up in New Jersey, Adam Mink and Nick Gardyasz met and formed a band when they were young. Fast forward to high school, the band broke up and they were ready to start a new endeavor. Adam met Nick Marcinko, a drummer, Gardyasz stepped up as their lead singer, Marciko’s brother, Evan, played bass, Adam played guitar and after some jamming, Sleep House was born in 2016. Most recently the guys released their EP “High Tide” in 2020 and single “Funny, Funny” in 2021.
Molly McShane: How do you think you’ve grown as a band from the beginning to now, with “Funny, Funny” and the rest of the new EP?
Nick Gardyasz: Our first EP, we were still learning to use all the equipment and all that. But now, we just feel like we really got a handle on things. I think we really just progressed, even being producers working in the studio, making sure our songs sound as good as we want them to be.
M.M: So, “Funny, Funny,” the most recent release, tell me a little bit about the writing process, recording process, everything “Funny, Funny.”
Adam Mink: Around spring time of last year we were starting to gear up to say, ‘Alright, what do we want to do now that we’re done with “High Tide.”’ We had a lot of ideas and we took a trip to Florida. We said, ‘Let’s get serious’ and started throwing ideas around and working a lot while away. I had this one guitar part that we just kept trying to work on and we left with all of these ideas. We came home and everything just kinda formed. “Funny, Funny” came pretty quick[ly]. I think it’s just a good response to everything. We released “High Tide” during COVID but it wasn’t really a sign of the times, they were songs written before COVID. These songs now are kind of more responses to our lives during COVID. So it’s kind of nice to be able to talk about what’s been going on recently.
M.M: Who would you say, for the newer stuff, is your inspiration? Is there any music you’ve been listening to a lot that’s been inspiring?
N.M: For me it’s Fishmans, they’re this Japanese band. It’s been so long since I hardcore loved a band. They got me inspired again to make music and it happened at the right time for when we were in Florida. I even sampled them on “Funny, Funny,” which is pretty crazy, but they were probably my biggest inspiration besides Tame Impala, obviously, that’s the drum sound you always want, you know.
A.M: I would say John Mayer is always an inspiration for everything. I literally took the chords, [from] his song “Clarity” on “Heavier Things.” It’s pretty much those chords and I was just playing around with them. So John Mayer always has DNA in pretty much everything that we create I feel like.
NG: I would probably say the new Hippo Campus record. I mean every time they release new music it just like inspires me completely so, I’d say definitely them.
AM: Even though we’re in the middle of working on a record now, we still get influenced by stuff that comes out or like we find stuff that comes out during the record[ing] process and we still add stuff to it and it just builds.
NM: It really doesn’t stop until it’s ready to be released honestly.
MM: I remember with “High Tide” listening to parts of [the record] when you were recording and when they actually came out how different they sounded.
AM: Yeah, that definitely happens with pretty much every song that we demo.
NM: They just evolve.
MM: I know you guys love performing, whether it’s Alt 104.5 or one of your house shows, what has been the craziest or most memorable show so far?
NM: I would say pre-COVID definitely when we toured like our junior year [of high school] like Georgia and Florida.
**Evan joins the call***
NM: Evan the question is, what is your most memorable performance we’ve done.
Evan Marcinko: Ever? I guess that first show back was pretty good, it was the first show back.
AM: Yeah, the house show.
EM: Seeing all those people and it was fun to be back up there. Either that one or the Palace I’d probably say.
NM: I’d say The Palace. I remember we posted a video of us playing “Skydiving” there and I just — I remember at the last part looking at everyone going crazy. I could tell we were all feeling the same way…What about you guys?
NG: I was gonna say pre-COVID, the first thing to come to mind is Tracadoro (a former Philadelphia venue). It was kind of a while ago but that was one of our first shows that we felt like rockstars. We heard the crowd screaming through our ears and we were like wow.
MM: What about you Adam?
AM: I’d have to say, off [what] Nick was saying earlier, we played a show in Florida when we were young and it was crazy because there were people who knew a lot of the words. Just the fact that people in another state so far away from here knew our songs and we were that young at the time. We were like 17, that was a crazy feeling. Like I never thought I would have that feeling. So that was pretty cool.
The guys are in the studio every week recording and preparing for the new EP Nick Marcinko says, “High Tide” we definitely reached a level with. It was easy with three songs but we have a little bit more than that this time around.” Adam added, ” The most satisfying release for sure,” For updates on new music and upcoming shows follow Sleep House on Instagram @sleephouse.
Molly McShane is a fourth year media and culture major with a journalism minor.