Editor’s Note: It was a year where Minneapolis, Minnesota’s own Sleep Signals took that next step. They rocked the Northern Invasion stage with Soundgarden and other bands, only to learn that several days later that Chris Cornell took his own life. They logged thousands of miles, played in 22 states, and shot a popular video for “Suit & Tie Suicide” at Northern Invasion in Somerset, Wisconsin. 2018 is going to shape up to be an even bigger year and Robert Cosgrove, vocalist of Sleep Signals, sat down with Madness To Creation for this fun conversation!
Madness To Creation: How has The High Tides Tour been going?
Robert: The High Tides Tour was great! We made a lot of great new friends, played some new markets, and even got in some beach time! We wrapped up 40 days on the road, over 8,000 miles, and 22 states with this tour. We’ll be home for a couple months before we head back out on the road in March!
MTC: Craziest memory while onstage?
Robert: The craziest moments on this tour typically seemed to happen right after we were on stage. Our two New York dates seemed to take the cake for this tour. In Syracuse, we had a 50-something year old woman get beyond hammered and pick a fight with the club. She eventually took her pants off and refused to get up off the floor, so the club had to call the police. The night ended with one of the female bar tenders body-slamming the woman onto the ground and dragging her out by her hair after she became really violent with the bar tenders. It was pretty nuts. The next night in Rochester, an all-out brawl escalated after the show as we were loading out our equipment. Someone behind the bar pulled a can of mace and began spraying everyone indiscriminately. Four or five of the people who got maced came into the back area where we were loading out and we got a nice dose of it from their clothes. Upstate New York gets a little rowdy.
MTC: Tell us about the music video for “Suit & Tie Suicide”, what’s the message behind the song and how was the Northern Invasion experience?
Robert: We shot the live music video for “Suit & Tie Suicide” at Northern Invasion, which takes place in May in Somerset, WI. It was an awesome experience for us. We played early but still had a great crowd. We hung around the rest of the day and met a lot of new people, so it was great to be able to watch the other bands from the crowd with our fans! “Suit & Tie Suicide” is kind of our “rebellious” anthem. We all forfeit so much of what we love in pursuit of the 9-5 daily grind. The song is about finding the balance in life. It’s about not working your life away. It’s about waking up and realizing that our lives are short and before we know it, we’re too old or sick or busy to do the things that truly make us happy.
“Suit & Tie Suicide” by Sleep Signals here
MTC: How sobering was it that you shared the stage with Soundgarden on one of Chris Cornell’s very last performances?
Robert: It was a crazy experience. I grew up on Soundgarden and always loved Chris Cornell. We were side-stage for a lot of the other bands that we played with, but our passes weren’t good for Soundgarden unfortunately, so we were super bummed about that. It was still incredible to hear them perform all of those songs I grew up on. It was a huge shock a couple days later when we heard the news of his passing, especially knowing we had just seen him a couple days prior. It was a sad day for rock music.
MTC: Tell us about the At the End of the World EP, it was released in September, what can fans expect from the EP and the Sleep Signals sound?
Robert: We recorded the new EP in Memphis, TN with Justin Rimer (Saving Abel, 12 Stones, Wayland) at Cross Trax Studios. It was a great experience and we all grew as musicians. We really developed “our sound” with this record and I think it shows when you listen to it. We wanted to bring a lot of energy and a good mix of emotions. The big surprise for us has been how well the song “Welcome to the Masquerade” has done. People have been really receptive of the entire album, but people really tend to dig that particular song a lot.
“Welcome To The Masquerade” here
MTC: Fun Question: Five favorite songs that you have written.
Robert: In no particular order, I would have to say “I’ll Save You”, “Means”, “Transitions”, “The Harbinger”, “Edge of My Sanity”
MTC: Fun Question: I give you $100 and you can go to any restaurant in the world and order anything you want, what do you pick and what do you order?
Robert: I can’t speak for anyone else on this, but if I have to spend the whole $100, I would have to hit a super legit sushi place. I have a few favorites that I really only get to have while we’re on tour though because of what region of the country we’re in. I’m always on the hunt for horchata, so any time we’re in the southwest, I’m jumping all over it. The gulf area is always awesome when we’re there for crawfish season. Kansas City and North Carolina have amazing barbecue that we’re always after.
MTC: What is in store for Sleep Signals for 2018?
Robert: We’re looking to make 2018 a big year for Sleep Signals. We’re home for a short time at the beginning of the year, but then we’ll be out on the road touring as much as possible. Between tours, I’m sure we’ll be working on some new material to put out late in the year or in 2019.
MTC: Anything else you would like to add, where people can find you and message to the fans?
Robert: You can find us on all of the social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube) and all of the online music retailers (Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, etc), so follow us and check out our music! We tour as much as possible and we would LOVE to meet you when we come through your area, so follow our tour schedule and please feel free to come up and talk to us! We love meeting new people and making friends that we see every time we come back to the area!
MTC: Thank you for your time to interview with me for Madness To Creation!
Robert: Thanks so much for having us!
And there you have it! Special thanks to Shauna and Robert for setting this up! Find Sleep Signals at the following locations:
On Saturday, January 6th, Sleep Signals will be performing at The 9th Planet Out’s “The 9th Planet Out” Album Release Show at Pure Rock Studios of Rochester in Rochester, Minnesota. The bill includes The 9th Planet Out, Sleep Signals, Smiling Politely, and Local Sports. For tickets and further information to the show, click here!
Check out Sleep Signals latest music video for “Drive” featuring Marty McCoy of Bobaflex here!
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