The Sleeping Revolt

North Jersey has recently become the epicenter for great indie/alternative music. In keeping with this attribute, a five piece local band out of Wayne, NJ, are making vast strides towards the mainstream level. To help promote the release of their new CD, Nightmares, The Sleeping Revolt will be holding a CD release party on April 21st at Maxwell's in Hoboken. This will be the band's first release since 2006.

The Sleeping Revolt feature Chris Ricci (vocals), Brian Neil (guitar/vocals), Ian Stafford (guitar/vocals), Andy Bookstaver (bass/vocals), and Mike Scardino (drums). Since their formation in 2004, the band has seen the release of three previous albums. In 2004 their first LP, The Conscious Spin, created a definite buzz which increased their fanbase and was enough to inspire a following EP, Random Acts of Silence.

After the success of their second album, the band was signed to Jacknife Records. Upon joining Jacknife, the band produced their Indie Label EP release in 2006 called III. Recently, the band parted ways with Jacknife and they're now independtly releasing the seven-track EP, Nightmares, on April 21st at their CD Release party. Their new sounds along with a raucous crows should make for a very exciting night.

- Rich Mendez - East Coast Rocker Magazine (The Aquarian)

The Sleeping Revolt: you may have seen them play at the Pub this past week, or perhaps at a local party. So who are these guys? Where did the come from? Lead singer, Chris Ricci, took a few moments after their show at the Pub to tell the band's story.

The formation, Ricci said, began when he and Brian Neil, guitarist, finally had the opportunity to get together and write some music. For years, the two admired each other's musical talents, but had been in different bands. Their opportunity to collaborate came when, coincidentally, their respective bands broke up around the same time.

"We would get together every Thursday night with, no lie, a case of beer and a bottle of jack," Ricci said. "We would listen back to the stuff the following morning and, although most of it was drunken shit, we found a few really great things to work with."

After a few weeks, the two had some raw material they were sure could be great songs. It was time to find other musicians they could continue to write their music with. "I called on my bass player in my old band…one of my best friends, Mike Threlfall," Ricci explained. As for a second guitar player, Neil invited his friend John Rohrbeck to play.

The last thing the band needed was a drummer.

One night, the band heard about the music store Guitar Center having a drum-off. "We go there to meet this dude that answered one of our ads," Ricci explained. "Turns out this dude was like 40 years old, so needless to say, that was a no-go."
But the night at Guitar Center wasn't entirely a waste. "As we're ready to leave, we hear this kid beating the shit out of the drums--Matt Taylor."

The coalescent band didn't hesitate approaching the talented drummer. "You want to be in a band?"

No questions asked, Taylor said, "Sure."

With everything in place, the band now needed a name. "I had a song that I called, 'The Sleeping Revolt,'" Ricci said, explaining that it wasn't one of their best. The band ultimately decided to ditch the song, but thought the name was good enough to keep as the band name.

And so was the beginning of The Sleeping Revolt.

The band went to work, putting together a ten song effort, which Ricci described as "confused" and "not well-thought-out." Despite the band's minor disappointment with their recordings, they managed to interest a few audience members. Gaining a few fans was enough to spur them into the creation of another record.

This time the band knew they had to either get serious or give it up. Most of the band was ready to take it up a notch, but Rohrbeck wasn't so sure. Playing the guitar was a passion, but he was also pursuing a teaching career in the band's off-time. When the off-time became less and less, Rohrbeck couldn't dedicate himself to both the band and his budding career, and so he and the band said their goodbyes.
Then came Ian Stanford, "one of the most creative players I've known to date," Ricci said.

"For the first time, no disrespect to [Rohrbeck], things started to click," Ricci added. The band began work on their second recording effort, "Random Acts of Silence." "We didn't have the money to go into a big studio and record it," Ricci recalled, so he and the band decided to invest in some of their own recording equipment and do the project themselves.

Ricci confessed that out of the six songs, three were great and the other three mediocre. "We were starting to find our sound though, due in part to the fact that we weren't getting shit-faced every night."

About 6 months later, the band decided to put together an EP. "It was the best three songs we had recorded so far," Ricci said. "We pressed it for really cheap and went back out to play a ton more shows." The EP was called "III."

After the production of "III," the band noticed their audiences getting larger-more people were enjoying their music and buying their CDs. And so, they began playing the local circuit more and more. "It started to get a little tough to balance our careers and our music," the band members commented
Just as the band tasted this little bit of success, they faced yet another turbulent time. Threlfall decided to call it quits and went on to work in finance. "He was one of the main song-writers, so when he went, it was a bit of an adjustment to say the least," Ricci said.

Seeing their friend and songwriter leave was the beginning of the band's troubles as they not only lost a band member, but a practice space as well. The band, until then, had been practicing in the basement of an RV dealership owned by Threlfall's father.

"Try finding a monthly practice space in NJ, its like looking for a leprechaun. They don't exist." The band faced growing popularity with nowhere to practice and nowhere to work on new material. With Threlfall gone, the band was missing a bass player, and Taylor announced that he would also be leaving the band after the tour. Times were looking grim for the group.
Many bass players auditioned, but - The Vector "The Voice of NJIT"