Don’t Sleep are preparing to release their sophomore album, ‘See Change.’ The 9-track LP was co-produced by the Grammy-nominated team of Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland (August Burns Red, Silverstein) and will be out on June 2nd via End Hits Records.
The band, made up of Dave Smalley (Dag Nasty, All, Down By Law, DYS) on vocals, bassist Garrett Rothman (Junction), drummer Jim Bedorf, and guitarists Tom McGrath (Very Americans) and Tony Bavaria (The Commercials, Very Americans), has released the second single ‘Dead On The Inside,’ along with a music video, featuring skateboarders Quinn Harbin, Crawford Ward, and Zander Garneu.
Of the track, Smalley says: “I have had a recurring dream, both in sleep and awake, where I am a hawk or other bird, flying and looking down on the fields and streams and gliding on the wind. A continuation of that has been one where I am soaring through space like the Silver Surfer, passing stars and comets and nebulas. That feeling of freedom, of being away from the problems of life. Wouldn’t that be great? I sort of incorporated that vision into this song, and the idea of gliding on the wind or through space, contrasted with the reality of day-to-day struggles that make us feel dead on the inside, sometimes – that juxtaposition of light and dark, of elation and despair, that makes us all human beings. A beautiful sadness, as one friend puts it.”
He adds: “To the old school guys, that connection between hardcore and punk and skateboarding was so clear, like lightning in a dark sky. Music and skating were true freedom and independence. Both were risk-taking and about not being afraid to fall. No one would ever make fun of you if you ate it or sucked, because at least you were trying to express yourself, and express your soul. They were symbiotically connected – it was perfect. It still is perfect. Seeing these skaters in this video is pure. It’s real. It Is. Seeing it makes you soar.”