With a matured perspective and dynamic shift, Central Massachusetts emo band Good Sleepy braves the emotional landscape of lingering and unspoken feelings on CONSTANT HUMMING. The long-awaited new album explores the confusion associated with early adulthood and the battle between growth and regression through an evolved artistic approach.
The band consists of 4 longtime friends, bassist and vocalist Thomas Sullivan, guitarist and vocalist Seth Girard, guitarist Ryan Duggan and drummer Jack Wensky, who have spent the last 5 years since their debut album growing up together and discovering their desired sound. CONSTANT HUMMING presents itself as a heavy-hitting, emotional roller coaster that’s equal parts devastating and exciting. The record also marks the first time that the band has come together to create a cohesive full-length project since high school.
Melodic Magazine sat down with Good Sleepy ahead of CONSTANT HUMMING’s release to talk about the album’s influences, their growth as artists, future plans and more.
CONSTANT HUMMING, your second full-length album, arrives this Friday, February 13. Congratulations on that! What emotions are you all feeling now that you finally get to put out this record that you spent so much time working on?
Jack: We’ve been sitting on it for so long and listening to the tracks over and over again, especially in the recording process, that the nerves haven’t hit me until these 5 days leading up to the release. I’m not fully nervous, but it’s just very exciting.
Thomas: It’s fun when you first record something and we get to listen to it and [say] this is dope and I’m so excited about this. But then you keep listening to it and start questioning everything and it becomes like a weight. I’m excited to let loose and let people hear it and what people have to say about it.
Seth: I’m feeling some some relief too because it’s been so long. It’s just like I wanted to put it out for a really long time and now it’s here.
This is your first album in 5 years since your 2021 debut, everysinglelittlebit. How do you think that Good Sleepy has evolved artistically since the making of that first record?
Seth: Definitely with age. The first album came out when we were 18 and we wrote it largely when we were in our senior year of high school during COVID. A lot of it was written through sending each other GarageBand or Logic files or whatever it was.
Especially because we’re older, we just know more about songwriting and stuff, which is really helpful when writing a full album. Writing together was really good, too. We didn’t get the chance to do that for the first record because of the COVID and stuff so that took some collaboration out of it. I think this one’s a lot more collaborative. We did it together, which is really cool.
This album was fully self-recorded at home in the secluded mountains of central Massachusetts, which I think is really cool. What was that process like for you guys and how did that influence the final result?
Thomas: I think a lot went into it for the DIY recording aspects of it. It was back home, which we haven’t gotten to record something back home in a really long time, so the familiarity of being in that space was good for inspiration and the comfort of it.
The only time we didn’t record in that DIY context was for drums. We were in the studio with our producer Charlie [Burket] who’s great and a close friend, so it all always felt DIY, even during that part of it.
What was the most challenging or rewarding part of working on this record?
Seth: I think it’s a double answer for me. Something that was fun and a little annoying because it made it take a lot longer was just how much time it took because we were fooling around. When you’re doing it DIY there’s no strict deadline. We’re at Thomas’ house in his basement just hanging out, which is like the best because these guys are my best friends, obviously. Being able to be in a band with your best friends and hang out and do whatever, but then also it did take a lot longer than it probably should have [because of] that. We would be fooling around instead of doing what we were supposed to be doing.
Jack: For the timeline of this record, the guitars were recorded almost 2 summers ago in 2024. Then we all went back to school and bass took 3 months because I was twiddling my thumbs. Then vocals took another 4 months and it was a lot.
A lot of CONSTANT HUMMING explores growing pains, emotional backlog, and nostalgia, and other similar themes that are both personal and resonant. What influenced you guys to explore these topics for the album’s message?
Thomas: It’s been a really long time since we got to have that platform to speak about all these feelings that have been happening over the last 4 years. They all just played out as we were writing it. We were originally gonna self-title [the album] and then once everything came together, I think we noticed some more, like, actual themes and direct messages. Everything relates back to each other and I felt like all of the lyrics I’d been writing were just feelings that were backlogged and like a constant humming in my mind for a long time.
Last month you released the final single from the record, “LOOMING,” which reflects on yearning for the comfort of past memories and also has more of an indie rock influence. Can you walk me through the creation of this track and share some insight on its meaning?
Seth: For the riffs and instrumentals, I was trying to write something that could be better matched. Less guitar-focused and more focused on the vocals. I tried to get something that can almost stay in the background while Thomas shines in with his beautiful voice, which is always cool.
Obviously I wanted to throw in some interesting stuff too, especially at the end with the breakdown and get a little weird with it. Get some classic Good Sleepy weird stuff in there. It’s also this new direction that we did a lot more in the record, which is more focused on the vocals and the hooks. I think it makes for a better, catchier, more fun-to-listen-to song.
Jack: For that one Latin drum groove in there, I just found myself listening to a lot of Turnstile when we were writing the drums for this record.
Are there any other influences that people may pick up on as they listen to the album?
Seth: We were all just listening to so much Turnstile, which was one of them obviously. The Story So Far was the other big one. Personally, I was listening to a lot of Arm’s Length at the time. A lot of their stuff is a lot heavier and fun, so I took a lot of influence from that, personally.
Jack: When we started recording the album, we had just gotten back from playing Pug Fest and the headliner was Belmont at the time. That is definitely another influence because we were listening to Liminal that entire summer.
Which track from the album is your favorite and why?
Seth: I think my favorite has gotta be the last song, “INCEPTION.” It’s a little bit longer than the rest of them and it’s got a lot going on. I think it’s super catchy with fun riffs and stuff, but there’s a lot of energy in it, too. A lot of yelling, which I love. That’s my favorite.
Thomas: I think my favorite is “CRISIS AVERTED.” I love how the production came out on that. It’s really dynamic, probably the most dynamic song we’ve ever done. It starts really soft and intimate, and then it ends up just huge.
Jack: I think for me it’s a tie between the intro track, “ALL AT ONCE,” and “DAY2DAY.” Those songs are really good.
What are you most excited for people to experience when they finally get to listen to CONSTANT HUMMING for the first time on Friday?
Seth: I’m excited personally for them to go on the whole journey. There’s a lot going on. A lot of fast parts, a lot of slow parts, good mixture of stuff. It’s really kind of like going on an emotional rollercoaster, essentially.
Thomas: I think that there’s also something for everybody in the album. There’s songs that are almost more happy than stuff we’ve done before and there’s songs that are really chill. There’s songs that are really hard-hitting and in your face. I’m personally excited to see how people receive it. We’ve been playing these songs live for a little bit, not all of them, but a few of them, and now it’s going to be fun for people to know them.
Jack: Jumping off both of their points, this is a very dynamic album and I think people will definitely appreciate that. The last record and the last few EPs have been the same volume, but this one we bring it down, we bring it way up. It’s everywhere in between.
Currently you don’t have any shows or tours coming up, but are we hopeful for that this year? Are there any songs on the record that you guys are excited to hear how they’re perceived live?
Thomas: We got a couple shows planned and some stuff we can’t announce. We’ll be doing an album release show at some point, probably in the spring. Hopefully a tour is in the works too at some point. We’re busy people, but we’re figuring it out.
Seth: We’re writing new stuff, too. I’m really excited for playing more of the songs live and just having people know it. On our full U.S. tour last year, we were throwing in a new song here and there. Obviously no one’s gonna know it because it’s not out yet, but I’m just excited honestly to play all of them.
Anything else exciting that you guys wanna share or anything we’re manifesting for the rest of the year?
Seth: Yeah, definitely more shows, a lot more maybe. Hopefully more touring. Obviously we got some stuff in the works. We want to get out there and also hopefully some new music too. Always good to be dropping stuff.
Good Sleepy never sleeps.
Jack: Yeah, exactly. Keep your eyes peeled on our socials. You’ll see some stuff in the near future.
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