I've always been a fan of Sleeping At Last, for they play such inspiring music. Here is an interview i did with all three members by email.

To start things, maybe you could introduce yourselves? What is your position in the band?

RYAN: Hello, my name is Ryan O'Neal and I sing, play guitar and piano.
CHAD: Hi, I'm Chad O'Neal and I play the Drums.
DAN: My name is Dan Perdue and I play bass guitar and keyboards.

How long have you been doing music together?

RYAN: We've been together for around 8 years now, but we started more seriously focusing on it as a career about 5 years ago or so.

So it was just the three of you all the way?

RYAN: We started out as a quartet, but a member of the band left to pursue other things, and we ended up really loving being a three-piece, so we decided to keep it that way ever since.

Your first record was Ghosts, released by Interscope Records in 2003. I know it's not fresh news, but Billy Corgan played a huge part in that signing. Would you tell us a bit about that story, and your interactions with the Pumpkins' frontman ? I believe he helped you understand the music business and shape your sound?

RYAN: Yeah, we're grateful to have had the chance to work with Billy early on in our career. We met him randomly at a show we played in Chicago, he happened to be visiting a few friend's at the venue and so when we saw him backstage, we asked if he wouldn't mind us giving him a copy of our latest record at the time.. he was kind enough to take it, and I guess he listened to it the next morning and gave us a call and asked us if we'd be interested in working together. Of course we said "Yes, please!" and since then, he became a HUGE help in teaching us about how the music industry operates. He also made a big difference in our career by encouraging us in what we're doing. It was a huge blessing to us! And when people found out he was working with us, that made a lot of labels take notice and begin conversations with us, which eventually lead to us working with Interscope Records.

But then, why did you left Interscope?

RYAN: Interscope did a lot of really great things for us, but overall, in the end, we felt like having our independence back would be the best thing for us and our lives, and it didn't take very long after to realize that being on our own was exactly where we should be. It's been a few years now and we couldn't be happier with our position. We've had a lot of conversations with labels since, but still feel strongly that now is the best time to be independent for us. It's been really wonderful!

Are you still in touch with Corgan?

RYAN: We lost touch with him, as he became progressively more and more busy with his music projects.

I guess that being on your own goes for more freedom and artistic liberty?

RYAN: Yeah, it feels really great to things without the waiting and discussing that comes along with being on a label.. there's A LOT of waiting to hear back about different things. Artistically, Interscope was really wonderful to us.. they let us do exactly what we wanted to do.. we had creative control, which was a blessing.. but no matter what, there's always a sense of pressure with being on a label.. at least that's how I felt.. so being on our own has helped us to remember that music is fun! It's what we're passionate about.

How much is your faith intertwined with your music?

RYAN: Our faith is an important part of our lives, so it definitely finds it's way into our music. We've always aimed to create music that means a lot to us and is as honest as possible, so our faith has naturally taken the shape of hope in our songs.

I'm fond of poetry and there is plenty of it in each of your songs. Where does your inspiration comes from?

RYAN: Thank you very much! Well, when I write, I treat it all sort of like anaudio-journal of some sort.. I write about what I think, what I believe.. and I sort of process my feelings through my writing, so just like a journal.. it's the craft of sorting things out on paper, what is messy in my head.

Like every poems, it can be hard to grasp the meaning of it. The following lines are as beautiful as they are cryptic : "We are X-rays of something broken", "Only with careful hands We'll divide the prisoner From the pioneer", "Why is it impossible now To trace every echo Back to its birth?"... could you help us a bit by explaining them?

RYAN: Thanks for saying that some of the lines are beautiful, that means a lot to me. I definitely do a lot of writing using images.. images mean a lot to me, so it becomes my way of explaining myself in the songs sometimes. As an example.. the lines "We are X-rays of something broken", "Only with careful hands We'll divide the prisoner From the pioneer", is about how we are born into broken families and terrible habits that may not be healthy.. or fair.. and it's our choice to re-arrange our blood-lines.. no matter how tough it is, to choose to do things right. So yeah, the songs mean something very, very specific to me, but ultimately I want the songs to take on different meanings to anyone that cares to listen. I want the songs to be able to be interpreted in listener's own way too.

So this is all concerning the themes. The albums i have from you, Ghosts and Keep No Score, are two very solid records. How did you come with the idea of adding all the strings ? It adds so much to the whole feel...

RYAN: Thanks a lot! We just LOVE strings.. and when we worked on Ghosts, we finally had the funds to be able to look into adding such a thing to our songs.. which lead us to our relationship with Susan Voelz who helps translate our string arrangements into full-working pieces, as well as plays violin on each record, and coordinated the other players. She's amazing and we LOVE working with her.. So yeah, we're just suckers for strings, so it felt right to write them into our songs.

Your 2nd album, Ghosts, had a lot of songs with distorded guitars, whereas Keep No Score as only a couple. Could I anticipate the return of the heavy
guitars on your future album?

RYAN: You never know.. but our hope is to have our music always progressing.. and the music that we listen to, always influences that progression, so I would say at this point, we're more excited about quieter music, as well as sweeping, more epic music too. We never really set out to take away or add instruments.. as we make our records, we see what makes sense to give it our best to go along with everything as it comes.

What artists have influenced you the most?

DAN: I grew up listening to the Beatles like crazy. And then I got really into Radiohead, U2 and Sunny Day Real Estate. We all have pretty similar influences I guess.
RYAN: Some early influences were Radiohead & Sunny Day Real Estate. I also very much love Bjork.. and over the last few years I've been really inspired by Billie Holiday and other artists from that time-period.. I love Nat King Cole, Nina Simone.. all of which have inspired me greatly! And more recently, Joanna Newsom.. & Wilco.. and i'm sure lots more that I can't think of..
CHAD: Lately I've been really inspired by Wilco's drummer, Glen.

And the one you'd give everything to tour with?

RYAN: Wow, good question.. tough, but good! Maybe Radiohead? or.. Wilco! There's a lot of bands that we'd LOVE to tour with...
CHAD: Yeah, maybe Radiohead.. Coldplay.. the Fray..
DAN: I'm a big fan of Arcade Fire, so I think it would be great to tour with them.

People usually say that being in a band is like being part of a new family. How true is it with Sleeping At Last?

DAN: Yeah for me it really has been like joining a new family. It's been really great and I'm really thankful to have been able to join such a great family.
RYAN: Completely! Well, in our case, we are family! Chad is my brother (by blood) and Dan is like my brother. My Mom is our manager and everyone in our "group" that helps, is either a wife, girlfriend, close friend or relative. Being in a band has definitely enhanced our relationships together.. it's been a really great thing for us. I'm very thankful to be surrounded by such awesome people.

Who is Geoff Benzing?

RYAN: Geoff is an INCREDIBLE painter from Kansas. We met him through my girlfriend's friend.. who is his brother.. and asked him to do our album artwork immediately after seeing his paintings. He is truly my favorite artist of all time. He painted the cover art for our "keep no score" album, as well as all of the paintings seen on our current website. You can see more of his work on his site.. which is: www.benzingart.com

I assume you're in the process of writing new material?

RYAN: Yes! We are hard at work, writing new songs for a future record which will be recorded later next year. Can't wait! So far, it's been going so well and we've been having a really wonderful time being back into the process.

Any chance of seing you in France soon?

RYAN: We'd sure love to visit as soon as possible! We've never visited and would absolutely love to.

A final word that you would like to say to your fans?

RYAN: Thank you so much for reading! I hope that your day today is beautiful.
CHAD: Yeah, thanks for reading our interview and we hope to see you soon!