Sandman Sleeps is an indie rock band that hails from Jensen Beach, Florida. Sandman Sleeps was originally formed by Cristina Peck and her sister Alex Peck as teens, but between moments of occasional separation and togetherness, the band reconvened in 2019, adding drummer Karsten Andersen and guitarist Zack Jones in early 2020.
On Friday Sandman Sleeps released the second single (“Fellini”) off their debut album Crisis Actor (out March 26). “Fellini” follows up the lead single “Portrait of Jennie,” released earlier in 2022.
In writing Fellini, Cristina drew off of her love of Joy Division and New-Wave punk. “Musically, I was heavy into Joy Division during this time and wanted to make something in that New Wave/Punk vein,” says Sandman Sleeps’ vocalist/guitarist Cristina Peck, “I liked the freedom in Joy Division’s music. There’s a lot of room for vocals when the guitar is minimized to playing single notes versus full chords. That is the inspiration for where those single notes came from that I played. It felt rawer than what I’d make on my own, which I loved.”
Despite the fact that Crisis Actor is their debut album, several of the songs on the record were written a decade ago, with Fellini dating back to 2010. When the song was revisited in 2020, several changes were made, but Cristina believes that the power of working with her sister is why these decade-old songs still packed a punch.
“I feel like working on ‘Fellini’ together brought to our attention just the fact that we can jam and write intuitively together,” she says. “When Alex and I write together I always felt this sense of wonderment- like this is moving in a neat direction and I don’t know where it’s going but it feels right. It always felt extremely intuitive and special- I suppose if you can say there is any magic involved in songwriting that’d be the magical part for us. All the sibling telepathy.”
Recording the song with the full band was also a breeze: “The full band took the song where it needed to be with energy drive and mood and we all just kind of nailed it. I think it may have been the easiest song to record.” Even though the track is twelve years old, Cristina says she still feels connected to it, “I can be really critical, especially of older things I write, but surprisingly this one held up- I still love it.”
Listen To Fellini Below:
Sandman Sleeps – Crisis Actor
Tracklisting
1. “Soaked”
2. “Feet”
3. “Opaque”
4. “Fellini“
5. “Induced”
6. “Spiral”
7. “Five Bell Alarm”
8. “Portrait Of Jennie“
9. “Summer Rain”
10. “Rare Cloud”
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