The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep is a Brooklyn, United States alt-rock group active since around 2003. The line-up is centred on Sonya Balchandani and Danny Barria, with Gabe on drums in the band’s early trio formation. The group also includes Balchandani and Barria as its current members.

Background

The band begins in Brooklyn, where Balchandani and Barria start making demos together in 2000, working initially from Barria’s kitchen. Their early material leans towards shoegaze and appears on the You Today, Me Tomorrow EP before the group develops a broader sound that combines indie rock, post-rock, progressive rock and shoegaze elements.

As the project develops into a trio, the band records a debut album, Son of the Tiger, which appears in 2006. A follow-up, Sleep Forever, follows in 2008. After a quieter period, the group continues with Nature Experiments, an album that reflects a more collaborative writing process and greater use of GarageBand by Balchandani.

Recorded work

Nature Experiments includes songs such as “Ace”, “Meet Your Maker”, “Valentine”, “Ghosts In Bodies”, “Ladders”, “1001” and “Wood on the Water”. The album is described through its mix of restless rhythms, choppy power chords, heavy vocals, blown-out beats, synthesiser textures and slower psych-influenced passages.

Writing and sound

The Big Sleep’s writing is built around the collaboration between Balchandani and Barria. Their process includes working separately and then meeting with acoustic guitar and keyboard to refine songs. The group’s sound shifts from early loose shoegaze into more tightly structured guitar-driven material, with instrumentals and hook-led songs becoming more prominent across later releases.