Local Spotlight: Sleep in Fame

by Jeff Kalmbach

It's impossible to go into the men's room at a venue without seeing a Thought Crime sticker. Last year the Oakland band who's sticker campaign would make most ad execs jealous bit the big one. A few months later saw 4/5 of the band billed as Sleep in Fame, a name that came from Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: "And welcome, nephews, from successful wars, You that survive, and you that sleep in fame!"

To bring further meaning to the name, the band litters there website with images of pop icons who "sleep in fame": Elvis, James Dean, Audrey Hepburn. Marilyn Monroe is branded on the bass drum. With a self produced E.P. they played shows with the typical Savage billmates: Domeshots, Forthmorning (October issue), Fingertight, and alike. Fans continued to come out in droves.

It was shortly after this that Columbia recording artists Fingertight disbanded after one full length recording. No one was particularly happy about that. But it wasn't long before there was another restructuring in the Sleep in Fame camp which created an opening in the lead vocalist department. Guitarist Ezekiel Dayton, bassist Dan Kingdon, and drummer Aaron McVeigh brought the former front man for Fingertight, Scott Rose, on board in a move that not only brought joy to the legions of Bay Area rock fans who hungered for more, but has also set the stage for what could become a very successful national act. It seems as though this was the band that should have been all along.

The mischievous stage antics and arena-class charisma of Scott Rose fits so perfectly in front of this powerful rhythm section. Very much in the vain of punk/pop bands like The Used and My Chemical Romance with the occasional post-Tool heaviness, SiF has two songs available for listen on their website www.sleepinfame.com recorded by Damoin Gallegos at Chubb Studios in Oakland.