Sleeper Agent was an American band from
Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. Their debut album, ''
Celabrasion'', was released on September 27,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
, following the digital release of the album in August.
''Rolling Stone'' magazine noted the group as a "band to watch" prior to the LP's release.
[Keyes, J. Edward.]
Band to Watch- Sleeper Agent Make Hook-Filled, Hormone-Fueled Garage Rock
. ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''.August 5, 2011.
History
After a few "unremarkable gigs" as a musical duo, guitarist Tony Smith and drummer Justin Wilson recruited the young Alex Kandel as a vocalist after discovering her working as a barista and, "doing
Adele covers on open mic nights." The band gained their current lineup after recruiting Williams, Gardner, and Martin. A short time later they were discovered by producer
Jay Joyce, who prompted them to record their debut LP ''
Celabrasion'',
which was released through
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...
on August 2, 2011, followed by a physical release on September 27 the same year. The first single from the album, "Get It Daddy", was featured as iTunes' "Free Single of the Week" in late July/early August of that year. Sleeper Agent went on to tour with
Cage the Elephant in late 2011. They were invited to play The Weezer Cruise in January 2012 pairing them with musical acts such as
Dinosaur Jr.
Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.
The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...
,
Sebadoh, and
Wavves.Sleeper Agent went on to support
Fun. from February 29 through March 11 of 2012. Their tour continued through early May with the Texas wunderkind
Ben Kweller
Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations.
Early life
Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...
. The band was featured on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon.[ About pag ...](_blank)
on March 23, 2012. Sleeper Agent played the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...
in Indio, Calif., on April 15 and 22, 2012. They also played
The Hangout Music Festival in late May of the same year. After a few intermittent shows throughout June and July the band played
Forecastle Festival in Louisville, Kentucky and then opened for
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...
at two shows in late July. Sleeper Agent also played Starry Nights Music Festival (hosted by
Cage the Elephant) outside of Bowling Green, in late September 2012. That same month, singer Alex Kandel was nominated for the Women who Rock competition for a spot on the cover of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''.
The band appeared on Doug Benson's podcast "Doug Loves Movies", with guest Graham Elwood.
Their second album "About Last Night" was released on March 25, 2014.
After the band toured their way through 2014 even playing on The Late Show With David Letterman on July 9, 2014 and had set up tour dates in early 2014 with the band New Politics. The band had become inactive on social media and Sleeper Agent had not played any shows for the majority of 2015 with the only news to come out from the members was news of side projects and Alex Kandel being a possible contestant for the show The Voice, although she had once tweeted about the band possibly having new material back in May 2015.
On September 29, 2015 Tony Smith had posted a picture of the band on Sleeper Agents Facebook and Twitter reading "2010-2015". Tony had posted with the picture "The 5 best years of my life... so far." - Lurve, @tnysmth". He had also stated in another post on Twitter "Cat's officially out of the bag. Sleeper Agent aren't together anymore. There's no bad blood and we're all still friends. #neversaynever" officially stating that the band had broken up. Finally Alex stated as well that the band "hit this plateau and we decided to part ways and try other things." She talked about the band in the past tense and said her time in Sleeper Agent is over.
As of September 29, 2015, Alex had appeared on NBC's The Voice as a contestant choosing to work with Gwen Stefani.
Musical style and influences
The band's official
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
profile lists a number of bands as their influences, including
The Pixies
Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...
,
The Black Lips,
Foxy Shazam, and
Cage the Elephant, the latter being another part of the growing Bowling Green, Kentucky music scene and close friends with the band. Rolling Stone described the band as "Shaggy Kentucky kids whose songs are sweet, fizzy and combustible as a can of shook soda." "They are the best people on earth," states Matt Shultz of Cage the Elephant.
The band's spontaneous, energetic sound can be traced to an incident at a
Fourth of July party, when drummer Justin Wilson was
sucker punched by the drummer of a rival band, inspiring Wilson to channel aggression and his punk attitude into his playing.
Band members
*Alex Kandel - vocals (born October 17, 1992)
She took part in
season 9 of the American talent competition ''
The Voice''. She auditioned with "
Bright
Bright may refer to:
Common meanings
*Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness
*Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence
People
* Bright (surname)
*Bright (given name)
*Bright, the stage nam ...
" from
Echosmith and became part of "Team Gwen" (
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...
). She was eliminated in the Battles Round on October 13, 2015 after singing "
It's My Life" against Team Gwen contestant Kota Wade
*Tony Smith - guitar & vocals
*Justin Wilson - drums
*Lee Williams - bass
*Scott Gardner - keyboard & synth
*Josh Martin - lead guitar
Discography
Studio albums
*''
Celabrasion'' (2011)
*''About Last Night'' (2014)
Extended plays
*''InterroBANG!?'' (EP) (2010)
References
{{Authority control
Alternative rock groups from Kentucky
RCA Records artists
2009 establishments in Kentucky
Musical groups established in 2009
Musical groups disestablished in 2015
Mom + Pop Music artists