Sleep Token Canonical Interviews & Speeches

A collected archive of officially released interviews, speeches, and spoken material from Sleep Token and Vessel, presented in (what I believe is) chronological order.

Metal Hammer Interview (2017)

Published May 19, 2017
By Luke Morton, Metal Hammer

“Who and what the hell are Sleep Token?”

The anonymous collective known as Sleep Token premiered their video for “Calcutta” through Metal Hammer ahead of the release of the EP Two.

Fronted by the masked figure known as Vessel, the project introduced itself as a group devoted to an ancient deity known as Sleep.

“Sleep Token worship and commit themselves to the ancient deity known as Sleep (although we have been told ‘no proper translation can cover it’).”

What is the story behind Sleep Token?

“How we got here is as irrelevant as who we are – what matters is the music and the message. We are here to serve Sleep and project His message.”

Who is Sleep? How did an ancient deity find himself in the UK music scene?

“He is everywhere, at all times. Vessel encountered Sleep in a dream, with promise of glory and magnificence if Vessel followed Him. The UK is old, centuries of lore lay buried here. This land has power, if only you knew how to use it.”

What is the meaning behind the markings on your mask?

“It is an acronym of Sleep Token and reads as ST in ancient runes.”

Why do you all wish to remain anonymous?

“Our identities are unimportant. Music is marketed on who is or isn’t in a band; it’s pushed, prodded and moulded into something it isn’t. Vessel endeavours to keep the focus on His offerings.”

Do you worry people will liken you to bands like Ghost?

“No. The only comparison that can be drawn with Ghost is our anonymity. Our verses are a token, crafted to magnify and embody the multitude of emotion that writhes in our subconscious. Sonically our voice is rooted in the resonation between the notes and your emotion. Take our hand.”

Your Facebook page proudly states “Nothing lasts forever.” Is Sleep Token a temporary vehicle for the persona known as Sleep?

“Life is fleeting and this too shall pass. But for now, we praise Him.”

What are your influences musically?

“As musicians we are inspired by the human condition and a plethora of artists, but we are deeply moved by His words and continue to do our utmost to bring them to life. As followers we are bound by a duty to combine our crafts to create music that conveys some of our most primal, and powerful emotions.”

“Calcutta” is a bizarre mix of mainstream anthemic indie and tech-metal. What on earth is going on there?

“Life is dark. Life is bright. Life is ugly. Life is beautiful. Don’t get lost in genres, they’ll only disorientate you. Music is for everyone.”

Do you think people will see Sleep Token as a gimmick and not pay attention to the music?

“The standard concept of gimmickry is none of our concern. We are here to deliver a message; touch people in their hearts and subconscious minds. Soon, regardless of cynicism, you will all be followers.”

You’re making your live debut next month. What can we expect from Sleep Token in the live environment?

“Worship.”

What lies in the future for Sleep Token?

“Nothing. Lasts. Forever.”

Heavy Music Awards Speech (2021)

“Let’s not deceive ourselves

We are in love,

It is what floats above us as we try to sleep

It is what stands beside us as we gaze into nothingness

It is drowning us

It is eating us alive”

“A million outstretched arms in complete darkness

They will reach forever”

“We’re both dying to find out what happens when we die

We’re both scared of being

We’re both stolen pieces of each other

We’re both exploring our own frontiers of grief”

“We’re both just strangers

We’re both just particles

We’re both so lost in what it means to be lost

We’re both a house that remained unoccupied for too long”

“Let’s not deceive ourselves.”

Download Pilot Festival Speech (2021)

“We both died to find out what happens when we die

We were both scared of being

We have stolen pieces of each other

We were exploring our ideas of grief”

“We are both just strangers

We are both just particles

We are both lost in what it means to be lost

We are both a house that remained unoccupied for too long”

The Room Below Speech (2022)

“I believe it is fair to say that we’ve both been awaiting this moment for a considerable period of time. Suffice to say, we are sorry to have kept you waiting… however, while it may differ in its presentation, the intention at its core remains the same.

We are here to silently collect.

To project ourselves onto one-another.

We are here to remember.

We are here to forget.

We are here to… Worship.”

“Some time ago, I was given a message. It was a message that originated from one among you. Someone possessed by a strong desire to tell me something. The message went very simply:

You. Saved. Me.”

“I have thought about this message a great deal since.

It left me with a feeling that I had somehow been mistaken for someone else. I did not save anyone. I do not believe I have the capacity to save anyone. All I have ever given anyone is a small window into the emotional waiting-room of my mind.”

“I do so whilst doing everything in my power to minimize my own vulnerability. In this way I am selfish.”

“At the very least, we have all suffered.”

“To love oneself is not the easy task we are sometimes told it is.

We are all limited by something. We are all guilty of something.”

“My own path towards greater self acceptance is paved with the art that I create. It is a path I continue to stumble down at the expense of everything else.”

“I am nothing without this music. I am nothing without this mask.”

“The truth is, I did not save anybody.

You. Saved. Me.”

Teeth of God Tour

“To me, it seems that there must be something on the other side. We are all told that truth is merely a conclusion that can reliably be derived from some observable phenomenon. We forget that truth is a tool. It is the hook upon which we hang our deeds and the bed from which we rise each day. To assume that death is the end is to assume that our being extends no further than the physical substrate that carries us.

This assumption does not account for the way in which we experience being alive. Nor does it sit comfortably aside the fact that we are not yet able to comprehend the way in which our being manifests itself from the flesh and bone that binds us. I believe that those gaps in our understanding are still wide enough to cast doubt on such conclusions. I believe that those gaps are yet wide enough for our souls to fit through and drift onwards into some new realm.

To argue the existence of anything beyond death is to reject the idea of death itself. Death is not the opening of some eternal door. Death does not confer transcendence of any kind. To make such assertions is to act as though we do not know death; as though we do not spend our lives trying to drag forth some semblance of meaning from beneath death's thick, dark shadow. As though we have not also inflicted it no less than we sometimes revel in it. It is only the certainty of death that provides us with the darkness against which we all glow defiantly. Life without death knows no form. No boundary. Without death and our finite nature we will be stripped of all meaning, left to wander as little more than endlessly rotating gears in the quiet engine of a cold hell. But we do not die because it gives our lives meaning. We die because this is the way of all things. And in the end is that not all we are?

Death is not merely an event that occurs. It is not simply some kind of existential threshold we are all fated to cross. Pisyanos_arcadia more than these small notions. One does not need to look as far as the end of their own life to be confronted with the unknowable. One does not even need to look that far to be confronted with death. Look around you. About what can you truly be certain?

Death is a color, it soaks a part of every canvas. Death is a fabric, it can clothe the living. Death is merely another weapon wielded by the great adversary, another cadence in this terribly beautiful symphony you sing to helplessly. Let it bring you hope in one hand and fear in the other. It is asking you to dance with both, after all.”

US Tour Speech / Vessel & Mask Dialogue (2023)

Part One

Mask:

“When you cry on stage, they don’t think it’s real.”

Vessel:

“That’s a reasonable assumption.”

Mask:

“Do you fake it?”

Vessel:

“No, I don’t. But it is something I do consistently, so if I was a member of the audience I would probably assume that it wasn’t real.”

Mask:

“Do you ever see them crying?”

Vessel:

“No, I can only ever see them smiling. That’s good, I want them to smile.”

Mask:

“Do you think they want you to cry? Do you think they like it?”

Vessel:

“Not as such. I think they just want to know that I am feeling something. Feeling what they are feeling, perhaps.”

Mask:

“Do you think that this amount of crying is healthy for you?”

Vessel:

“I don’t know. But at least I feel something. If I don’t feel anything, then why would I even do this?”

Part Two

Mask:

“Why am I here? What is my purpose in all of this?”

Vessel:

“Your purpose is twofold. You protect me from them, and you also protect them from me.”

Mask:

“How is it that I serve to protect anyone from anything? That makes no sense.”

Vessel:

“In order for all of this to work, there has to be a certain boundary in place. They need to be able to project themselves onto this without anyone else’s identity getting in the way. In turn, I need to be able to show my true self to them in a way that does not compromise their ability to connect.”

Mask:

“So that’s what I am? A boundary?”

Vessel:

“Yes.”

Mask:

“I don’t believe you. I believe there is more to it than that. I believe you are afraid of something.”

Vessel:

“We are all afraid of something, are we not?”

Mask:

“What is it you are so afraid they will see?”

Vessel:

“That I am exactly like everyone else.”

Part Three

Mask:

“Are you afraid of me?”

Vessel:

“Sometimes…”

Mask:

“Why?”

Vessel:

“I think I am afraid of becoming you.”

Mask:

“What does that even mean?”

Vessel:

“My life is becoming gradually consumed by you. Before long, all that I am will be contained within you. Then, one day, when I no longer wish to wear you, there will be nothing else left.”

Mask:

“It seems you have forgotten who you are. Before you had me, you were nothing. All of this artifice, all this pathetic conjecture about your identity, it is nothing but a manifestation of how short-sighted and solipsistic you have become. I lifted you from misery and obscurity. You would be better to become me. You are nothing without me. You always were nothing without me.”

Final Message

Vessel:

“You. Are. Wrong.

In the end, my fractured sense of self was only another piece of fuel for the fire that burns in the eyes of these people before us.

They too are pained.

They too know not who they truly are.

They are each stood alone on a stage of their own.

And yet, they are here.

United by that sense of never truly belonging.

They see something beyond their own bleak horizons.

And they reach for it.

Together.

So let us join now, to reflect their joy and to serve as a conduit for their anguish.

To swallow their fear.

To Worship.”