Big Sleep: "Our first gig was quite a weird one for the four of us – it was in a tunnel under the M50"

Big Sleep are old school.

Ask young acts what they need to do to build a fanbase, and most will bend the knee at the altar of algorithms, making reels about the drummer’s favourite McDonald’s order. This Dublin band are too busy for that, opting to actually play instead; they spent 2025, their “best year yet” according to guitarist Naiara Clarke Lafuente, gigging incessantly.

Success is a matter of perspective and priorities, and Big Sleep’s connection with their audience is measured by the sheer, sweaty volume of bodies crammed into their sold-out gigs – not just at hometown barns like The Academy, but across Europe too.

“Social media, that’s something we’re trying to be better at,” reflects singer Rónán Connolly. “There are some bands who are way better at their TikToks than their music. We feel like it’s vice versa. But you can’t underestimate them, it’s a good way to reach people.

“How people hear about us is, they come out to a show and start telling their friends, and that word of mouth is crucial. That’d be my hunch.”

Big Sleep began with Rónán and Italian drummer Matteo Poli in 2019. The current iteration (which also features bassist Aidan Gray) came about when Naiara offered to fill in for their then-guitarist, who didn’t want any part of an underground gig they had lined up.

“Our first gig was quite a weird one for the four of us, it was in a tunnel under the M50, at the tail end of Covid, and it was pretty illegal,” Rónán says. “For us that was a weird start and a memorable one, and definitely something that stuck with us. The reaction we got that night was really good. The next few gigs we played, we just built on that.

“That summer, we went over to Italy and put on our own shows. We went out to France as well for a week, and kind of worked as a cover band. Then we put on our own shows in the evening in local surf bars.”

“At one point they had a banner outside where they were like, ‘Surf Rock Band: Big Sleep’ they really tried to sell us to the surfers,” Naiara interjects.

“Maybe we are surf rock?” suggests her bandmate.

“Don’t tell people that though!” she rebuts.

“We all had such a good time, and we knew all four of us wanted to be there, wanted to be in the writing room, didn’t mind the long hours, and didn’t mind the long drives to the gigs,” Rónán continues. “Those first few months were when it clicked. We’ve been chasing the dragon ever since.”

All that time, and surfing, pays off.

“It builds towards how comfortable we are with each other,” Naiara says. “We’ve been through it all. We’ve had huge gigs that were a success and felt amazing, and then we’ve had gigs in surf bars to two people, or we’ve had gigs where my amp has exploded…

“I think one of the most important things as a musician when you’re playing with other people, is how comfortable you are playing with them.”

That leads us to Big Sleep’s debut album Holy Show – which is coincidentally the same term you’d use to describe your amp exploding. Recorded at Bam Bam Studios in Norfolk, the band admit they find the stage a more natural habitat than the booth, and credit producer Chris Ryan (NewDad, Chalk, Just Mustard) for pulling them together.

The result is a polished, atmospheric and groovy slab of earworming alternative rock, tied together by the “messiness of love”.

“We felt like all the songs were their own holy show in a way,” Rónán explains. “Each song has that scene of emotional chaos, informed by love or loss. We thought that’s where the throughline was.

“Everybody can take different meanings from it, and it’s changing for us as we listen back. There’s specific characters throughout. I can see two or three different people exist throughout the songs.”

How much does the band’s hectic touring schedule inform that idea of “emotional chaos” and impermanence in relationships?

“Well, between the band, there’s a different kind of love, it definitely takes a toll, but also strengthens it at the same time,” Rónán says. “I would say the reason we’re all still here is because it’s brought us much closer together. We’ve all got to share those experiences and those highs and lows. Like Naiara was saying earlier about going into the studio, we all know a bit more how to be there for each other and enjoy each other’s company through all the good times and bad times.

“I mean, in other senses of love and relationships, I can only speak for myself, but I’m kinda, I... no comment. It’s messy. It’s messy, that’s all I’ll say.”

“We spoke about what ties the album together a lot, and we really tried to make the theme of gaining and losing love a big one,” adds Naiara. “We drew out this diagram of motion between what you gain and what you lose.

“There’s a messy doodle somewhere of that conclusion we came to about what all of the songs are. It’s just a journey, like a rotation of a day, of gaining and losing love and the transience in between that.”

Big Sleep. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

This dharmic outlook isn’t your usual brand of jukebox tears. Perhaps the X-Factor generation has brainwashed us into thinking that songs about heartbreak have to sound dramatic and funereal.

“With a bit of perspective after falling out of love, people come to that conclusion. I have, anyway,” Rónán says.

“It reshapes you, and you become a different person in the wake of that. You learn a lot when you fall in love and you have it for a while. Everybody who’s had a profound relationship in their lives would attest to that. At least myself and Naiara know, anyway, that it’s pretty heart-rending when that sort of thing leaves you. That leaves a hell of an imprint.

“But it leads to growth. So I don’t think it’s all bad. There’s a lot of silver linings with it, and it’s kind of what makes it all interesting. In a way, it’s a privilege to feel the pain of it all, because otherwise life would be dull. I don’t think anybody wants that straight line, for it all to be plain sailing, because then you don’t really know what’s good and bad.”

“For me, it’s a rule of thumb for life, to have that mindset and approach,” he continues. “It’s a way to be okay with taking risks. In relationships, you take that risk, you make yourself vulnerable. With music, you do that, too. We share our personal diary with the world and hope they don’t throw it back in our face.

“You gotta take the good and the bad, and the good reviews and the bad reviews. So hopefully Holy Show gets class reviews, but either way, we’ll be alright. We’ll keep making music.”

• Holy Show is out February 20 via LAB Records.