PREVIEW: VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC at THE END on 5/30/17

There has to be something in the water in Australia—in the last decade, there have been countless artists and bands from Down Under who have invaded the digisphere and blown our minds with a whole new interpretation of indie music that transcends genre boundaries. “There’s a whole lot of great stuff happening in Australia at the moment,” explains 21-year-old vocalist, songwriter and producer Tim Bettinson, who hails from Brisbane, and who is the creative force behind indie-electronic band Vancouver Sleep Clinic. “Our national radio station, Triple J, really supports unsigned musicians and indie music, and helps us get noticed. That grassroots platform helps us make a global impact, and it’s cool to be a part of that.”

Vancouver Sleep Clinic recently released its debut full-length, Revival; the album follows the band’s highly acclaimed 2014 EP Winter, which has over 30 million streams and 100,000 digital sales to date. “Most of the songs got started in my little home studio; I started writing for it when I was 18, and most of the ideas come from a simple place,” explains Bettinson. The band recorded the album in Los Angeles with producer Al Shux (Jay Z, Alicia Keys, Lana Del Rey, Lianne La Havas), who helped Bettinson and company create a unique atmosphere to bring the songs to life. “He’s worked in rap, R&B, and electronic music. It was cool to create a hybrid of our influences and styles in the studiom” says Bettinson of producer Shux. “I wanted to do something different, out of my comfort zone. With the drum sounds and the synthesizers, we made something that is somewhere in the middle of those influences.”

“I try not to think too much about how my music is going to end up, which probably sounds kind of weird,” he continues with a laugh. “I think the most important thing for me is that the song sonically represents the emotion I’m trying to convey. I don’t try to style a song to a particular reference. Whatever happens happens, I try not to overthink it.” Revival features 11 diverse and lushly-layered tracks with Bon Iver-esque vocal stylings, the infectious rhythms of Coldplay, and the heart-wrenching lyricism of Amber Run. Now, the band is on its first headlining tour in the States, and on a mission to brighten cites from sea to shining sea with their captivating, ambient sound—a tour which brings Vancouver Sleep Clinic to perform at Nashville’s The End on Tuesday, May 30th. “It’s been unreal; It feels really good to have all this music out now, and it’s amazing to be able to play it and see how people are reacting to it,” he says. “I love it.”