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Become a Sleeping With Sirens fan overnight — here's the SparkNotes version

You’ve been there. We’ve all been there. Whether a particular show is starting its fifth season or a particular band is recording their fifth album, you feel you’ve passed the window of opportunity to get into it, and you don’t simply want to become a bandwagon fan without giving early work the chance it deserves. Your time is precious, and you will feel like a loner catching up all by yourself.

Wrong. Music, just like television and film and literature, has no expiration date. It gets better with age. You should never feel like you missed that window of opportunity to get hyped up about a band. Sure, you may have missed some crucial times in an artist’s career, but with the content of the world at our fingertips, you pretty much have unlimited access to every song, every music video, every piece of live performance footage and every interview. But rest assured, we’ve got your back. We’re going to make that study session much smoother for you, because we care.

Read More: Sleeping With Sirens release music video featuring fan submitted clips—watch

Up first: Sleeping With Sirens, who are releasing their fifth studio album, Gossip, Sept. 22 through Warner Bros. Records. We’ve prepared a study guide of the most important events in the bandmembers’ careers, a list of songs for you to check out (including radio singles, concert bangers and our personal favorites) and the necessary tools for you to outsmart anyone in SWS trivia. So relax, take a look around, and familiarize yourself a bit with the SWS world.

Left to right: Justin Hills: bass guitar, backing vocals
Jack Fowler: lead guitar, programming
Kellin Quinn: lead vocals, keyboards
Nick Martin: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Gabe Barham: drums, percussion

Prologue

Sleeping With Sirens were formed during 2009 in Orlando, Florida, by members of the bands For All We Know and Paddock Park. Their early sound smoothly incorporated melodic emotion into the aggressive post-hardcore. Undergoing a handful of lineup changes in the early stages of the band, it took them a while to solidify the lineup and get into the studio for the first time.

Chapter I: With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear (2010)

Songs to check out: “The Bomb Dot Com v2.0,” “You Kill Me (In A Good Way),” “With Ears To See, And Eyes To Hear”

Sleeping With Sirens quickly caught the attention of Rise Records, who signed them and released their debut album in early 2010. This was the only SWS release to feature former guitarists Nick Trombino and Brandon McMaster, who were replaced by Jesse Lawson and Jack Fowler shortly after the record dropped. The band gained popularity through their song “If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn,” for which they released their first music video, as well as for Quinn’s versatile leggero tenor vocal range. With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear was produced by Cameron Mizell and debuted at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart and No. 36 on Top Independent Albums.

Chapter II: Let’s Cheers To This (2011)

Songs to check out: “Who Are You Now,” “A Trophy Father’s Trophy Son,” “Fire”

Their sophomore album was produced by Kris Crummett and was the first to feature guitarists Jack Fowler and Jesse Lawson, who both became heavily involved with the songwriting and composition processes. Two music videos were released for this album, the first being “Do It Now, Remember It Later,” which is a goofy parody video that began the bandmembers’ acting careers.


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The second music video became arguably their most recognizable song and, to this day, is the Sleeping With Sirens go-to encore song.

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Chapter II-Part 2: If This Were A Movie, I’d Be Your Soundtrack (2012)

The band released their first EP the following year, which debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard Top 200 charts and sold over 17,000 copies the first week. It included three new songs, as well as acoustic versions of two songs from their debut album. A music video for “Roger Rabbit” was released, which seemed to soften up the young band, but a few weeks later they dropped a heavy single called “Dead Walker Texas Ranger” as a Halloween special.

In 2012, Quinn was also featured on a Pierce The Veil track, “King For A Day”:

Chapter III: Feel (2013)

Songs to check out: “The Best There Ever Was,” “Deja Vu,” “These Things I’ve Done”

The band were picking up commercial success as they entered the studio to record their third full-length album, which was completed in a rather speedy manner. This was their last album with Rise Records, and it was produced by Cameron Mizell, who produced their debut. The album debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and sold around 60,000 copies the first week. “Low” was their first single off the album, and their second, “Alone,” had a guest appearance from Machine Gun Kelly.


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In fact, Feel featured many guest vocals, including Fronz (Attila), Shayley Bourget (ex-Of Mice & Men) and Matty Mullins (Memphis May Fire), who appeared in the music video for “Congratulations.”


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That year, Sleeping With Sirens played the entire Vans Warped Tour and then headlined their tour in support of the new album, dubbed the Feel This Tour, with Memphis May Fire, Breathe Carolina, Issues and Our Last Night as supporting acts.


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Later that year, the band announced the departure of guitarist Jesse Lawson, who had a desire to spend more time with his family while beginning a new musical journey.

Nick Martin (Underminded, formerly of Cinematic Sunrise and D.R.U.G.S.) filled in on the European leg of the headlining tour and eventually became an official member of the band.

Sleeping With Sirens performed at the 2014 Alternative Press Music Awards.

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