Interview Milwaukee's Sleep Tight Co. puts itself to bed

For bands, the only certainties are death, taxes, and eventual disbandment. (Unless you’re in U2.) So it goes for Sleep Tight Co., a winning Milwaukee indie-pop band formed two years ago by guitarist Aaron Spransy, violinist Cathy Kolb, percussionist Andy Hartzell and bassist Bob Gaszak. Sleep Tight Co. intends to go out with a bang (or at least a twee-sounding sigh) Saturday at Cactus Club. Did drugs, petty jealousies, or Yoko Ono cause the end of this band? No, just Spransy’s not-at-all-controversial move to Boston. In advance of the farewell show Saturday at The Cactus Club, The A.V. Club spoke with Spransy about Sleep Tight Co.’s last hurrah.

The A.V. Club: What do you remember looking back on the history of Sleep Tight Co.?

Aaron Spransy: We had a good mix of random shows that weren’t at regular, obvious venues, like playing at the Apple store, or playing in a church for Halloween or a pseudo-prom. One of the more fun shows was at The Borg Ward—we got really drunk because we had tons of time before we were supposed to play. We’re not a drunk band, usually. I remember specifically setting off the demo on the keyboard on one of our songs and frantically trying to stop it. Mark Waldoch [of The Celebrated Workingman] told me that was one his top 10 shows that he’s seen a drunken band. I grew up with Sam Macon from Since By Man, and his youngest sister, who I hadn’t seen in 10 years, was at the show. It was so embarrassing because I was so shit-faced.

AVC: How did you feel about being a pop band in a rock-centric city?

AS: We were just playing for ourselves and not worrying about fitting in or being liked by other bands. People were positive in general, but I wouldn’t mind doing something more serious, not as lighthearted, but it’s more important for me to go with something that comes naturally. It would be really silly if we had tried to be a harder band, but I think as we progressed, we got a bit louder. And in sharing Andy as a drummer with John The Savage, I think it was pretty cool to see the different ways he could play, because he hits pretty hard in his other band.

AVC: Any plans for you and your band mates as far as other future musical projects go?

AS: Andy’s got John The Savage, I’d hope Bob would do something, and I don’t think Cathy’s got anything going on for a while. I’ve been recording stuff on my own. Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of piano and have been trying to get a hold of people to play music through Craigslist. I haven’t found anyone yet, but it’s inevitable that I might be writing similar stuff. I’m hoping that if I meet the right people, that it might grow organically.

AVC: What’s the status of your final CD?

AS: It’s 12 songs and one of the songs is a cover of Prince’s “Raspberry Beret.” We recorded it with my friend Al [Boyes]. He has a one-bedroom house that he recently moved to, so we recorded it all crammed into his attic, live, and all at once which was pretty fun. Al and I finished it, doing vocals and extra stuff. I recorded a lot of background tracks at home and in our practice space just to save money and time, so it kind of turned into my baby once the initial tracking was done. I really wanted to finish it before I moved. We were actually trying to have the release show before I moved, but that just didn’t happen, but I’m glad we got it all done. I can think of a couple friends’ bands that didn’t get a record together before they stopped playing, and that’s just a shame, not having that document.