The Sleep Token experience is all about the music

The Sleep Token experience is all about the music; the band are completely anonymous, so there are no egos or names to get in the way

The Sleep Token experience is all about the music; the band are completely anonymous, so there are no egos or names to get in the way, just enigmatic hits that defy genre categorisation attempts.

Now, after a busy few years, the band are set to return for another cycle of touring in 2024, and the planning stages are already underway.

The band's identity is a closely guarded secret and their following has grown organically over the last five years, without press interviews from the band or any gossip columns to speak of. They wear masks and the stage is kept clear. This anonymity avoids distractions and enables fans to purely enjoy the music.

"The original idea of the band was just to listen to the music, don't worry about who's singing, who's playing, just listen, it's definitely different," explained Front of House engineer, Thom Pike, who has been with the band ever since their third gig in 2018. "The music world is all about the 'who', but Sleep Token is just about being moved by the music."

Being with them since the very beginning, Pike used to mix FOH, monitors, manage the production and the tour. As the band's success has grown, he has been able to delegate responsibility and now solely concentrates on mixing FOH. Their rise in popularity has seen the band go from 130 people capacity clubs to selling out 23,500 capacity venues like Manchester's Co-Op Arena in just a few years. The increase in venue size and production elements was just a part of the reason behind using DiGiCo consoles, as self-confessed enthusiast Samuel Schmitt, monitor engineer and a long time DiGiCo fan, choosing them consistently throughout his career, explained.

"I am a true DiGiCo evangelist!" Schmitt says. "When a band is rapidly growing in terms of venue sizes, there are going to be things you want to do that other consoles are just not able to do. And that means you will be running in circles. That is never an issue with DiGiCo, the workflow is just much cleaner."

It was Schmitt's enthusiasm and support that made Pike feel more comfortable taking the leap to DiGiCo and, if issues did come up, Schmitt was only too happy to show Pike a quick fix, knowing DiGiCo's support team are available should the worst happen.

"We joked that I was Thom's personal DiGiCo tech support," Schmitt says. "I just love it! The thing about DiGiCo is, even if the worst did happen and a shackle fell from the sky and smashed into the desk, they're so widely available, we could get a replacement, load up our file and be OK. But, besides robustness, it's the availability of a huge support team that's the important thing."

Before Pike got hands on with his Quantum 338, Schmitt sat down with him in any spare moments they had to talk through the benefits of the DiGiCo workflow, and features he thought Pike would enjoy. Slowly-but-surely, Pike came to see that the Quantum Series was going to serve his needs and the future needs of the band.

"Compared to other consoles, the DiGiCo just seemed like a big scary computer," admitted Pike. "But you can make them sound how you want them to. Other desks just sound like they sound, but DiGiGo is really clean and there is plenty you can do to change the sound if needed. I love Mustard and basically use it on everything. For this tour, I didn’t use a single standard EQ or compressor on anything. When I first started there was a limit on Mustard channels and I ran out! On this tour, we upgraded to Pulse, so now I have enough Mustard for everything."

The band do not rely heavily on playback; elements of track are used, but the emphasis is on live music. This fluidity and interaction works well with the spiritual side of Sleep Token's music, which plays with themes of ritual and iconography, heightening the audience's experience. It is a vibe that also resonates with the crew, creating a real sense of camaraderie, as Schmitt and Pike conclude.

"Sleep Token are great to mix because it’s a real rock mix. I’m not mixing anything with lots of subgroups and auxes as I might do on a pop or electronic tour," said Pike. "Using a DiGiCo was a big change for me, but it's been great. I get a lot of support from Solotech, and whatever the issue is, they are there to help us."

"The crew are all good people and the tour has been the glue that keeps us all together. When it all works this well, it just makes sense keep everything the same," added Schmitt. "I'm on the North American side of things, so I'