The Sleeveens Interview! (Post on 4/29/26)

Interview conducted with Stefan Murphy and Ryan Sweeney!

Shock Treatment: Let’s start off by telling me who’s all an official Sleeveen and what you all do in the band?

Stef - Singer / Songwriter / Guitar
Jamie - Bass
Eli - Guitar Sweeney - Drums


Shock Treatment: So part of the band lives in Ireland, and the other part in the U.S. is this correct? Tell me, how does a song come together for you guys and when do you have time to rehearse them?

Stef - I write the songs and usually we rehearse them before we record them. We get together 3-4 times a year to tour and always try to fit in some studio time. We do okay considering I'm in Dublin

Sweeney - Yeah, Stef lives in Dublin while the rest of us live in the Nashville area. Stef usually sends a demo of new stuff he’s working on so when we get together we have an idea of what we’re gonna do. This band works incredibly quickly, which has been crucial to our existence. We’ve gotten good at maximizing our limited time together. We typically don’t rehearse much unless we’re learning a new song, but even then it’s just a few hours in a day. We like to get one solid rehearsal in before a tour to knock the rust off, but that’s about it. We’re one of the few bands I know of that has way more live shows than rehearsals under our belt! Ha.



Shock Treatment: In a lot of the articles I read about the band, you guys get compared to a lot of 70’s punk bands. What are some contemporary bands or musicians you guys listen to that influence the Sleeveen sound?

Stef - I don't really listen to punk music these days so it's hard to say. I mostly listen to electronic music and even with that it's 30-40 year old house / acid house stuff. I love The Fall, The Modern Lovers, Super Furry Animals, The Vaselines, Television Personalities and I consider them loose influences over my songwriting but I think Sleeveens songs are so simple that they take influence from everywhere and nowhere - One semi contemporary example of a songwriting hero is Greg Cartwright - who i think of in the same breath as Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan


Shock Treatment: You guys unleashed your absolute masterpiece of a debut LP in 2024 on Dirtnap Records. What was it like seeing the album get such a positive critical response?

Stef - Mostly it was just humbling that people in general liked the songs. That Ken At Dirtnap wanted to put it out and that we got to tour it. I don't actually remember any of the reviews.

Sweeney - That was all such an incredible experience. We took an absolute shot in the dark sending it to Dirtnap and Ken fired back almost immediately saying he wanted to put it out. He was so excited about the album, we knew he’d get it out there and promoted well. Seeing the album get so many great reviews and gain traction so quickly was wild. When we recorded it, we knew we had something special, but had no idea where it all was going and what was about to happen. All a pleasant surprise with a lot of work behind it.

Shock Treatment: So now you guys are getting ready to release your second LP National Anthem on Goner Records. What led to the decision to go with Goner for this one?

Stef - Personally I've always wanted to do a record on Goner. They would not be widely known where I’m from but myself and a small group of pals have always looked up to them since the early 00s

Sweeney - Goner has always been a goal & a dream of mine. It also seemed like the next logical step after working with them on the “Downtown” single and making back to back appearances at Gonerfest. Eric & Zac have been champions of the band for a while, so it all seemed to fall into place.


Shock Treatment: I was taking a peek at the tracklist for National Anthem and I noticed you guys cover The Walkmen’s song “The Rat”. Why did you decide to cover that tune?

Stef - On our last record we did an Undertones song which was a bit predictable-
I love cover versions and wanted to do something less obvious but equally as simple. The Rat is a complex work of post punk genius in my book. My idea was to remove the word ‘post’ and just make it ‘The Walkmen For Dummies’ - a short direct version.

Shock Treatment: You guys did a pretty cool video for the song “Give My Regards To The Dancing Girls” from the first record. Are you guys planning any more videos for any tracks off the new album?

Stef - I edited a video for our first single "If I Was A Casual" and am currently making one for our second single - so yes - there will be videos


Shock Treatment: So you guys did tour for the last record and I see you’re getting set to go out to promote this new record as well. With things like YouTube and TikTok so popular now, what do you think a person is missing out on by not being physically in attendance at a rock n roll show?

Stef - going to a show is incomparable to anything the Internet might offer you. Especially grass roots punk gigs like this

Sweeney - There’s just no substitute to feeling the energy in the room when a loud rock n roll band is playing to an excited crowd.

Shock Treatment: Tell me, what else does 2026 have in store for The Sleeveens? Any West Coast shows at all?

Stef - Lets see how the east coast goes and if the USA still stands later in the year we might end up on the west coast


Shock Treatment: Where can people go to check out the band or buy your records?

Stef - thesleeveens.bandcamp.com

Sweeney - thesleeveens.bandcamp.com, Goner-records.com, Green Noise Records, and your local record shop

The new LP National Anthem available May 1st, 2026 on Goner Records!