Twenty Centuries of Stony Sleep

With musical influences like Tom Waits, David Bowie, Pixies and Pavement, and strong literary influences including Vonnegut, Huxley and Steinbeck, ‘Twenty Centuries of Stony Sleep (TCOSS)’ has grown out of a drive, not to be rock stars, but to create, to write and to perform.
Dave Neufeld and Alexi Davis met in high school choir and began collaborating on their original material. Upon noticing that in Rosemary, Alberta tumbleweeds outnumbered humans, they left for the city, recruiting Alexi’s brother Dwight on bass and harmonies. While auditioning drummers, an unexpected chemistry developed with Lisa Hunte. Heavily influenced by jazz, reggae and funk, Lisa’s improvisational attack and classical piano training added something entirely new.
Following months of rehearsing and song writing, a true exercise in democracy saw the group eliminate MANY band names before settling on Twenty Centuries of Stony Sleep (reference to William Butler Yeats). Out of the Slaughterhouse Studio sessions came an unreleased 7-song demo. It was from this demo that SAIT graduate Film Students selected ‘Plea of a Paranoid Dictator’ as the muse for their final music video project.
The band has appeared at a number of local venues (Marquee Room, Palomino, Verns, Underground, Rusty Cage, Blind Beggar, Distillery, Stetson, Soda, and the Tropicana among others), earning the respect of local bands, audiences and promoters throughout Calgary. Fan favourites ‘Right From a Stranger’ and ‘Safe/Sane’ appear on the band’s first EP. ‘The Children of Lions and Garudas’ was released in late 2008 and received local attention on X92.9, CJSW 90.9 and FUEL 90.3.
With the recent addition of fifth member Graham Daniel, talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, TCOSS has found freedom to experiment in different song writing techniques and line-ups. Driven to make music that is melodic, intense and out of the ordinary, TCOSS is now creating some of their most thought provoking music to date. With reference to aliens, civil unrest, insanity and zebras, the band continues to grow a loyal following.
Twenty Centuries of Stony Sleep have been described as:
“Heartfelt and romantic, at times panicked and frenetic”
“Alternating an audacious sense of humor and sarcasm with biting social commentary”
“Heart pounding, Art Rock”
Now firing on all pistons, half way through recording their first full-length album, this band is breaking new ground as an exciting and truly unique 5 piece that always delivers live and promises a long and interesting career.
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