flashback to 2008. amy winehouse released back to black. you could see the dark knight in movie theatres. but you couldn't get directions with a smartphone because they didn't exist. guess which sydney post-rock band did though? that's right - it's been ten long years since sleepmakeswaves emerged from the primordial musical ooze, and started releasing the hooky summertime jams you've come to know and love, (including the ITAWT EP). so we thought hey, we should do something to celebrate this...

Sydney post-rock legends sleepmakeswaves have announced a very special 10th anniversary tour of Australia this September and October.

Celebrating the 2008 release of their debut EP 'in today, already walks tomorrow' as well as ten years of touring, recording and releasing music, the band will feature founding member Jonathan 'Kid' Khor returning on guitar for these shows.

After September dates in Canberra, Newcastle and at Port Macquarie's Wildwood Festival, the band will be joined in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth in October by special guests all the way from Ireland, And So I Watch You From Afar. It's the first ever Australian tour for the Irish band renowned for their boisterous live shows and the instrumental punk energy of ASIWYFA will make this one heck of an epic high-energy lineup.

It's been a crazy ten years for sleepmakeswaves, the little Sydney quartet who dreamed big.

Hundreds of shows amongst 15 Australian tours, 5 European tours, 2 North American tours, 2 Asian & New Zealand tours.

Critical acclaim including 3 ARIA nominations, 2 AIR Award nominations and a nomination for a J Award, amongst highly rated reviews from Rolling Stone, The Music, The Independent and more.

Airplay including 3 songs added to triple j rotation, spending a combined 20 weeks in the CMJ Top 200 at US college radio and airing on BBC6.

Even a glimmer of brief commercial success with 2 ARIA Top 40 albums and a #1 spot on the 100% Independent Chart for 'Made of Breath Only.' They even cracked the Top 100 in Kazakhstan.

Formed via an ad on Myspace (remember that?), the band's story started online and they continue to benefit from fans sharing their music on the internet. From their debut unexpectedly clocking up 50,000 downloads online, to hitting 200,000 views as the soundtrack to a romantic 'Twilight' movie fan video, or as the thumping opening theme for the AFL football season coverage on Channel 7, sleepmakeswaves' music has always taken a life of its own amongst fans online. Recently, their triple j Like A Version tribute to Robert Miles' 'Children' hit close to 1 million spins online, whilst the band's Spotify listeners top 1 million worldwide.

However, the story of the band is not complete without a nod to the work put in on the live stage.

Amongst the 300+ live dates played over the past few years, the band have visited 30 countries and headlined sold out shows on four continents. They've played festivals including SXSW, ArcTangent, Euroblast & Dunk Festival. They've toured with and befriended a host of iconic and diverse acts - Karnivool, COG, Devin Townsend, Underoath, Russian Circles and many more. They've forged links with and created touring opportunities for many of their international peers in Australia - 65daysofstatic, Rosetta, The Contortionist, This Will Destroy You and more. They fulfilled a decade-long dream in their hometown by headlining Sydney's iconic Metro Theatre to a packed house and recording the show for triple j's Live at the Wireless (going on to headline there several more times).

Despite all these unprecedented milestones, most importantly, their biggest achievement has been to endure and continue making music and performing for their fans. Through lineup changes, an ever-more-difficult economic climate for independent niche artists, theft of money and equipment, computers crashing, lost baggage, injuries, illness, operations, failed relationships, fire alarms, red tape and more, this band has maintained the passion and enthusiasm to continue creating. Their fans have supported them - through pre-order campaigns to make new albums, through ticket sales, merch sales and social media, through images shared of tattoos, gifts of birthday cakes in Poland, drinks in Hungary, videos of cover versions from India, tour guides in China, or just a handshake and a smile at the merch desk after the show.

So...this tour is a celebration of all that. A way to say thank you for everything, with a quick glance backwards, before continuing on with many more new things to come.

Expect plenty of fan favourites, a few surprises and one heck of a live post-rock show from this hard-working still-young band.