On the current tour: “We’re only a few shows into the tour so far, but it's exciting because its our most extensive headlining tour of the States since we got started. We toured with the Tragically Hip on a pretty long tour a while back, but this might mean more. It’s an interesting time touring the States because of everything going on with the election coming up.”

On the evolution of the band over the past couple of years: “With the new album, I think the band got a bit more serious. Because of touring, the new record took almost 2 years to record but take it as lightly as possible. Initially, we never had the mindset of this band become a successful touring band. It’s a bit more of a business now, and with more funding and label support- you get a different perspective on things.”

On winning “Best New Artist” at the Juno Awards (Canadian equivalent to the Grammys) in 2007: “I guess it was neat winning one of those, but I didn’t put much thought into winning an industry award. But if anything, the award pushed our music into a different stream of listeners and people who wouldn’t have normally thought about a band like ours. But it did impress our parents, and validate what we’ve been doing as a band.”

On the major differences between the fickle behavior between Canadian fans and American fans: “When you first look at it, the crowds can be pretty similar. I think where we came from (Halifax) has a very nurturing environment towards its scene. I think in Canada, the fans in the cities are just happy to see their bands get big and get really proud of that.”

On any potentially recording in the future: “Well, we’re still touring and getting some new ideas. I think the ones we’ve worked on so far are pretty good- but we wont be recording any new material until at least this tour is done.”

The update on the band’s stolen equipment (NOTE: The band had all their equipment stolen after a July show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana): “Yeah, our van problems were in New Orleans yesterday and with the stolen equipment at the other show this year- it's been an interesting year in Louisiana to say the least. We had to borrow equipment and raid some pawn shops for equipment after that happened. But I think the equipment is pretty much gone.”

Wintersleep will open for Portugal The Man on Wednesday, November 5^th at the Magic Stick. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional dates can be found at www.wintersleep.com.