Where keys come to die (Sleeper III)

Sleeper III is different from the first two Sleeper releases because it is only piano. It still follows the same basic rule of the series: one live take, finished the same day, with no edits or rebuilding afterwards.

The recording was made in my living room, late in the evening around 23:00. I had decided to make another Sleeper that day, so the piece was made quickly and recorded on my phone. That is also why the sound quality is so low. There is no setup around the piece, no extra sound design, and no later correction. It is just a short piano improvisation left in the form it took that night.

The playing is loose and fairly quick. It is not very locked to a strict meter, and moves more by flow than by clear structure. At the time I had been playing piano for less than a year. I was working at a piano store then, and used a lot of my breaks to play there. After work I usually kept practicing at home for at least an hour, often longer. I am fully self-taught, do not really know music theory, and mostly work by ear.

The piano itself came from that store. It was a rejected instrument with a crack in the soundboard. It still played fine, but it could not be sold and repairing it was too expensive, so I got to take it home for free. The crack is not especially audible in the recording.

The title does not really mean anything. It was chosen quickly, and does not feel like a very strong title now, but it is also part of the release as it exists. For now this is the last Sleeper release. While I was working on the series, other things got in the way and there was not enough time left to keep making new Sleeper sessions, though I do want to continue it later. Right now, this release and Chemical lift are also the only solo piano releases in my discography. I have been writing more piano pieces again, and once I am done with the projects I am currently working on, I want to record them properly.

Text written in May 2026.