Check Out Levi Sperstad’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Levi Sperstad.

Hi Levi, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Nightwaker was started as a home studio project by guitarist/vocalist, Levi Sperstad(me). After inevitably acknowledging that this heavy, fast-paced genre of music is best absorbed in a live setting, and reconciling with longtime bandmate/friend, Austin Southern(drums), We decided to get a whole band together. Having good musicians in a band is one thing, but having people that you actually want to be around is even more important, in my opinion. Luckily, we landed both, with the remaining two members of the band. I had worked with Tyrell Lurbe, recently, and just loved the kind of person he was and the positive energy that he instills in everyone around him. He was a big fan of the music too, so he definitely warranted a tryout, which proved to be very successful. Tyler Smith joined on guitar, after being “bullied” by Austin into a tryout. Tyler had just recently hired me at Music Depot in Greeley, and our musical tastes, skillsets, and personalities had already displayed great synergy with each other. Shortly after everyone joined, we were approached by NoCo mainstay of the heavy music scene, Blast N Scrap, and were offered the opening spot on the very first Greeley Blast N Bowl, at 2454 West Greeley a.k.a. Chipper’s bowling. We kind of had to scramble for practices to get ready in time, but everyone pulled together very well, and we had a very solid first show! We’re trying to work with all kinds of promotors and bands, in varying high-energy genres to have as good of a time and put on as good of shows as possible! All of our hometowns shows so far have been big successes, largely in part to our varying age differences and friend groups within band members having a fairly wide reach within our town. We’re still working our way up in the surrounding areas, and we have our goals set high!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’d say the only real bumps since becoming a full band have been the month or two leading up to our first show, where a different member of the band catching Covid every week or two, so we weren’t able to have a full practice with all four of us until a week or two before the show. Fortunately, everyone and their families made it through okay, and we’ve been staying healthy since!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Nightwaker is a melodically-driven, progressive metalcore band. I’d say we specialize in writing “big sexy hooks” as Michael Bolton would put it. That’s what I always aim to do in the guitar riffs I write anyways! I’d say I’m most proud of my band mates for all the effort they’ve put in into making this band thing a good time and a success so far. We’ve only been performing the music I had written and released entirely solo so far, but the boys have some killer ideas and “big sexy hooks” for new songs as well, that I’m SO excited to get to work on! I think the biggest thing that sets us apart from other bands in the genre is how melodically driven and emotionally hopeful much of our work is, in contrast to how heavy and dismal some of our other work is. A constant theme in my lyrics is the song starting off with a negative or hopeless feeling, and gradually progressing to a self-realization of how to work through it, or even just giving myself a “pep talk.”

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I don’t believe there’s anything like that involved in our lives that helps us reach our potential. I’m mostly just speaking for myself here, but most of my thinking and motivation comes from just experiencing the world as it comes. At 30 years old, I believe I’m at a good age where I’ve grown wise with experience, but I still have so much more left to do and see. I feel like all the other guys are in a similar boat, despite being a few years my junior. They’ve all just experienced so much, that we’ve had to learn to rely on ourselves at times, our friends and family, and to overall just be kind to people. I think that’s how we do best at life. Find a good balance between being self-reliant, knowing when it’s time to ask for help, and treating people with the warmth that you wish you could get. Oh, and never take things to seriously. It’s never the wrong time to laugh!

Contact Info:

• Website: nightwakerband.com
• Instagram: @nightwakerband
• Facebook: facebook.com/nightwakerband

Image Credits
Doug Hitchens, Riley Sweet, Mackenzie Gregg, Shelby Thomas, Tyler Smith