Formed in 2002, Sleeping People set out to make adventurous, experimental instrumental rock music. The founding trio of guitarist Joileah “Joi” Maddock, drummer Brandon Relf (Innerds), and guitarist Kasey Boekholt were later joined by bassist Kenseth Thibideau and - in 2003 - singer/guitarist Amber Coffman, an Austin native who worked at the People’s Food Coop in Ocean Beach.
The band would find themselves leading proponents of a music style dubbed “math rock,” which Wikipedia says is characterized by “complex, atypical rhythmic structures, stop/start dynamics and angular, dissonant riffs.”
In 2008, singer/guitarist Amber Coffman moved to New York City to play guitar and sing in the Brooklyn art-rock band Dirty Projectors, while guitarist Joileah Maddock returned to her home in Switzerland in 2009.
The band was mostly inactive until Maddock visited San Diego in summer 2012, to rejoin the group for a west coast tour. To mark the occasion, a 12-inch was released with two previously unreleased songs.
They subsequently played four West Coast dates to herald the release of their new LP, NOTRUF, in a limited run of 1,000 vinyl.
A side project was launched in the latter part of 2013 called Kenseth, Brandon & Jason, featuring Brandon Relf and Kenseth Thibideau. Sleeping People returned to the stage for the first time in around two years on August 8, 2014, at the Whistle Stop in South Park.