Arms and Sleepers is the indie/electronic duo of Max Lewis and Mirza Ramic. Formed during the summer of 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts, the band has produced 11 releases and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and the UK. With each release, Arms and Sleepers have explored a different approach to the compositional process, ignoring musical genres and its creative limitations. With an impressive output (11 albums and EPs in just 4 years) and consistent touring, Arms and Sleepers have positioned themselves at the forefront of cinematic, experimental underground scene.

Following their debut release bliss was it in that dawn to be alive (2006), which was marked by electronica and IDM influences, Arms and Sleepers went on to release the highly-praised debut full-length album Black Paris 86 (2007) on Expect Candy. This record showcased elements of trip-hop, glitch and ambient styles while maintaining its own unique voice with touches of pop and jazz. Their second full-length album, Matador (2009), picked up right where Black Paris 86 left off, but this time with more precision, focus and numerous guest appearances. The record featured vocals much more prominently than its predecessor, including contributions from Tom Brosseau (Fat Cat Records), Shelley Short (Hush Records) and Ben Shepard (of Uzi & Ari, Own Records). Rock Sound gave Matador an 8/10, stating, "Duo Max Lewis and Mirza Ramic combine a small army of electronic scratches and crackles with diverse instruments to create a ruminative and sedate album." Following up on the success of Matador and support tours with Uzi & Ari in Europe and Caspian in North America, the band released Matador Remixed (2010) as a limited edition vinyl, and toured Europe once again in the spring of 2010, including festival appearances at Berlin's Friction Festival and Leipzig's Pop Up Festival.

Currently, Arms and Sleepers are planning 6 releases for 2011, including the third official full-length album to be released on Expect Candy in April.

Photo credit: Alisa Leonard

The latest Dive Index album, The Surface We Divide, continues the collaborative process; this time featuring wonderful contributions from Joseph Arthur, Cat Martino, and former Ride vocalist Mark Gardener, as well as up-and-coming London-based artist Patrick Cooper. The vocal mixture lends a wide stylistic range to the album, from textured baritones to floating falsettos. Cat Martino even teams up with both Joseph and Mark for two modern takes on the duet. Julia Kent/cello (Antony & the Johnsons) and Kevin O’Donnell/drums (Andrew Bird) return to add their unmistakeable organic feel to the songs. Will Thomas' music and production helps maintain continuous thread that holds the album together.

Live the songs come to life by combining the recorded vocals (projected on wide screens all across the stage) with the exceptional live band featuring front man and composer Will Thomas, Julia Kent (ex-Antony & the Johnsons) and a whole bunch of their talented friends.