Armor for Sleep is an American rock band from New Jersey. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Ben Jorgensen, lead guitarist PJ DeCicco, bassist Anthony DiIonno and drummer Nash Breen.
Armor For Sleep was founded by Ben Jorgensen in 2001 in New Jersey. Nash Breen and Peter James "PJ" DeCicco later joined the band after leaving fellow New Jersey band Prevent Falls. Jorgensen stated the name of the band comes from his early experiences of writing music and not being able to sleep. As he recalls, "I guess when I started the band I was kind of, like, retreating in my room and I kind of couldn't really fall asleep, so I started playing music. I just thought of the name Armor for Sleep, because it was really, the music was keeping me from passing out! Which was something I was procrastinating on."[1]
Ben would go on to record a two-song demo containing the songs Dream to Make Believe and Slip Like Space, which would later be re-recorded and released on their first album Dream to Make Believe. Former guitarist Paul Abrahamian went on to form It's Called the Ghost Town Symphony in November 2002. Later that month, Armor for Sleep recorded a three-song demo with producer Dan Coutant; Mark Kenask of Blind Society played drums on the demo.[9]
A Machine Shop remix of their track "Remember to Feel Real" was featured on the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack in August 2006. The next year, the band debuted a new track entitled "End of the World" on the soundtrack for the 2007 film Transformers. This song would later appear on their next record, but with various changes, including the reduction in vocal effects and keyboards.
Armor For Sleep released their third full-length album Smile for Them on October 30, 2007.
On October 28, 2009, it was officially announced that the band would be parting ways. Frontman Ben Jorgensen released a statement informing fans of the inevitable, after the band had been inactive, not undertaking a tour for over a year.[12]
"We have no motivation for doing this other than to get up on stage and say goodbye properly to the people out there who never got the opportunity to see us one last time. Like Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap we will strive to "put right what once went wrong"...and then just like him we will poof out of existence. But for good this time- we promise."[13]
At the Bamboozle Festival, and on the band's Facebook page, Jorgensen announced that three more shows would be played: July 14, 2012, at Irving Plaza in New York City, July 20, 2012, at The Glass House in Pomona, California, and July 22, 2012, at the House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois.
On July 20, 2015, the band announced an eight city tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of What To Do When You Are Dead.[14]
Post-disbandment projects
In January 2009, Abrahamian formed the band 1984.[15]
After the group parted ways, Ben Jorgensen briefly started an electronic project called God Loves a Challenge alongside Sierra Shardae and also embarked on a brief solo career, releasing the EP There Is Nowhere Left to Go in 2010.[16]
PJ DeCicco moved on to playing in Love Automatic with former Senses Fail bassist Mike Glita. The band is no longer active.
Nash Breen was playing with New York Rivals, but has since joined the Cold Seas, who opened for Armor for Sleep on select dates of their What to Do When You Are Dead 10th anniversary tour in 2015 as well as the 15th anniversary tour of the aforementioned album in 2021. As of 2022, Breen remains active with both Armor for Sleep and the Cold Seas.
Return and fourth studio album
On February 24, 2020, the band announced on Facebook that they would be reuniting for a summer tour including nineteen US cities to celebrate the 15th anniversary of What to Do When You Are Dead. The tour was later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on August 13, 2020, the band announced the new tour dates for 2021. In July 2022, the band announced a new album, The Rain Museum, which was released on September 9, 2022.[17]
In the spring of 2023, the band co-headlined the Pitch Black Forever tour with Hawthorne Heights.
In the fall of 2023, the band went on tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Dream to Make Believe. The tour kicked off on October 19, 2023 at Mulcahy's Pub and Concert Hall in Wantagh, New York and the band were joined on tour by the Early November (who were celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, The Room's Too Cold) and the Spill Canvas.
In February 2024 the band performed on the 2024 Emo's Not Dead Cruise, which was headlined by Yellowcard.