Sleep Theory

Sleep Theory delivers the dynamic, heavy bounce and massive vocal hooks that the rock world desperately needs. Cullen Moore is a powerhouse singer who outmatches nearly all his peers, recalling the most classic and timeless pop, R&B, and rock n’ roll vocalists of the last several decades.  

“The goal is to write songs that, if you were to strip everything away, would still work as full-on, classic pop tracks that are super memorable yet deeply resonate with people,” Moore explains.  

On January 12, 2023, Cullen posted Sleep Theory’s “Another Way” on TikTok. On January 12, 2024, the band started a national tour with platinum rockers Beartooth. Over the next eleven months, Sleep Theory became the fifth most-played artist on Active Rock radio, with three songs on the year-end rock and metal charts on YouTube and Amazon Music and tastemaker Spotify playlists. 

Jelly Roll and David Draiman of Disturbed sing the band’s praises. Shinedown, Nothing More, Wage War, Set It Off, and Daughtry took them on the road in the U.S., Falling In Reverse brought them to Europe, and nearly every major international hard rock and radio festival invited them to perform. 

“It [went] from posting a TikTok from my apartment [to] on a stage with Beartooth a year later,” marveled Moore in an interview with Loudwire Nights. “It’s absolutely insane and humbling.”   

In a shockingly short time, Sleep Theory (composed of Moore, Paolo Vergara, Daniel, and Benjamin Pruitt) has amassed over 220 million global streams of its Paper Hearts EP and the subsequent singles from its forthcoming full-length debut, Afterglow, due on May 16, 2025, on Epitaph Records. 

Amazon Music, Loudwire, and Revolver named them an Artist To Watch in 2025. Their story is one of combustible creativity and unstoppable energy, which has led to a monolithic debut album.  

On Afterglow, “Stuck in My Head” unapologetically leans into its R&B hooks with stunning results.  

“Paralyzed” modernizes the best of classic nu-metal with power and confessional vulnerability. “III” is quite possibly the heaviest song Sleep Theory has done. “Static” is unbridled revelry. Meanwhile, “Parasite” is a masterclass in straightforward rock. Elsewhere, tracks like “Gravity,” as the title suggests, are imbued with deep meaning. “Words Are Worthless” and “Afterglow” are potent ballads.  

All four Sleep Theory band members contributed vocals to Afterglow, and Cowell once again produced. Zakk Cervini (Bring Me The Horizon, Bad Omens, Architects) handled mixing duties.  

As Revolver observed, “Sleep Theory’s rise has been swift, but frontman Cullen Moore has been training for it his whole life.” One of his earliest memories involves listening to Bobby Brown’s 1988 New Jack Swing classic, “My Prerogative,” in the apartment he shared with his parents and sister.  

“I remember jumping on the couch, singing the song, just goofing off with my dad and having a good time doing it. I knew my dad used to sing. My mom and I used to watch a music video my dad made when he was younger. I knew I wanted to pursue music. It’s always been what I wanted to do.”  

Before Sleep Theory, he dabbled in local bands that never took off. He reasons that Sleep Theory has eclipsed his earlier efforts because the music is “not only something I enjoy doing, but there’s a message behind it that’s more digestible for everyone to understand. Whether you’re a kid, a parent, or a grandparent, you can listen to the songs and appreciate the messages and sounds within them.”  

Cullen’s signature style came together quickly in 2019 when he began collaborating with local producer David Cowell. Sleep Theory’s rich, emotional sound combines anthemic heavy rock like Linkin Park and Bring Me The Horizon with pop and R&B, equally adept at breakdowns and ballads. As the core duo, the pair developed Sleep Theory primarily as a studio project for the first few years.  

Bassist Paolo moved to the U.S. from the Philippines in 2016 to pursue music. He met Cullen through mutual friends on Facebook (and a shared love of video games), then in person at a birthday party, where the singer heard him play a Paramore song on the guitar. They linked up with drummer Benjamin, who brought his brother Daniel (a killer guitarist and screamer) into the fold. 

A few months after “Another Way” garnered 500k TikTok views in 36 hours, Sleep Theory became the first hard rock band chosen for SiriusXM and Pandora’s Artist Accelerator, a program that helps break new and emerging artists by leveraging the combined audience of two massive music services.  

The Paper Hearts EP arrived via Epitaph in September 2023. "As Sleep Theory, we've poured our hearts and souls into crafting our debut EP,” the group said in a shared statement. “Each track is a piece of our collective soul, woven into melodies and lyrics that resonate with our experiences and emotions. Paper Hearts is not just music; it's our story, our passion, and our dreams set to sound."  

An ever-growing audience connected with that Sleep Theory story as each successive Paper Hearts single gained momentum, from “Another Way” to “Numb” to “Gone Or Staying.” “Fallout” became the ninth most-played song on Active Rock radio in 2024. (Like “Another Way – Reimagined,” “Fallout—Reimagined” offered a cinematic and contemplative interpretation of the original track.) 

“We wrote the Paper Hearts EP without any expectations, and I think that’s partly why it did so well,” Cullen explains. “While we were aware of the expectations from other people for the full-length, we blocked that out and got to work. I am competitive, but that competition is only against myself.”  

Afterglow is a stunning display of diverse rock flavors. “The song ‘Threes’ is much heavier than people might expect from us,” Cullen says. “The two ballads on the record hit differently. I hope songs will help guide people through difficult emotions they may have trouble expressing in words.”  

Revolver rightly declared, “The band’s exciting mix of metalcore, pop, and R&B is clearly connecting in a big way – and has positioned Sleep Theory as one of heavy music’s biggest breakouts.” 

With Afterglow, Sleep Theory continues to exceed all expectations, setting new standards for the genre at every turn and pushing themselves to elevate their craft to new creative heights.