“Nameless,” the single from Sleepy Rye’s debut EP, “A Bit of a Non-Person,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week. PHOTO BY KATIE MILLER 

After years of tending to other people’s music as recording engineer and session drummer at AGL Sounds studio in Cherry Hill, Ryan Hillsinger has stepped out from behind the board as singer-songwriter Sleepy Rye to release a debut EP, “A Bit Of A Non-Person.”

The EP’s single, "Nameless,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week. 

As the Makin Waves Song of the Week, “Nameless” also can be heard between 6 and 8 p.m. on March 18 on “Radio Jersey” at ThePenguinRocks.com. 

Though Sleepy Rye started making music 15 years ago for crushes and school assignments, they said they do it now to “avoid the impossible weight of feelings.” As a soundtrack to those feelings, “A Bit Of A Non-Person” features hard-hitting drums, melodious bass lines, and crunchy guitars supporting moody, atmospheric vocals. The Sufjan Stevens-meets-Coheed and Cambria-like record is a must-listen for fans of Incubus, Minus the Bear, and Bayside.

“‘A Bit Of A Non-Person’ is an album about facing and naming the imbalances in one’s life,” Sleepy Rye said. 

About the choppy verses and fluid, floating hooks of the eerie-sounding “Nameless,” they added, “If you’ve ever come down from a trip and re-evaluated your life decisions, these lyrics should speak right to you.”

“A Bit Of A Non-Person” also features:

• “Look Up,” a jaunty emo rock track with changing time signatures that carry the listener through the cycle of external and internal turmoil feeding one another endlessly, begging the question: where does it end?  


• “Shit I Need to Leave Behind,”more of a poem than a song that makes up in soaring harmonies what it lacks in instrumentation, while coming to terms with abuse


• “Never,” a love song without those vibes but with busy guitars and punchy, in-your-face drums and vocals.

Find more about Sleepy Rye on Instagram. 

Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. Follow Makin Waves on Facebook and contact Bob at [email protected].