Formed in 2006, the group consists of vocalist Lawrence Taylor, guitarists Sean Long and Mat Welsh, bassist Aaran McKenzie and drummer Adam Savage.

While She Sleeps was formed in Renishaw, near Sheffield, England, in 2006 by vocalist Jordan Widdowson, drummer Adam Savage, bassist Aaran McKenzie and guitarists Mat Welsh and Sean Long.

[6] With growing public interest, the band finished work on The North Stands for Nothing which was released on 26 July 2010, through Small Town Records.

The band held an album launch show on 24 June at The Plug in their hometown and followed its release with extensive touring throughout 2010,[7] including an appearance at Sonisphere Festival.

[9] Following the release of their mini-album – backed by their extensive touring – the band's popularity continued to increase and interest from media and labels grew.

[10] They also began to work on new material between touring, releasing the non-album single "Be(lie)ve" through Good Fight Music on 15 March 2011.

[13] In October, the band went on their first headline tour through the UK and Europe, with support from Bury Tomorrow and Feed the Rhino.

[24] Following the success of their debut album, This Is the Six, released 13 August 2012, While She Sleeps embarked on a full 9 date headline UK tour during September with support from Polar, Crossfaith and Bleed from Within.

The latter part of 2013 saw vocalist Taylor suffer from vocal problems, leading to the band cancelling shows into 2014 for him to undergo throat surgery and recovery.

[29] On 23 February, they released a song titled "Silence Speaks" featuring Oliver Sykes, vocalist of Bring Me the Horizon.

[31] On 2 May 2018, the band announced the deluxe edition of You Are We set for release on 20 July 2018, featuring unheard material, demos and live tracks from their September 2017 stripped down show at St. Pancras Church.

In an interview with Metal Hammer, guitarist Sean Long stated "I think people know the name While She Sleeps, but they don't have a real idea of what sort of band we are.

[35] The song on the drive was a snippet of the first single, "Anti-Social", which premiered on 28 October on Daniel P. Carter's BBC Radio 1's Rock Show.

[38] Three weeks later, it was announced that the band would be supporting Architects on the North American leg of their "Holy Hell" headlining tour, along with Thy Art Is Murder.

They also revealed the album cover and unveiled their new members subscription service called Sleeps Society via the Patreon platform.

Guitarist Sean Long commented about the track: "We somehow managed to inject enough personal inspiration from each member for it to completely embody 'the Sleeps sound' with ease.

[49][50] On 19 April, the band shared that the album Sleeps Society would not be able to officially chart as they chose to sacrifice this to be able to keep paying their touring crew.

At the same time, the band officially revealed the album cover and the track list, which included the previously released single "Fakers Plague".

[59][60][61][62][63][64] They have cited Thrice, Slipknot, Foo Fighters, Underoath, Refused, Comeback Kid, Gallows and Alexisonfire as musical influences.

When questioned about the progression between their second EP The North Stands for Nothing and their 2012 studio album This Is the Six, guitarist Welsh said that they have not changed their sound drastically, saying "it's super heavy but then it's melodic too".

[1] In an EMP interview in 2013, the singer Taylor explained that the name of the band originated from a magazine with a story of a woman murdering her husband while he slept, and changed it to "she" instead of "he."