The Waking Eyes is a rock band from Winnipeg and Steinbach, Manitoba. History The band formed after the break-up of two other Manitoba bands, The Pets from Steinbach and Novillero from Winnipeg. In 2002 the Waking Eyes released a full-length album, Combing the Clouds. This was followed up by their 2004 album, Video Sound. The line up in the band got changed when bassist, Russ Duerksen left and Joey Penner was introduced. The band has been on several tours, having travelled all across Canada, as well as into the United States and to overseas locations such as Germany for POPKOMM's "Kick it like Canada". In 2005 the group was nominated for a Juno Award for New Group of the Year but lost to Alexisonfire. The Waking Eyes spent the better part of 2006 holed-up in their Winnipeg jam space, writing and demoing songs for their next album. Pre-production took place in Winnipeg during February 2007.