News

PEOPLE CLUB share new single “Damn”

• 29th Apr 2021

After recently announcing their new EP ‘Take Me Home‘ is set for release May 7th, Berlin-based five-piece People Club are sharing their new single “Damn“, taken from the record, which looks at exploring internet pornography addiction.

Speaking about the track, the band said “‘Damn’ tackles the subject of internet pornography addiction, and how this very 21st century problem can affect people’s lives. We wanted to examine how porn addicts can actually be super high-functioning and never get ‘found out’, yet actually can suffer seriously as a result of their habit. We wanted also to capture some of the more abstract symptoms that might accompany the affliction, i.e. how it might affect one’s love life, and the security measures one might go to to avoid detection online, e.g. ‘tip-toe, incognito mode’.   

We also wanted to experiment with some fine art techniques – ‘compositional chiaroscuro’ and ‘tenebrism’ in this song.  The violent contrast between light and dark in the works of Italian Baroque-era painter Artemisia Gentileschi was really inspiring our process during this period and we tried to evoke that in the semantic interplay and presentation of the song’s themes.”

Listen to “Damn” via other streaming services here: https://peopleclub.lnk.to/Damn

The Take Me Home EP was written over the course of 2019, almost exclusively in their studio in East Berlin.  The songs tackle various themes – addiction, death, lovelessness. According to the band, “What the songs have in common is a distillation of 21st century malaise, and all the psychic entanglements that comfort and haunt us everyday”.

The songs were recorded at Bewake studios in Kreuzberg, Berlin in November 2019 with Martin ‘Lucky’ Waschkowitsch and mixed by Joe Harling. “We had these tracks earmarked for release in 2020, but unfortunately we were held back from our plans by the pandemic, along with so many other artists.  It’s deeply cathartic for us to finally be able to release these songs”.

Forming in Berlin in the sticky summer of 2018, the band met online over the seedy pages of craigslist. Guitarist Saxon Gable had placed an ad amongst the foot fetishists, looking for like-minded individuals to start a serious musical project. Uniquely, none of the five (soon to be band members) were German, they were all immigrants who had either just moved to the city, or were in the process of doing so when they responded to the ad.

Saxon and bassist Ray Sonder had just left their lives in Sydney, Australia to return to Berlin where they had spent a summer previously. Shortly afterwards, they met keyboardist Pete Costello, a no-nonsense northerner from Leeds, leaving his life as a club promoter behind him in London. In the following months, they were joined by drummer Drew Deal, a Kiwi from the North Island who was producing records in Capgun studios there and finally, singer Sarah Martin from Boston, Massachusetts who was getting frustrated with her life in NYC. Sarah felt forced out of the USA, becoming increasingly disillusioned and frustrated by her country and its politics.

It soon became clear that all five members shared a common vision and a desire for their music to say something. Built on a love of the traditions and recording techniques of the great American records of the 1970s and the artistry of Marvin Gaye, and Gil Scott Heron in particular, the band started to write songs with a message.

The band spent their first year locked in their studio, writing and discarding over 40 songs before emerging with their first release, the split 12″ ‘Lonesome/Better’. Met immediately with positive acclaim, the tracks were played extensively on BBC radio 1, with Lonesome picked by Jack Saunders as one of his coveted “Next Wave” tracks.

After impressive sell out first headline shows in London and Berlin, the band started to attract industry attention. Signing with ie:music, legendary London based management company and Sarah Besnard at ATC- Live, renowned for breaking Fontaines DC, the band were poised for a huge year in 2020. Confirmed shows at The Great Escape, Electric Picnic and many more were all wiped out by COVID-19. Not to be deterred, the band capitalised on the lockdown, using the lack of gigs to focus on writing.

Take Me Home is due for release on May 7th, distributed through Kartel Music Group, the record will be available through all good stores or through the band’s website.