Following the release of their 'Kil Scott' EP last year, Berlin-based indie soul five-piece People Club have just unveiled their new single "Lay Down Your Weapons".
Speaking about the track, the band said
"''Lay Down Your Weapons' is about issues that weigh heavy on our hearts. It was originally written in 2017 about issues of police brutality and the police militarisation that black and brown folks have disproportionately faced, and unfortunately we are still fighting these issues today.
We are so proud of all the people on the front lines fighting for justice, for institutional reform/dissolution, for legislation, and for the safety and liberty that our BIPOC and LGBTQIA communities have long since deserved. We were asking..but now we’re demanding.
We deserve justice, we deserve freedom, we deserve that our lives are valued. Black lives matter and defund the mother fucking police."
Mixing the lo-fi, slacker sensibility of Mac DeMarco’s earlier output with the soulful arrangements of Detroit-era Tamla Motown records, the five-piece mesh lavish synthesisers, lilting guitars and tough east coast vocals to create a sound that is truly their own.
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 keyboard player 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 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 it’s 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, 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'.
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, Reeperbahn, 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.
"Lay Down Your Weapons" is the first single release in a string of exciting new material from the band.
