Peoplefood started when a couple of long time Beatles fanatic elementary school friends from League City, TX decided to start up a band and do what they love, music. "The Beatles are still kind of the original indie rock band for us. The idea that an album (Abbey Road) should be a cohesive group of songs that each stand alone in their own right is something that is elemental in what we do." Band members Byrne Rock (bass and vocals) and Ryan Williams (lead guitar) had their first live performance when they decided to try out for a 9th grade high school talent show. Although I'd like to claim Ryan's guitar playing was influenced by my playing "not even Stevie Ray Vaughn can hold a candle to the way you play, Mel. Every time you play, I actually want to quit because I'll never be that good. ;)." The wink makes me suspicious of Ryan's sincerity. He truly first learned how to play guitar by learning the 4 chords for "Hey Jude" and after the positive reinforcement from the "concert" thus formed their new collaboration and Byrne's drive to pick up the bass guitar he had snagged from his late friend Jeremy Barnes.
Byrne and Ryan used their schooling at the University of Texas as a parental ploy to move to Austin, TX and play music. When asked on how the decision was made on who would be the lead singer "Well, we took a vote on it. My vote counted twice because of some money that Ryan owed me...joking. It was something that happened naturally based on what felt right." - Byrne. "I still owe him money. I feel way more comfortable in the background. Only within the last couple years have I been able to do it while playing guitar at the same time." - Ryan. The requirement for their current drummer was that he or she had to have curly hair and be into soccer, which led them to bring on Chris Mitchell. Mike Pope was in the band for a while and in the recording process. He plays more of the guitar solos, but left for Los Angeles to not surprisingly edit a Beatles documentary. Now Ryan has compromised both his rhythm and solos for their live performances now that there are only 3 members.
Interestingly, these fellas have a very methodical writing process. The dissection of every instrument and lyric makes the songs believable and full of passion. An ambitious feat for a band that has only been around since 2007. "For us, the perfect song consists of the marriage between a great melody and an infectious beat. A beat is visceral while the melody is intellectual. Great songs make you think while making you want to move your ass at the same time. More than catering to any influence, this is what we try to hone in on when crafting music." The band has an incomparably unique sound with an interestingly diverse group of influences like underground electronic music, drum 'n' bass, and Aphex Twin. "A band that tied this experimental/electronic music with rock better than any other was Radiohead. I can remember listening to "Everything In It's Right Place," and feeling a chemical explosion in my brain bigger than any pill we had access to." Also, a lot of hip hop and reggae like Outkast, Tribe Called Quest, Blackalicious, Bob Marley, and Toots and the Maytals. Then to mix it up even more, some old school Motown artists like The Temptations and The Supremes. And of course Modest Mouse and Broken Social Scene. Their debut album The Status Foe EP (March 10, 2009) is on ITunes and Amazon. Upcoming tour info is up on Myspace.
Their description of the song "What We're Not": "The contrast you hear in the chorus vocals was a happy accident caused by the necessity of using two different mics. We basically had to go back and redo the verses with a different mic because we didn't like the original sound. Then our friend and mixing engineer, Andrew Solin, created some great effects that make two different worlds exist within the same songs." - Byrne. "You know, the mixing engineer really is just another member of the band in a lot of ways. We got so lucky with Andrew because his creativity and aesthetic are right in line with ours. In this particular instance, Andrew put a distortion plug-in on the mic we didn't like the sound of. This gave that vocal take a really gritty lo-fi sound that thought was cool. So he added that take to the mix just a little bit, with the clean vocal coming through a little louder over the top. Together, they have this really interesting blend that adds a whole new dimension to the chorus." - Ryan. The lyrics are "about allowing yourself creative freedom by refusing to self-impose a definition of who you are/must be." Be prepared to have the lyrics "We're not mainstream" from "What We're Not" stuck in your head all day. Well thought out arrangements let the songs have space when need be like in the song "Bigger Picture" with the sinister deep vocals letting up in the chorus. The same thing can be said for "Nature Verses" when the chorus comes into play they lighten up the intensity with a dreamy guitar solo at the end composing a serendipidous dynamic. The progressive "Losing Sleep" with supporting back-up vocals by Darci Fontenot have a constant crescendo intensity adding layers as the song moves along.
TOUR DATES:
06-30 Momo's - Austin, TX
(they are planning to add a few tour dates in late August in Houston, Denton, San Antonio, and Dallas)
Leave a comment