Meet People I’ve Met, the New York band with their eyes on the big time

Leaving the year-round sunshine of Los Angeles for the unpredictable climes of New York City isn’t for the faint hearted. But when it came to getting their act together as a band, that’s exactly what People I’ve Met had to do.

The rising US rockers – Moses Martin, Orlando Wiltshire and Andrew Suster – met at school in California, but headed to New York with a desire to record music and cut their teeth as a live band.

Martin is the son of Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, but their sound belongs in another lane entirely. On their debut EP Bunny, which arrived earlier this year, there’s shade of early The 1975 and a long lineage of alt-rock sounds writ large.

“We’ve found a confidence in ourselves and the trust we’ve found in our own tastes and knowing what feels right and that’s something that kind of takes a while to accumulate,” says Moses.

Now, with more music on the horizon and a series of gigs at Reading & Leeds Festival this weekend, People I’ve Met are determined to bring those sounds to the biggest crowds possible.

‘Bunny’ is out in the world, but I wondered if you’re now recording and pushing forward towards the next thing, Moses?

100 percent. We’re always toying around with ideas and writing, and experimenting with stuff. I also think that the way that the musical climate is right now, excess is kind of the way to go. You can’t really be too exclusive or careful with what you put out, you know. The more it stands out, the more you can populate the market and the more you have a chance of having a moment, you know.

You met at school, but took a while before you released your first song and began to develop a reputation. Why was that the case?

Moses: It was very conscious, I think we wanted to ensure that by the time we came out with any music, it was really something that we were very proud of and really felt like was close to the fullest of our potential. Because when you put something out, that’s forever. And there were times when we considered it in high school, but we really thought we should wait until we had the resources and the ability and experience and understanding of what we wanted this band to be. We just really wanted to make sure all of that knowledge was solidified before deciding to do anything permanent, you know.

Was there any guiding lights, musically speaking, that helped you work out what you wanted this band to be?

Andrew: I couldn’t point to anything specifically, but we’ve always wanted to chase our own sound and I feel like we’re starting to strike gold, because I feel like we’ve just started to really hone in on what we wanna be and what we wanna like operate as.

Orlando: From my perspective, there’s been a lot of little moments over time that have reaffirmed that things are working. Within the first few months of the band there was a lot of curiosity and experimentation, but now there’s these moments of realising something is cool and it just keeps us going. That’s how I see it!

Moses: We’ve found a confidence in ourselves and the trust we’ve found in our own tastes and knowing what feels right and that’s something that kind of takes a while to accumulate, and I think one of the advantages of having been a band for a relatively long time, you know, in relation to our age, is that we’ve just done it so much that if we all know this feels really great, then it’s the right thing.

Being friends first, does that mean you know how to avoid pushing each other’s buttons too?

Andrew: We definitely know how to push each other’s buttons! But at the same time, especially at the last time of recording, it became a thing of getting food firs. We’re super self-aware of it at this point, but like, inevitably, like everyone has this sort of thing where it means we’re basically in a polyamorous relationship. We’ve got a lot of facets to this thing.

I found the music video for ‘Bastards’ quite interesting. You are a band that very much formed in Los Angeles, but that video couldn’t be more British in its essence. Why did you want to take that route?

Moses: Well, I think one of the main things was that the director we worked with, Ben Harris, is from London and we loved the way his stuff looked. So it was kind of a spontaneous thing of should we just go to London to film it?

And I think the other part is that London is also just incredible and I think the aesthetics of it make for a really fun music video. I’m half English and we filmed in Belsize Park, which is literally where I used to live. London feels a lot more musical than a lot of other cities in some ways too, and England in general is really receptive to new music and there is a culture of giving bands a chance and I think is really special. It just felt like a fun place to do it.

Belsize Park is basically Camden, an area which is intrinsic to your dad’s story with Coldplay, Moses. Have you seen any gigs there?

Moses: I haven’t and I feel bad about that! Maybe next time I’m back I’ll try and do that.

By extension, Moses, your parents are pretty prolific and that inevitably lends itself to questions being asked about advantages within the music industry. How do you respond to that?

Yeah, it’s definitely something to be reckoned with. I think the ultimate thing is that I’m very grateful to be in the position I’m in and I have a musical DNA through my parents. My parents are incredible and I’m very grateful to be in the position I’m in. But what I’m trying to say is that yes, we acknowledge it and we’re grateful for it, but we’re doing something that is special and unique to us, and that we really care about.

And so ultimately, whatever gets people to listen to the music really, like wherever they come from, we welcome any fan. We really just love it and I particularly am grateful also to have parents who are supportive of this because they know what it’s like.

Do you ever use your dad as a sounding board for your songs?

Yeah I really trust his opinion. But it’s the same with my Mum too, she has great taste.

And what’s next?

Orlando: We’re just out of the studio working on the next project and we’re very hyped about that. I think it just feels like the next step from the last EP. And then a lot more live shows. More music!