“We’ve pushed the limits for ourselves”: Casper based band Pleasure People release sophomore concept album, Why Am I Still Here?
As Casper based band Pleasure People are preparing for the release of their sophomore album Why Am I Still Here?, frontman Nick Cantine and bass player Mattias Russell, took a few minutes to talk to WPR during their album release week.
“Is the audio okay? We’re sitting in the car right now,” Cantine said as he took a few minutes away from the road. Pleasure People’s album release show is set for October 7 in Casper, with more shows lined up for the following days.
Pleasure People is difficult to define in terms of sound, their debut album All Black & Blue sat in the world of alternative folk with flecks of a swampy groove, and moments of bluegrass and blues. The group took a different approach to their follow up, though. “We’ve pushed the limits a little bit for ourselves and implemented certain effects: distorted electric guitar, big drums, congas and bongos.”
In the few years since their debut release, the band has racked up a solid audience across the West. “It didn’t start as a new album, just as a couple songs we needed,” Cantine said on the creation of the new record. “We played a big show in Casper and the crowd stood up, yelling ‘encore’, which we were pleased to hear, but we were scared because we didn’t have another song to give them.” The demand for more music triggered the group to write a song as soon as they could; the outcome, titled ‘One More Song’, is the first track on the new record.
Cantine was joined by banjolele player Julia Rottman to cowrite the record, going for a more character-driven style than on their debut.“Before we write new words, we need to visualise a story… its going to be a story that all fits together,” Cantine said of the writing process. Between the pair, Why Am I Still Here? Became a concept album centred on the theme of grief. The six tracks move through the five stages of grief with a song of closure and acceptance ending the album.
“Something we all deal with, unfortunately, is loss. It’s a very real kind of subject.” Although a deeply personal topic, made even more moving with Cantine dealing with family loss during recording, the album is open to interpretation, an offering to the band’s listeners to find their own place in the story and recognise our own grieving process in the music.
When it comes to live performances of the new record, the band is hoping to offer that same reflective experience: “I like to make a room go as quiet as possible,” Cantine explains. “When we play live, people say ‘it sounds so different, there’s so much space’. I like that part.”
Pleasure People are playing the first day of Laramie’s Snow Train Music Festival, taking to The Cowboy stage on Thursday October 8th. “I think Snow Train will keep getting better and better, but if you don’t see it in year two, you’re bound to miss something,” Cantine says. “If you’re looking for a one-stop shop example of the Wyoming music scene, Snow Train is the place to find it,” Mattias added.
Why Am I Still Here? will be released on YouTube and Bandcamp on Wednesday October 7, with the album available for streaming on all major platforms a couple of weeks later.
Pleasure People will be celebrating the album release with shows in Laramie on October 8, Sheridan on October 9, and Bozeman, MT on October 10 with current lineup Nick Cantine on guitar and vocals, Julia Rottmann on banjolele, Mattias Russell on bass, Ricky Verow on percussion, and John May on guitar and mandolin.