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Photo by Eric Crain

Interviewing a band always brings a different energy than interviewing a single artist. There’s multiple voices, all chiming in to share their passion about their art. Put it on Zoom and there’s an added level of chaos, but also an added level of fun. About an hour before I sat down with Common People, they posted on their Instagram story that they were having car troubles. I had no idea what to expect when I logged on to the Zoom; would they be joining me from the side of the road? Thankfully the guys were able to find a Love’s Travel Stop (their new favorite place to stop on the road) and all five members of the band were logged on and ready to chat about their debut EP Games. Nicky, Sam, Cormac, Konrad, and Asher shared all about their EP, working with Cage the Elephant’s Brad Shultz, and their early days at USC. 

Who is Common People? Both as individuals and as a band. And if you want you guys can describe each other. 

Nicky: It’s made up of five of us, who are here on the Zoom call. I’m Nicky. I sing and play guitar. Should we go around and say our names?

Sam: I kind of want to have you describe all of us.

Nicky: I’ll do some describing. Up here in the top left we have Asher Thomson. He is from San Francisco and he plays guitar and he is a very good runner and walker. Up next we have Cormac Cadden who plays drums and is from San Diego. Not only is he a drummer, he is also the number one take haver in the band, he has the most opinions on things and is 99% of the time right about everything. Then we have Konrad Ulich, he plays the bass and is from L.A and Malibu, California. Konrad is the philosopher of the band, he’s very good at philosophizing about things. And last but not least we have Sam Belzer who plays guitar. He is the best at having his headphones on in the van, he’s really good at that.

Sam: That’s a good trait to have.

Konrad: Probably the best out of everything you just said there. 

Nicky: I think that gives a pretty good gauge of the band.

Absolutely. I love the non-music tidbits in there. We’re here to talk about your debut EP, which is huge! First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be releasing your debut project?

Konrad: It feels good! It feels like a culmination of a long time. I think we’re just excited to be finally actively releasing music and playing shows because it was about a year of recording before we even released our first song. It feels good to be putting stuff out in the world rather than holding on to it. 

Nicky: We’re just really grateful to have the opportunity to be releasing music. It’s pretty awesome. There’s so much good music coming out right now, to be able to release something in such a great time of music is cool and we’re really pumped about it. 

Where did the title Games come from?

Konrad: The title was going to be the title of a song called “Rain” which is on the EP. We ended up changing the name of that song to “Rain” and I think Games kind of stuck and felt good to us.

Sam: I think we also wanted to have a title that didn’t really say too much, it didn’t put a super clear image in your mind. I think the title will mean something different before you listen and after. That was kind of a goal.

Nicky: Even within the band I think it has different meanings for different people. I think that’s cool, not limiting something to mean one thing. That’s something we like to do as a band. 

I’d love to hear what everyone’s favorite song is.

Nicky: Ooo I don’t even know if we know!

Konrad: It’s so hard because we’ve listened to them so many times, it gets actually impossible to say.

Sam: My favorite one is usually the one that’s about to come out, so right now it’s “Don’t Fall.”

Cormac: That’s my favorite too.

Nicky: I will third that. 

Asher: I don’t have a favorite.

What’s the Common People process for writing a song? Obviously there’s five of you in the band. Is everyone bringing in their own ideas?

Nicky: I think it depends on the song. It's one of those things where we have a lot of different people that write in different ways and bring different things to the table. Every song comes in at a different place but it doesn’t feel like a completed thing until everyone has their hands on it. 

Asher: I can also second that, like Nicky said it’s not finished until everyone’s had their say but at the same time no one ever forces their hand on a track. 

Speaking of debuts, you made your festival debut recently in February! I’m sure that was crazy. I’d love to hear how prepared for that, especially compared to one of your own shows. 

Nicky: That’s a good question because we felt like we spent a lot of the beginning of the year rehearsing for the RKS (Rainbow Kitten Surprise) shows, building our setlist, and trying to get really tight. We were lucky enough to play some of the stages, like the Salt Shed and MGM Fenway, we played those when we opened for Cage the Elephant. So there was some level of familiarity there but it had been a while and it was still a big jump to playing big stages like that. The festival one turned out to be, there was a different energy going into that one. We hadn't played many shows outside, it was really hot, it was a huge stage. It’s one of those things where, for me personally, I found myself being like “Oh, this is totally new,” even though we had played in front of a lot of people before. But it was an amazing experience, it’s a beautiful festival, right on the river, it was a beautiful day. It was a good way to get thrown into the freezing cold water, that’s kind of what it felt like. Mainstage at a festival really got us fired up for the rest of the tour. We’re just so lucky to have been included, the lineup was killer, they do such a good job, it was just fantastic.

Was there anything about performing outside that surprised you? 

Nicky: It was hot! I put sunscreen on my face and it didn’t really work, and then with the sweat it gets in the eyes, so don’t be afraid to wear shades even if you’re trying not to be too cool for school. 

Konrad: The sunscreen thing is big. My mom came up to me after the show and was like “I saw you crying during one of the songs, that's so awesome,” and I was like “No, the sunscreen was in my eyes.”

Sam: Mine is a nerdy thing. We had played outside but more evening, dusk, sunset stuff. This was the middle of the day and I couldn’t see any of the lights on my guitar pedals because of how bright it was. That was kind of like flying blind. 

That’s crazy! That would stress me out.

Nicky: It’s definitely one of those things where you learn, where we didn’t think we had anything to learn. But then afterwards it’s like okay now we know how to do a middle of the day, 90 degree weather set. It was still awesome though, the screens were huge! It was awesome to see how far the music could be heard. 

Your USC roots remind me of my college days, going to house parties with bands made up of music school students. How did these shows prepare you for bigger stages like the Lollapalooza after show and opening for RKS?

Sam: I think that if anything it was great to start playing in those environments where there’s a lot less stress compared to playing your first shows at a venue with a proper sound guy. It was good for us to spend a while playing those shows where nobody could really hear us anyway. It was good for us to get in front of people and feel what it’s like to be on stage. 

Cormac: I think it was a really good launchpad too. It was great having that built in audience. Like Sam said doing more casual things was nice because we were definitely not in a place to be playing some of the places that we have now

Nicky: I’ll also add, we would look around and there were not a lot of college parties with bands at our school. At USC it’s very DJ world, which is different from a lot of the college towns we’ve been going through recently. We would basically just make our friends listen to the band. We were dragging around our own speakers, building our own stages, it was so fun. Even though looking back on it, it doesn’t sound that great, those were the times where we look back on them so fondly now. It was the perfect way to start. 

You guys have already gotten the chance to tour with some pretty cool acts, Cage the Elephant, RKS, currently Congress the Band, and you’ll be joining the Bends on tour soon as well. Are there any other bucket list acts to tour with?

Asher: Wunderhorse.

Sam: Nice! I think honestly we’re all looking forward to hopefully doing headline tours. I don’t know, somebody else take it.

Asher: I agree with Sam that we would like to headline but I personally really like going out with another band. What we learned from RKS, and just from touring with other bands, Cage too, is how much you learn from playing with other bands, watching their sets. We’ve come out of both of those tours with stuff that we probably wouldn’t have expected. Watching another act is pretty inspiring, makes you want to incorporate new stuff into your stuff.

Nicky: There’s a few bands, Wunderhorse is one of them, Geese, MJ Lenderman, there’s a lot of musicians out there that are just crushing that we’re super inspired by. Being able to go out with anybody is a real privilege. You learn a lot, it’s an amazing opportunity and gift to be able to go out with a band and connect with the people who are there to see them. Opening for people is pretty awesome but, yes headline tour, that will be an amazing day when that arrives. 

Continuing with the Cage the Elephant theme, this EP was produced by Brad Shultz. What was it like working with him?

Konrad: It was awesome. We’ve often described Brad as a crazy uncle but he is a blessing to work with and have as a mentor and also a friend. He coaches us through a lot of show stuff, a lot of production stuff, even writing stuff. He’s a very good guy to have on your team. 

Nicky: It’s a real treat. We all grew up in the time when “Cigarette Daydreams” and songs like that, were a part of our childhood. Getting to work with someone like that, who has also become a mentor, and a friend and brother to us has been an amazing experience. We’re very lucky and also very excited to keep working, keep making new things. 

I’ve got a couple fun questions to wrap up. First of all Cormac, since you're the takes guy, any hot takes you want to share with the group?

Cormac: One of my takes recently, shoutout to Hunter, RKS’s LD, who’s crushing it. I love EDM, I love the production side of it and I think that rock music can take some notes and do some really cool stuff with their live shows with lighting. I think of Justice’s lighting rig, stuff like that is just unbelievable. I think if we ever had a budget, it would be super, super cool to do insane light shows alongside the music we’re playing on stage. 

Sam: I would like it to be pitch black on the stage.

Nicky: Sharks with laser beams on their heads. 

Cormac: Exactly. 

Lots of ideas bouncing around here, I love it. Alright last question. Who are your OnesToWatch? Who are you listening to that we need to be listening to? 

Konrad: I’m listening to a guy named Truman Sinclair a lot, who’s very, very cool. Kind of folk rock vibes out of L.A. 

Sam: I would say Westside Cowboy.

Nicky: I would say this pretty small band Radiohead.

Sam: I could see them maybe having success. 

Cormac: There’s an L.A. based artist named Kinji that I found. I’ve been listening to their EP Thunderhead a lot recently. 

Asher: GracieHorse is one that me and Sam really dig.

Nicky: I would also say our buddies The Bends and Congress.

Sam: Congress!

Listen to "Games" below: