Graveyard Club
Minneapolis, MN | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
Minneapolis-based foursome Graveyard Club kicked off their 2016 at Humans Win! studio to write and record their sophomore record Cellar Door. Today we’re pleased to premiere their latest single Nightcrawler — a perfect slice of eighties-infused, dreamy goth-rock. Although a darker release, Nightcrawler serves as an anthemic and melodious single with its haunting harmonies and upbeat, dance-inducing synth. When asked about the single, Graveyard Club shared with AMBY;
“Nightcrawler was the first song we finished as a band after completing our last record. At the time, I was recording a large amount of demos trying to pin down what our next record should sound like. This one stuck out immediately for all of us and came together within an hour. In a lot of ways, this song set the tone for what the rest of the record would become.
At the time of writing Nightcrawler, I was struggling with a lot of anxieties regarding growing older and struggling with accepting/rejecting the process of aging. I was also reading a lot of old Ray Bradbury horror stories and listening to 1980’s Bruce Springsteen records. I wanted these songs to contain the dark poetic language of Bradbury and also feel large and anthemic. My hope is that Nightcrawler somehow captured those forces.”
Exclusively stream Nightcrawler on AMBY and follow updates from Graveyard Club below. - A Music Blog, Yea?
The record's charming naiveté leaves a lovely aftertaste, and it vividly captures the feeling of being in a young band: alert, but not yet overly concerned with outside factors; mindful, but still entranced by the sheer fun of creating music. Over the course of three years, the four members of Graveyard Club have grown and evolved together, as evidenced by their mutating new-wave sound.
City Pages caught up with the band before their album-release party for Cellar Door at 7th St. Entry this Saturday. We talked about their updated aesthetic and how they created a world built around nostalgia, love, and death on the new LP. - City Pages
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Graveyard Club recorded a collection of haunted, synth-laden songs in a
19th century mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota in the fall of 2013. These
songs would comprise the group’s lo-fi debut EP Sleepwalk, released in
January 2014. Founding members Matthew Schufman (vocals, synths) and
Michael Wojtalewicz (guitar) began the project inspired by a unique list
of shared interests: the classic short stories of sci-fi author Ray
Bradbury, the music of Ryan Gosling’s little-known band Dead Man’s
Bones, and a fascination with both 50’s crooners and 80’s pop music.
By the spring of 2014, the band had expanded to include members Cory
Jacobs (drums) and Amanda Zimmerman (bass, vocals). The newly bolstered
lineup resulted in a more dynamic sound, adding a brighter
dance-friendly feel to the spooky retro vibes of their earlier work.
The four-piece then teamed with Ed Ackerson at Flowers Studio in
Minneapolis to record their first full-length album, Nightingale. This
release saw singles “Into the Dark,” “The Night is Mine,” and “Fire in
the Sky” quickly become fan-favorites. During this time the band also
began establishing a reputation for their live shows around the Twin
Cities and surrounding areas, including playing supporting slots for
various indie acts such as The Drums and Cayucas.
In the latter half of 2015 and early 2016, Graveyard Club wrote and
recorded their sophomore LP, Cellar Door at Humans Win! studio in
Minneapolis. The album stays true to their dreamy new-wave sound while
venturing into more ambitious sonic territory. The songs range from
sugary dance-pop (No Heart, Dying Days, Diamond City), to dark and surfy
(Lose My Vision, Forever), to boldly anthemic (Nightcrawler, Werewolf
Teeth). Lyrically, Schufman consistently eschews personal narrative in
favor of gothic-romantic imagery, tackling larger bittersweet themes of
nostalgia, love, and death.
Band Members
Links
