Search - People Get Ready :: People Get Ready EP

People Get Ready's self-titled EP has been described by some as a funky Twin Peaks or as a romp in the garden of strange delights. Four tracks encompassing some of the compositions from the original piece debuted at The Kitchen as part its series 'Dance and Process', and others unique to the EP. People Get Ready EP will be followed by an LP of additional material in late spring / early summer 2012. Steven Reker, an Arizona native who moved to New York in the early aughts, formed People Get Ready in the summer of 2009 with co-conspirator Luke Fasano. The two had seen their paths cross over the years at several performances featuring both music and dance - including a chance encounter at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, where Fasano was playing percussion with his then-band Yeasayer and Reker was dancing and playing guitar on David Byrne's 2008-2009 world tour. Sensing a pattern and a common bond, the two set out to start a project that combined contemporary dance and performance with the live band experience. In December 2009 they had their first show: a slot in the Kitchen's Dance and Process series. Featuring 5 musicians and dancers, the piece drew from music that Reker had written while on tour with Byrne and drew inspiration from his work with choreographer Yasuko Yokoshi and filmmaker Miranda July, both of whom had shaped Reker's desire to make performance work within a band context. A particularly strong response to the piece led The Kitchen to invite Reker back to make a full-length piece to premier in April 2011. Jen Goma (A Sunny Day In Glasgow) and James Rickman (Slow Gherkin) joined in the summer of 2010, completing a lineup that could swing comfortably between dance venues and more conventional live music settings. Prior to the debut of the full-length Kitchen show they also chose to play around Brooklyn and Manhattan just as a band, building a broader foundation for their upcoming Kitchen performance. This was followed by a winter residency at Robert Wilson's Watermill Center, where they expanded upon their first performance piece: adding movement pieces, projections and found sound to live music, they dubbed their creation a multisensory mixtape. Filling the Kitchen for three nights, the show received glowing reviews - the New York Times called it an experience beyond hearing music in a club or viewing a dance - and several additional requests for both the piece and the music itself followed. Upcoming performances are currently being scheduled in theaters and art spaces around North America. In addition to the full-form dance piece, the band will also continue to play more traditional shows at regular rock venues.