By Daniel Warren Hill
New York City rock trio, Persons, consisting of Joe Reichel (bass), Eric Ryrie (guitar), and Terry Edelmen (drums) met one another at local shows in Brooklyn and “decided to start a new band with an emphasis on collaborating as equal partners and contributors.” As the band has just released their debut single, “You Won’t,” we perceive that any formal business has been as thoroughly explored as the music featured in their public debut.
“I think it encapsulates a lot of what we’re trying to do as a band,” says Ryrie. “Playing around with odd meters and keeping ourselves entertained musically while still delivering hooks and making something that is accessible at its core.”
You can hear Person’s musical influences from the early 90s to present day power-pop and alternative rock acts such as Jellyfish and Weezer, and word around the water cooler is they seem very akin to OK Go. Personally, I was struck by the familiar feelings I received while listening to Washington D.C. area act Alex Vans & The Hideaway who made their rounds on the east coast about a decade ago. You will most likely feel some familiarity as well, but if you have trouble putting your finger on this distinct sound, it is entirely understandable.
The band prides itself on sounding bigger than just three performers; a feat they accomplish not only musically, but by each member contributing vocally, resulting in complex and lush harmonies. Reichel, Ryrie, and Edelmen all have experience as a front-person in other acts, which lends a lot of perspective as songwriters as well as for how the trio’s dynamics might change from studio to stage. “We put a lot of thought into the arrangements, both instrumentally and vocally,” says Edelmen.
They’ve also put a lot of thought into the music video directed by David Mund. “You Won’t” is about “gaining freedom from a circumstance that you think is the impediment preventing you from accomplishing your goals and finding that it had nothing to do with the circumstance,” explains guitarist Eric Ryrie, who sings lead on the track. “It’s just you standing in your own way.”
You’ll see that embodied in the band’s lethargy throughout the beginning of the video while their colorful alter egos steal the show before the band members come to their senses and win back the hearts of their audience. Check out the video below and be sure to add Persons to your list of people to watch (or listen for) in 2022. If this is the band’s entrance to the world, we cannot wait to see what they do in the months and years to come.
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Daniel Warren Hill is an American musician, writer, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the frontman for Washington DC area Alternative Rock band YellowTieGuy, as co-founder of Capitol Groove Collective, and increasing the exposure of artists on a global scale through his work with Alchemical Records.
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