Client. are a young band from Hannover, Germany who are about to release their debut full-length Joy Is The Only Treat. If you’re into bands like Basement, Title Fight and Balance and Composure, you should definitely give these guys a listen. They have just finished up a European tour with AYS and Warbrain and are currently preparing for their album release. I spoke to frontman André Förster about the new album and future plans. Enjoy the read.
Please introduce yourself and your band.
“My name is André Förster and I sing in a band called Client.. We came together in early 2012 and have been going for the pop punk/ alternative rock sound ever since. So far we put out a demo, a self-titled EP and another EP named “I Am Well”. For this year we have a full-length coming out this fall on Street Survival Records which we are really proud of. It’s going to be called “Joy Is The Only Treat”. Other than this we are just five friends making music and having a great time hanging out and playing shows together.”
How did you come up with the band name?
“Four of us played in a quite shitty sounding band before and we had plenty of name changes with that band because we were never satisfied. With Client. we wanted to make sure that we chose a name that we all like and that was only one word. I can’t really remember who exactly came up with Client. but in the end I guess we all just liked it. The name has no actual deeper meaning or anything. We just thought it was suitable for our music.”
Why did you add the period behind Client.?
“I like certain kinds of poetry and the artistic ways that some authors are able to use words and letters to create something special. Though we’re not trying to seem super artistic or anything, we thought the name looked more like a small sentence than just a word after we added the period. We were all really into the idea and just kept it like that. In the end it turned out that it was actually really important to keep the period, since we later found out that there already is a quite well-known band called Client. Now we hope that the period will help us not getting into some kind of litigation with the other band…”
Please define your sound in three words and elaborate on that.
“Varied: I know that it’s a matter of subjectivity whether someone thinks a band has a varied sound or not but I think that especially with the upcoming album, we were able to make the songs really differ from eachother. We don’t want our songs to just sound like one song.
Warm: Some people either tell me that they listen to Client. in the summer sun or in autumn underneath their blankets haha. But in summary I guess people just like to listen to our music when they’re warm.
Blurry: Alex and I love the blurry shoegaze sound and we tried to let this influence some of our songs. I don’t know if it’s noticeable for anyone but even if it’s not, that’s perfectly fine as well.”
“Joy Is The Only Treat” will be released on 12″ vinyl this fall. What’s the story behind this release?
“When we started Client. we couldn’t imagine that we would ever be releasing a full-length. After the release of “I Am Well” we got some really awesome feedback and people were questioning us if there was any plan for recording a full-length. This seemed as such a big step for us and we weren’t sure if our band was capable of doing this. We tried anyways. Now that we got everything written and recorded we are more than happy with how it turned out. For me personally it’s the best record we have ever done. Every song has its own story to it. Lyrically it’s about the ways and struggles that either I or people I know experienced in their pursuit for happiness in life. In the end only joy is the only treat.”
How does this story translate to the artwork that was done by Florian Schommer (AYS)?
“When I talked to Florian about the idea behind the record we pretty much were on the same level and could both work with the ideas we had for the artwork. I told him that I would like a pool-scenery in front of a 70’s looking house. He took this to his mind and started working with it. As said, the release is about different ways people treat themselves to find joy in their life. This cover displays some of these ways whether it’s by moving into a little town into their own nice house or by getting a beautiful young girlfriend and buying her luxury items.”
What’s next once the LP is out?
“We’re talking about releasing the LP in the US and in Australia. We’d also like to tour with this record as much as we can and as long as our private circumstances allow it. Our tour with AYS and Warbrain just came to its end and we really enjoyed playing shows in different countries, so we definitely keep trying to play more shows outside of Germany. All of us are excited to see what will be possible for us to do in the future.”
Joy Is The Only Treat will be released this fall through Street Survival Records and Evil Greed. Pre-orders are available now; click here for regular vinyl and here for exclusive vinyl, t-shirts, hoodies and posters.
Picture by Johannes Böttge
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