People in the Daytime, an eclectic funk band from Cleveland, will be performing at The Union Friday. The group will be joined by local bands Laughing Chimes, Lavandula and The Houseguest.
Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show will start at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.
People in the Daytime consists of John Polace on keys, Evan Schonauer on guitar, Anthony Liotta on bass and Owen Barba on drums.
Each member comes from various parts of northeast Cleveland, and the band was formed from Polace working on a solo project for a career school. He and Liotta had played together in a band previously and were already familiar with one another. Schonauer joined when the two realized they needed a guitar player. Barba joined through a connection with Polace’s girlfriend, Julia Reed.
The group played some gigs together and formed a band, which has become the group now known as People in the Daylight.
Polace said it's hard to pinpoint to an exact genre to describe its music.
“I'd like to say we're pretty eclectic, and … we all just like a bunch of music,” Polace said. “Our music is a very loving regurgitation of everything that we love. We love a lot of funk, a lot of soul, a lot of hip hop, electronica, rock and roll, 2010s vibe music, indie, weird, random.”
Although the group only performs original songs, People in the Daytime take inspiration from other artists and different decades of music.
“(We’re inspired by) a lot of stuff from the '70s,” Polace said. “We were really into the Beach Boys this year, you know, but that's just one band.”
Along with experimenting with a variety of genres, the band also takes inspiration from a wide range of artists.
“I think the other night, I was explaining it to someone, and I was just like, ‘We listen to everything,’” Schonauer added. “We intently listen to everything from Death Grips to Stevie Wonder.”
The group is currently on its second tour, focusing on the Midwest region and Ohio college towns. Tour stops have included Toledo, Detroit, Illinois and Indiana.
The band expressed a love for the Athens area, including the atmosphere and The Union.
“We've played (in Athens) a couple times now, and everyone's always been really loving and nice,” Polace said. “They like our fun songs and dance when we play, and The Union's really cool, they have really good sound. We just have a fun time every time we're in Athens, it's like its own little universe.”
As they round out the last few stops of the tour, the band is currently working on its upcoming self-titled album, which will be recorded to tape.
“We're using cassette tapes and it's going to be a tape album, which will sound a lot different than our first one, which we're pretty excited about,” Polace said. •“We're also going to be crowdfunding a vinyl release for our self-titled album. I think we've all always wanted to have our music on a vinyl record, that's like a dream.”
Not only does People in the Daytime’s music and overall sound set them apart from other bands in the Cleveland scene, but their performance style as well.
“I think one thing that sets us apart, aside from sound and genre, which a lot of people have told us … this mix of like, funk and indie pop and alternative, nobody's doing what y'all are doing, and that means a lot,” Liotta added. “But I think even more than that, the way we present ourselves, not just in aesthetics, but who we are when we perform.”
The band has a goal of resonating with the audience by showing its personalities through its performances.
“You want to put all the cards on the table,” Liotta said. “People are like, ‘Alright, I know exactly what they're doing, exactly what they're going for, all the barriers they've broken down.’ For me, that's the thing I value the most in trying to create a specific, interesting experience with the listener, whether it be through our performance or music or art and the merch, I just want it all to be who we are.”
