“I think our music is a bit melodramatic, dark, and fun,” says Sculpture Club guitarist/vocalist, Chaz Costello when asked how to describe the band to new listeners. “That may sound a little paradoxical, but I hope it evokes a similar “Let’s dance to Joy Division” type feeling. Celebrate Misery.”

Salt Lake City’s Sculpture Club have had a number of genres placed upon them as of late; darkwave, post punk, goth pop, and so on. All of which fit, but the band have a different take on their sound. “We like the term “Garage Goth” but genres can be arbitrary rabbit holes,” they explain. “We chose that one cause it feels right for us. I think we are very inspired by all those genres. They mean a lot to us and so we naturally take cues from them.”

The seeds of the band were sown around 2010, when Costello, and drummer Madison Donnelly, were playing together in Broken Spells. After branching out on their own to form JAWWZZ!! in 2012, they needed a bass player. Enter Chris Copelin. The band would be short lived as Costello and Donnelly took a break to finish their studies, before regrouping with new take on their sound.

“At a show one night just before the release of [new album] ‘A Place to Stand’, and after a healthy dose of liquid courage, Madison brought up the idea of changing the band name to reflect the change in our sound and focus. It turned out that we were all thinking the same thing but were hesitant to say anything because we all loved our band so much and didn’t want to upset each other.”

Changing their name and becoming what we now know as Sculpture Club would recharge the band. “Since we hadn’t been playing any of our songs that pre-date ‘A Place to Stand’, it made sense to shed our old skin and start completely new as Sculpture Club,” they continue. “We did have to rush to reprint all of our j-cards with a new design and new name though!  The change has been really exciting and refreshing for us!”

With ‘A Place To Stand’, Sculpture Club utilise a unique blend of light and dark, created primarily from moments in Costello’s personal life. “There was no planned out mapped out vision for the album,” explains the band. “They were mostly in response to the mental upheaval that was going on in his Chaz’s personal life.  So in a lot of ways it makes sense that the album is a contrast of light and dark moments, because that would be a pretty authentic representation of Chaz’s life and mental process over the course of writing these songs.”

The album serves as document for Costello and the ups and down’s he faced while writing it, which, as he explains, was somewhat accidental. “It wasn’t until everything was finished and we starting putting the track list together that it hit me,” he says, reflecting on the theme of the album. “I was like damn, I can see and hear myself falling apart. That may sound melodramatic, but that is kind of what we do as a band. Melodrama.”

One of the stand out tracks on ‘A Place To Stand’ is the excellent ‘Blooming’, which Sculpture Club have created video for, and we have the honour of premiering it below. The band explains that the track marked the shift in sound for the band, and illustrates how they are growing artistically.

“I wrote the song after I read “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin,” says Costello. “The phrase “is blooming not a sickness,” came straight out of that book. I had read that and it really struck a chord with me.  At that time I couldn’t quite find the words to express my ideas or how I was feeling and once I read that it all fell together perfectly.  It was a perfect blend of nihilism, poetry, apathy and empowerment.

“As for the video, it started out as a commentary on perception. How you see yourself vs. how you are seen, that kind of thing,” he continues. “It ended up slightly different, more of a death and rebirth idea. I think that it still deals with perception and presenting your new self, how you want to be seen, to the world & how awkward and scary that can be. Really a footnote version of us as a band for last year.”

For those unfamiliar with Sculpture Club, the band states that ‘Blooming’ is the perfect representation of both them and ‘A Place To Stand’. “It’s dark with a touch of the melodramatic, but also fun and dancey,” they say. “We like to think of it as a “dance to keep from crying” thing.  And if anyone gets the Smokey Robinson and the Miracles reference there – YEAH!”

With ‘A Place To Stand’ under their belt, Sculpture Club are now setting their sights on the future. “Four words: Motley Crue, The Dirt,” laugh the band when asked what lies ahead for them. “But seriously, we plan to focus on touring and promoting ‘A Place To Stand’ in the near future. The ultimate dream for Sculpture Club is to be able to exist and continue creating music in a capitalist country that doesn’t seem to value or provide support for the arts.  Basically, we hope to overcome those obstacles and be true to our creative selves.”

‘A Place To Stand’ is available digitally via Bandcamp, and physical pre-orders are available now via Cercle Social Records.