The UK alt metal/rock group unpeople are this week’s featured Meet The Band artist. Their debut album is we are unpeople. Guitarist Luke Caley introduces us to unpeople.
Chad Bowar: Give us a brief history of unpeople.
Luke Caley: Myself and Jake first met on tour around 11/12 years ago, Jake in Acoda and myself in Press To Meco. We became friends instantly over a love of AC/DC and a similar taste in all things music. Jake went on to join press to meco on bass in 2020. One week after Press To Meco’s natural conclusion in 2021 we were sitting in my bedroom with two guitars writing for went on to eventually become unpeople, including Richie Rayner on drums/vocals and Em Lodge on bass/vocals.
Describe the songwriting process for we are unpeople.
The songwriting process in this band is extremely organic. unpeople truly is the sum of its parts and extremely collaborative. There’s no one set way a song comes together, though there’ll always be a heavy emphasis on jamming and trying stuff in the room, making decisions a lot of the time on how it feels rather than what we ‘think’ it should or shouldn’t be. Typically all unpeople songs start with a riff.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
I always really enjoy recording gang vocals, it’s often the last thing we do and it always feels like a really fun home stretch part of the process. All of us together around a mic having fun and putting the final touches to all the work we’ve just done.
What was the biggest challenge in its creation?
We record everything ourselves under the remote guidance of a legendary producer machine. So on the plus side you have complete creative control and can make exactly the record you want to, but on the flip side it’s a lot of work mentally to wear both hats, creatively and making sure enough progress is happening for the album to actually be completed.
How would you characterize its style/sound?
i think unpeople sounds like a modern alternative rock band with a heavy lean towards nostalgic sounds of the 90’s/early 00’s.
You filmed several videos for the album. Which was your favorite shoot?
Personally, my favourite was the most recent video for “blueprints.” A whole day with your friends in a field with lots of amazing animals, it was the best!
How did you come to sign with SharpTone Records?
I was always a huge fan of everything Barley did, he signed a bunch of bands I really loved on his old label Basick Records. Every time I met him I always really liked his vibe and clearly was aligned with his taste in music. It always meant a lot to me that despite never working together, he’d always take the time to champion and post about every Press To Meco release. When we had some demos together he was at the very top of the list of people we wanted to work with.
What are your goals and expectations for the album?
We don’t really spend too much time thinking about our expectations for releases in this band. We just try to make sure that we’re as happy as we can possibly be with the music we make then the rest of it is really beyond our control. If people like it then that’s awesome, if they don’t then that’s no problem at all, we’re still proud of it.
What has been your most memorable unpeople live show?
We’ve already been lucky enough to tick off so many amazing bucket list items already, but opening the main stage at Download was a big one for us all. That’s the type of slot that when you first pick up an instrument you feel like you can only dream of doing one day.
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
We’re currently out on the road with Don Broco. In November we hit the road for a handful of dates with Royal Blood, then we’ll have our own headline UK/IE/EU tour in January.
What are some of your non-musical interests and hobbies?
I’m massively into cars and enjoy working on them. I’m also a huge animal lover, my partner and I currently look after two indoor bunnies called Toto and BMO, they’re extremely cute. This year I’ve also really gotten into a couple of TCG’s like Adventure Time Card Wars and Disney Lorcana, though I’ve not been able to convince any of the others to play with me out on the road yet, though I’ll keep trying! (laughs)
What’s currently in your musical heavy rotation?
Conjurer – Unself and Ecca Vandal – Looking For People To Unfollow.
(interview published October 10, 2026)
Watch unpeople – “blueprints” Video
