Postindustrial Poets were founded in Luxembourg back in 2019 to play and record the songs of Pete Poet, a Brit living in Luxembourg. They have been working on their sound and growing their audience ever since. Over the last year they have released a series of EP showcasing different sides to their sound—with space rock on Orbiting the Sun, acoustic and blues influences on Minds and Bodies. Their latest single, “Don’t Say It’s Over,” is the first in a series of four that will arrive over the next few months.  

I love the name of your band! Can you talk a little bit about what the “Postindustrial” part of the name means to you?

So Luxembourg used to be part of the European iron and steel belt, but has reinvented itself. But the music scene here is especially strong in the south west corner, which was the most industrial. There is an annual blues festival is in a former mining area, the biggest venue (the Rockhal) is on the site of a former steel foundry, and even the main venue in Luxembourg City is called Den Atelier (meaning The Workshop). And one day in 2018 I was down in that part of Luxembourg and thinking about indie music as contemporary poetry .. and that was the idea for the band. 

Who’s in the band?

Live me, Anders, Alex and Rod. Recorded – sometimes with a few guests, sometimes fewer musicians.

How long had you been living in Luxembourg before you put the band together?

A bit more than ten years. 

And what brought you to Luxembourg?

Someone offered me a job, and I thought it would be okay to spend a couple of years here! And basically I never left.

What are some of the biggest cultural differences you’ve noticed between Britain and Luxembourg?

Probably that drinking and sport are more important for Brits, eating and pets are more important for Luxemburgers.  

Has living abroad influenced your songwriting or your approach to music—or even your worldview?

Absolutely – especially the worldview. I decided a long time ago that I wanted to travel and live in different countries. I feel more alive, more stimulated, when things are constantly a bit unfamiliar and unexpected. So I think there is a delight in new things that comes through in my lyrics – but also a feeling of being rootless. There is also a lot of travelling in our songs!  

Your bio mentions that the band got together in 2019 but didn’t release anything for a year. What was going on during that period? What did the gestation of Postindustrial Poets loo like?

It was a mess really. We recorded (I think) six songs pretty quickly. They didn’t sound the way we expected them to, someone quit, and I spent some time trying to persuade someone else to join on vocals. And for the song that sounded most convincing, as soon as I heard it back I had an idea for a coda. I think we threw away two of the songs completely, and I rewrote two of them before we tried recording again. . 

I’m curious about your track “Thinking ’Bout Brian Jones.” What attracted you to him as a musical figure?

Brian Jones was a local hero for me!. Originally I’m from Gloucestershire in the UK. It doesn’t feel the most rock’n’roll place! Then I heard that Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones had come from Cheltenham. It felt unbelievable! The mother of a close friend remarried and at the wedding reception I heard stories from her new husband’s family who remembered him from the time he played saxophone in local bands. So I became fascinated with him and the complicated story of his life and early death. By the way, it is one of our oldest songs – I wrote it way back before I left the UK. There is a different version in the can. We will release it at some point. . .

And what’s the story behind your latest track, “Don’t Say It’s Over”?

Sorry if this sounds like a travelogue! I go to Paris pretty often, and Paris is mentioned in two of our songs (“Thousand Dollar Shoes” and “After Summer, the Fall”). Paris is both a big, urban space and the romantic capital of the world. I wanted to get that feeling into a song. A part  of the lyric comes from hearing one end of a phone conversation on a Parisian terrace which reminded me of a past situation…that’s what seems to happen for me. I recorded a verse with an acoustic guitar into my phone, and played it back a few days later. It was such a lot of fun to do! 

Your promotional material mentions that you’re working on raising the band’s profile to a new level. What’s the next level for you? What’s your vision of success?

It’s tough isn’t it? Everyone likes music, but most people don’t like most music. I have Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and dub reggae in my favourites collection, but lots of people tell you they don’t like them. So it is hard to reach an audience that likes what you do. We have been trying to use social media and streaming algorithms to get there. I feel we have made all sorts of mistakes, but still our audience seems to double every year. One mistake was not to update our website for a year, nor to ever send an email to the people who had signed up to hear from us. We’re sorry, folks!!!

Then I have and I still have this naive idea that it is about the songs. And now we have a release schedule with some variety, but enough consistency that you would recognise that it was the same outfit. I think we have worked out  how to combine what we liked in each of our releases. 

And success: if we like the tracks that is something. If other people do, that is better. And if a lot of listeners were sharing what we do with their friends that would be awesome! 

What’s on the horizon?

Probably after these four singles will come an EP that includes perhaps two or three of the four, and some other tracks that fit the same vibe. But there is another single track that is recorded and that we feel very happy about. We could have said we were going to release five consecutive singles, but I think we will then try to consolidate with the EP. We have a working title for it, but we will keep it to ourselves for a while! 

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me!

Thanks to you, Marc! It’s great that you take the time! And these were great questions! 

Presave “Dancing With Ghosts” here: https://songwhip.com/postindustrialpoets/dancing-with-ghosts