Written By Kelly Holm
New name, who dis? Well, they’re Club Yorke, but they’ve only gone by that for a little over a year; Australian indie rock fans may remember the group as Residual, the name they claimed for the first four years of their career. Under their new moniker, the Australian outfit has dropped singles such as the energy-expending“Stop the Bleeding” and most recently, “To Love Someone Deeply.”
Of the name change, lead singer Sam Burtt said, “It took months of discussion to come to an agreement… it wasn’t so much the name that was the issue, but more needing to rebuild and re-learn the identity of a project we’d known so well for so long. It’s ultimately been for the better.”
It’s easy to agree with Burtt… the words “Club Yorke” flow freely off the tongue, invoke images of glamour, and more likely than not, don’t call to mind something that could ignite an allergic reaction. The residue the band wants to leave their fans with now is a little different.
“We’ve attempted to make some sort of connection with the audience on an emotional level with our previous releases,” Burtt said, but Club Yorke is now focusing on an additional priority as well. “With the more recent stuff we’ve been writing… we are trying to transfer a sort of live energy to the record that we want people to be feeling as well, so that we can deliver it tenfold at a live show.”
Among these modern melodies is “To Love Someone Deeply,” Club Yorke’s first self-produced release. The moody, guitar-driven strains of this self-described ode to young love are sure to attract fans of The 1975.
“There’s definitely a nostalgia that’s being tapped into with this one,” Burtt said.
Fans won’t be left hanging, however, Burtt assures that Club Yorke is “in the nitty-gritty of our next track as we speak.”
Later in 2019, the band plans to release more singles and continue to play shows “around the traps.” For those who don’t speak Australian, that’s a term akin to “out and abound” which stems from the concept of going out to one’s animal traps to see what they’ve caught.
Club Yorke has certainly been around the traps before, having originally formed in 2014, it all began at a Battle of the Bands competition. “…we actually won!” noted Burtt with surprise. Or, if you want to go even further back, it started the first time Burtt watched Jack Black’s “School of Rock.”
“I probably wouldn’t be in a band if it weren’t for that film,” he said. “We even cover their track ‘Teacher’s Pet’ as a special encore song.”
Of course, though, Club Yorke wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for years of grueling dedication. Even once you’ve managed to get some gigs lined up, you still have to undergo the physical labor of loading and unloading equipment, as well as line check.
“If we ever got a chance to afford roadies who do it for us, I’d miss it,” Burtt said. Sometimes, the work really is half the fun, and it’s the effort, rather than the outcome, that counts.
“There are enough people in the world with enough access to music these days for you to find the tribe that’ll listen to [you],” Burtt said. “I’m not sure we’re fussed if there’s anyone there or not. I think a lot about what success is in terms of music and it’s so hard, but I think as long as we’re enjoying what [we’re] creating… that’s making it.”
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