Midwest emo group saturdays at your place has a name that invokes a calming sense of familiarity. Picture a given Saturday spent somewhere outside of your own home — there’s no stress derived from veering off a set schedule, whether it’s spent at your best friend’s house, blasting music in the garage or crashing skateboards into wooden fences. No plans are set in stone and the only sense of permanence is the continuous feel of community, belonging and relaxation.
The Kalamazoo, Michigan-based emo rock trio of this name have captured this ethos of approachable vulnerability and enjoyable weekends with vivid incisiveness. Composed of vocalist and drummer Gabe Woods, vocalist and bassist Esden Stafne and guitarist Mitch Gulish, the group took shape at Western Michigan University, where the three first met.
In 2021, saturdays at your place released their debut record, something worth celebrating, which firmly established the group’s definitively second-wave emo sound, categorized by their twinkly, guitar-driven instrumentations and undeniable Midwestern charm. Their subsequent 2023 record always cloudy continued to build upon their signature relatability and lyrically intricate artistry through tracks like “tarot cards” and “it’s always cloudy in kalamazoo.”
Now, the emo rock outfit is celebrating the release of their sophomore LP, these things happen, released September 12. Bringing their vulnerability to new emotive heights, these things happen is profound in its lyrical softness, gently approaching listeners to simply relax and stick around for a while. Across 10 tracks, saturdays at your place navigates young adulthood, relationships, mental health and more.
Following the album’s release, the band is embarking on their extensive these things happen tour. From mid-October through late November, they will make their way across North America, with dates that include a massive show in their home state of Michigan and an Austin Powers-themed costume party show in California on Halloween (Austin Powers attire required, naturally).
In the time between their always cloudy EP and their latest release, the group has amassed a devoted following. On a Zoom call ahead of the LP’s release, Stafne says their newfound fanbase undoubtedly played a role in the songwriting process for the new record. “We knew that we actually had some people that might listen to it after growing an audience from [always cloudy], and I think that put a lot of pressure on us writing it,” Stafne says. “We’ve been working on it for a long time, we had all these big ideas and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves that this has to be perfect. This is the second album, we have people listening, we want to make this great, and eventually it kind of all just came together really quickly.”
Sharing vocal duties with Woods, all three members of the band collaborate on writing songs. Since first becoming friends in college, the trio has grown closer together after years of songwriting and traveling on the road. “If you’re a touring musician, you just have to be ready for a lot of your relationships to be damaged,” Stafne says. “When you go on the road for a while, you have to come home and then fix everything that you left behind.” The touring life is no easy path, but the making of these things happen reignited the band’s passion for making music after a bout of heavy touring.
The second single to arrive ahead of these things happen, titled “what am i supposed to do?,” was written about tensions in the band that resulted from a busy touring schedule. However, once saturdays at your place got back home and in the studio, they were reminded of why they love being a band in the first place. “Touring is so awesome, but getting to be in a studio and write and create together after taking so much time off made us realize how much we appreciate doing that with each other. It’s just so much fun getting to create and be proud of what you create,” Stafne says.
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