How People Meet released their official full-length debut, In the Shadow of the Mountain, on October 15, 2026. The 15-track album offers a set of songs that are individually distinct yet unified by a sound forged through friendship, shared experience, and common musical interests. Recording began in Jack Kearney’s basement in Huntington, NY, but as members relocated to upstate New York and the northwestern corner of Connecticut, the band faced the challenge of working apart. What began in a shared space was completed by exchanging session files online, without expensive studio gear. The finished record is the product of a friendship strong enough to span distance. In the Shadow of the Mountain is a celebration of a unique voice discovered through the courage of running towards new pursuits.
Three longtime friends — Austin Reese, Jack Kearney, and Timothy Kennedy — first joined forces as a trio in 2023 under the name How People Meet, after years playing together in Aunt Ange. The group operates as a fully collaborative unit: each member brings distinctive skills to the table, sharing responsibility for songwriting and production. Their music builds thick, immersive soundscapes atop carefully constructed guitar and piano foundations, bending traditional pop forms and structures. Modern and retro synth textures mingle with patient string arrangements to produce a rock sound that blurs genre lines. Arty touchstones like Tom Waits and Radiohead intersect with the mood of early ’90s classics to create something at once familiar and new.
Saxophone, Guitar, Synthesizers
Guitar, Piano, Synthesizers
Vocals, Bass, Drums