the Narrative
The name “Sex People” is designed to mean many things. It is a label that can be applied to any and all musical artists, a synonym for the word “band”. It can be a another way of saying “gender people”, “music people”, or simply “everyone”. The slogan “We are Sex People, You are Sex People,” is meant to suggest that everyone, no matter who they are or what their sex lives consist of, are Sex People. After several long, intense, and ultimately failed relationships, Knarfy, the band's founder, began checking off things on a long list that led him into the seedy underbelly of LA sex culture. He began writing based around an idea that everyone’s sexuality is completely unique unto themselves. No two people have the same exact combination of kinks, fetishes, genders, and orientations. Sex People is designed to be a response to modern Pop music content which almost entirely skews it’s sexuality to the most commonly acceptable and attractive form. Sex People uses formulas from Pop and other genres to ambiguously present unique forms of sexualities and the emotional experiences caused by them which are emulated by the characters in the group.
Sex People was founded in January 2018 when Knarfy first met F.I.T. F.I.T was born in the back seat of a taxi in Lagos Nigeria. Growing up in poverty, he bounced around the country until when he was eighteen he won the VISA lottery and immigrated to the United States by himself. Over the next few years he lived in New York, Detroit, Maryland and San Diego as he worked on developing himself as a HipHop/AfroPop artist. In San Diego, shortly before finally moving to LA, he recorded his first studio EP entitled MOOD. Knarfy came across one of the tracks off the EP and fell in love with the voice immediately. They began recording demos together and the foundation of Sex People was formed.
After several demos were compiled Knarfy began hunting for producers and came across Kairos Music Group, an LA production company that focuses on Korean and Chinese Pop. Having felt a draw to the style of KPOP production methods, Sex People decided to trust their first album with them. The producers involved in the Sex People recordings are samUIL, Hobyn YI and Wes Koz. Hobyn and Wes act as Producers/Engineers focusing on the production and overall texture. samUIL focuses on musical theory and performs many of the live instruments on the albums. Knarfy and samUIL connected early on over their shared love for Radiohead, an influence they both strategically aim towards and away from at the same time.
Sex People brought on three female vocalists for the first album. One retracted her vocals from the project due to an on off years long romantic relationship with Knarfy, one chose to remain nameless due to the sexual content of the project and her strict religious ties, and one was Kat Moore who has been the only female vocalist to record on all three Sex People albums.
As they began the campaign for the first album, Sex People simultaneously went back into the studio to record the second album. For the second album they brought on vocalist Jules Lee. Jules is from a small town in Washington and currently a student at Pepperdine University. She is an actor as well as a songwriter. Although a devout Christian, Jules understood the deeper content of the project and was on board immediately. Back in Nigeria, F.I.T. was raised as both a Christian and Muslim so religion is often considered in the content.
Knarfy also brought on Alejandro Dubon to play guitar for the second album. Knarfy and Alejandro had played in a queer grunge band several years ago in which Alejandro was the one straight member. Alejandro brings an important understanding of the wide range of genres Sex People pull from. As a producer of his own material, Alejandro primarily uses all analog synths and tape machines.
Sex People released their debut album, Cal-Island: Season 1, in January 2019 to moderate critical success. They began to more specifically hone in their image and started working with a variety of photographers and directors. They shot a high production value music video for F.I.T.’s single off his MOOD album which reached #9 on NigeZ (the Nigerian equivalent of MTV).
After primary studio recording was finished for the second Sex People album the producers left for China to work on a different project for a month. During that time, an incident happened involving someone attached to the Sex People project. This person (who will not be named) had a substance induced breakdown and took all of the music sessions hostage in order to extort money from the production company. This entered Sex People into a legal battle that lasted over half a year. Though discouraged, a third album was written, and recording began on that. Sex People continued to work with Kairos due to such a strong bond with the producers and the feeling that everyone had such a solid understanding of what the project was.
Just as the majority of recording had been completed on the third album, Sex People finally won back the sessions to their first two albums. They began booking live shows and finishing up both albums. Alejandro switched his role to drummer for the third album and so remained in that position for the live setup. Knarfy made the choice to play guitar live for most songs, though he does not play guitar on the albums. F.I.T. takes center stage with his natural stage presence and powerful charisma.
