Chaos, Clarity, and Catchy Hooks: Meet People R Ugly
There’s nothing forgettable about a name like People R Ugly. But behind the eye-catching title is a band with real intention. The LA-based four-piece has been gaining serious traction—not just through viral singles or sharp visuals, but through music that actually lands. Their songs blend indie, alt-pop, and hip-hop, but what stands out most is the attitude: honest, self-aware, and built to be played loud.
With their latest single “THINKIN BOUT YOU,” they lean into something lighter—if only slightly. The track captures the relief of finally evicting an ex from your mind, delivering a groove-heavy, windows-down anthem with just enough bite. “One thing’s true, I’m not thinkin’ bout you,” they sing, shrugging off the past with rhythm and clarity.
It’s a fitting follow-up to “BETTER,” the high-energy breakout that went viral earlier this year—and even earned a shoutout from Lil Jon. But the story goes back further, to when drummer Tristan Kevitch booked a gig at LA’s Whisky A Go Go without a band or a single song. Within five days, the group came together—and sold out the show.
Since then, they’ve only gone bigger. With a debut album arriving this fall and festival sets at Lollapalooza and Warped Tour Orlando on the horizon, People R Ugly are carving out their own lane—one hook, one sweaty show, one anthem at a time.
Photo Credit: Devin Desouza
Let’s start with “THINKIN BOUT YOU”—was there a specific moment that sparked the song, or did it just evolve from a feeling?
Zak Dossi: It really just started from a feeling. We’ve always wanted to make a more danceable hip hop/R&B song for a while, but never found the right context for that to work under the band. Once we made the beat, it felt like we immediately wrote the song, and that was it before we even knew it. And suddenly, we had one of our favorite tracks we’ve ever made.
You’ve said the song is about that freedom you feel when an ex finally stops taking up mental space. How do you know you’ve really hit that point?
Zak Dossi: I think you know you’ve hit that point when you really start to love yourself again. When you finally don’t care anymore, in the best way. It all just becomes a fond (or maybe not so pleasant) memory.
“BETTER” blew up in a huge way—what’s the biggest way that momentum has changed your career—or perhaps even your mindset?
Zak Dossi: I think BETTER doing as well as it’s been doing has given us so much confidence to just do what we want. I’d like to think we stumbled upon a fairly wild idea in sampling a classic southern hip hop song into a “punk” song and fusing those genres together, so seeing that work and people love it as much as they do just validates all our other crazy ideas that we’re doing.
Also, having Lil Jon and the legendary guys from YoungBloodz reach out and repost the song to their socials has been a huge cosign none of us were expecting.
You’re about to hit stages like Lollapalooza and Warped Tour. What’s the biggest thing you want people to feel when they see you live?
Zak Dossi: Just have fun! The biggest and most important feeling I hope someone gets from our live set is that we just go up there to have a good time, and to let the audience join in on that fun, and to not take us or themselves so seriously.
Photo Credit: Devin Desouza
Your origin story is very inspiring—and you’ve really put in the work to get to this point. Looking back, what kept you from giving up during that early hustle?
Zak Dossi: Honestly, just the love of music kept us going. For almost two years, we were putting out music and posting videos on social media, and would get stoked when a video hit 1000 views. But during the promotion of our song “BRAIN DEAD”, something finally clicked and we began to understand how to reach millions of people with our music. And the hustle is still going!
Your sound pulls from so many places—alt-pop, indie rock, hip-hop. Are there any surprising influences that shaped the way you write?
Zak Dossi: Each of us in the band has different favorite artists and influences. When we sit down to write a song, most of the time it’s inspired by whatever we’ve been rocking with that week/month, and we just throw ideas at the wall until something sticks. Some names that stick out who inspire us are Tyler The Creator, The Strokes, BROCKHAMPTON, Royel Otis, maybe even Beethoven.
With your debut album on the way, what can you tell us about the energy or message you’re chasing across the full project?
Zak Dossi: To be completely transparent, we had very little intention of creating an album this year. During the making of all the songs that are on it, no songs were feeling super cohesive to each other, we had no larger overarching concept that tied everything together, until one day we realized that THAT’s the concept. Just 4 friends making whatever music that they want in a garage in Southern California. Every sound and lyric you hear on the album comes from the same place, no matter how wild and different our ideas might stretch to, and all the stories told on the album are our own life experiences.
