Hot off the heels of a spectacular release of their fourth studio album, Frank Lees of Press Club took the time to chat with us about their brand new album, To All The Ones That I Love. This release marks their first full release in nearly three years, though a handful of singles from this album have been dropped since the end of 2023. Full of themes of self-awareness and harnessing the power of knowing who you are, To All The Ones I Love is essential listening for any punk rock fan who is always craving something that’s just a little bit more.

Jordan Ames: Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me! For anyone who may be unfamiliar with Press Club, would you mind giving us a little introduction?

Frank Lees: We’re a female fronted punk rock band from Melbourne, Australia who have just released their fourth album, so we’ve been around a while. Don’t really know what else to say… I think to understand the band, you gotta kind of listen to the music. Or better yet, come to a show. Press Club really can only be understood if you watch us live, we are at home on the stage.

J: Your brand new album, To All The Ones That I Love, just came out. First of all, congratulations on such a huge release! This is your first full album since 2022’s Endless Motion. In an album full of messages about growth and understanding, what have you learned about yourselves both as individuals and as a band throughout writing and releasing this project?

F: The main thing we’ve learned with this album is to let go of a lot of preconceived notions of ourselves. We used to preclude certain songs from an album because we didn’t think they were “punk” enough, or maybe the song wasn’t “us”. But we call bullshit on our past selves with that mentality. All the music we make is “us,” and probably the most un-punk thing in the world is releasing songs only because they don’t fit into a box. We’ve embraced the weird and we’re never going back.

J: A number of the songs on the tracklist came out as singles over the last 18 months. How did this album come together? Was it each song coming to life on its own first, or was there a sound for the album before any of the tracks were decided on?

F: It’s funny, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a sound in mind for an album before starting to write it. Obviously, that’s not completely true, but we really try not to impose on ourselves when we get into a writing zone. We try to remain free flowing and then make decisions about quality or vision later. All these songs came to life on their own, then we put them together in an order that made sense in hindsight.

J: I have a few friends who are from Australia, so I know a little bit about the music scene there. I was born and raised in New Jersey, and we’ve got a very distinctive style when it comes to artists that come from this state. What makes the Australian scene, and more importantly the Melbourne scene, so special?

F: That’s a great question! Australia is an island, both literally and figuratively. It is really hard for bands to get here, and hard for bands to get out. The bands that do usually have some kind of DIY aesthetic to them. I also think most bands from Melbourne don’t take themselves too seriously, although I can think of a few glaring exceptions. Melbourne’s also one of the coldest cities in Australia, so there is a pretty dark aesthetic and A LOT of black being worn.

J: The song “To All The Ones I Love” is your love letter to the people around you who help build you up and keep you going. Community is a huge part of this album — how has your community shown up for you?

F: Our friends and family really keep us together and going. Luckily for us, we have a lot of musician friends as well, so getting to play gigs with other Melbourne bands who we can just hang with is pretty special. That’s one thing we miss when we go overseas, the instant comradery we get when playing in Melbourne and Australia. We also have really dedicated fans, that’s one of the reasons why a Press Club gig in Melbourne hits so hard for us.

J: To All The Ones That I Love was recorded in your own studio. There’s really something to say about bands who have a heavy part in the production of their music. Were you able to show more of yourselves on this record by doing so much of it with just the four of you?

F: We’ve actually recorded all of our own music. So there’s never been a time when Press Club wasn’t showing absolutely all of itself. That’s getting back to that DIY aesthetic I was talking about earlier, we really do a lot of this shit ourselves. I think there’s something to that, right? People relate when they can see that bands aren’t tricking you or anything, you can see right through the fakers.

J: You’re about to head back out on tour, first through Australia, and the later on in the summer, back to the UK and Europe. As a band who has toured extensively, and in a lot of different places, how does the city you’re playing a show in affect the energy on stage? There has to be something special about playing at home, but I’m sure there’s also a certain thrill about getting to play in a new place for the first time.

F: Definitely a huge thrill playing in a new place for the first time. Luckily for us, we’ve often had incredible shows the first time in a new city. Although, there are a few notable exceptions of places we’ve had to go back to a few times to win people over. There’s maybe even a little more pride in that; getting a sell out crowd in a place that a few years earlier couldn’t care less. It’s like, “Yeah, all that work paid off.”

J: I always tell people that I’ve made it to where I am because I put all of it on my dream board. What’s on your dream board? And I mean the absolutely wildest dreams you can imagine.

F: Grammy? I don’t know. Seriously, we had so much more success than we ever expected in like the first year of being a band. We got to support some of our absolute favorite artists and play in some of the best venues in Melbourne. We got to do a huge Australian tour within that first year as well and saw places in our huge country we’d never been to before. We write up a list each album of the things we want to see for it, but honestly the fact that we’ve ticked any of those things off I see as completely successful.

J: Beyond your upcoming tour dates, what’s next for Press Club? What else can we expect from you in the future?

F: More music, definitely. We’ll likely get onto writing the next album pretty soon, to be honest. You’ll probably see us over in the United States soon as well I hope, not this year but maybe in a couple. It’s always been a huge goal for us and the timing has never properly worked out. But we have so many fans there who’ve been begging us to come so it is definitely on our radar. We’ve just gotta push for it!

Press Club is gearing up for their European tour, starting June 14, before heading back home to Australia for their local headlining tour, supported by Double J. Tickets for all their upcoming shows are available now via their website. To All The Ones That I Love is out now independently, available on all major streaming platforms.