About

Dutch septet Personal Trainer churn out songs that sound like all your favorite indie rock luminaries jam-packed into big-beaming pop psalms. One of the band’s early career highlights was a 24-hour (!) performance at Amsterdam’s legendary pop temple Paradiso. After releasing their debut EP Gazebo on Holm Front in 2021, the band released their first full-length LP Big Love Blanket. Recorded and produced in the span of several studio sessions with co-producer Casper van der Lans, the album brings a fresh pop sensibility and adventurous production values to songs that have been well-honed on the stage.

The band’s formative years were marked by a revolving door of plucky scenesters, with Willem Smit – the band’s conductor and cheerleader – as its affable pivot figure. But now with shows at festivals such as SXSW (US), Eurosonic (NL), End of the Road Festival (UK), Great Escape (UK), Wilderness (UK) and Best Kept Secret under Personal Trainer’s belt, the band nascent state-of-flux has cemented into a steady seven-piece: along for the ride with Smit, the band consists of Kilian Kayser (percussion), Leon Harms (guitars), Kick Kluiving (drums), Franti Maresova (guitars/vocals), Ruben van Weegberg (bass), and Abel Tuinstra (keys/synths).