William Young has been played on NTS in shows including Smithsonian Folkways , featured first on 19 December 2023. Songs played include Departure in Autumn.

The People's Temple was formed in 2007 by two sets of brothers: Alex Szegedy (guitar/vocals) and George Szegedy (drums) and Spencer Young (bass/vocals) and William Young (guitar/vocals). While growing up in Perry, MI the band members became influenced by 1960s rock, folk, and garage rock, which shows in the band's vintage sound.

The band started playing gigs in the Lansing area in 2008 and have since developed a reputation of performing wild stage shows, with ample guitar feedback. The band has 7-inch EPs on Certified PR Records, Milk-n-Herpes Records and HoZac Records. Their debut LP "Sons of Stone" was released in May 2011 by HoZac Records. The album received positive reviews from Pitchfork Media, as well as Uncut Magazine and the Los Angeles Times.

On July 13, 2012 the People's Temple recorded a live set at Third Man Records in Nashville for a 7-inch split single with King Tuff. The event was an early show dubbed "The Rock N Roll Lunch at Third Man."

In October 2012 the band released "More For the Masses," its second full-length album. This album was also released on HoZac Records.

Third Man released the "Never More" / "Miles Away" live 7-inch on February 26, 2013. It was release alongside a single by Hell Beach. The official Third Man Records site said this about the bands: "Two incredible live 45s, recorded here in our venue direct-to-tape, housed in our distinctive Live series die cut sleeves. People's Temple and Hell Beach are two of the most intriguing and rawkus bands currently blowing up the rock-n-roll underground and these live 45s catch them at full speed."

The People's Temple have cited Arthur Lee, The Smiths, Spacemen 3, 13th Floor Elevators, The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, Joy Division, James Gang, and Link Wray as main influences.