KONGOS will return to rock the UK in November.
Following one-off gig earlier this year at Camden Dingwalls , the Arizonian based alt-rock brothers have announced a bundle of UK tour dates to celebrate the release of their third album ‘Egomaniac’.
The 13-track release was produced in their hometown at Tokoloshe Studios and follows the band’s tour successes alongside acts from Kings of Leon to Linkin Park.
Ahead of their UK dates in Glasgow, Manchester and London, we caught up with KONGOS to find out more about their album, live sets and Glastonbury 2017 hopes.
You’ve recently released your third studio album, what are the main differences between this and your previous releases?
For us, it’s really about just picking the best songs we can for the album. We were having a conversation about narcissism and Danny mentioned ‘Egomaniac’ and we all thought that would be a great album title. All the songs we then chose fit that theme in one way or another.
Did you approach the writing process for this album any differently?
We tend to write individually for the demos and then play them to the group and that’s when we add that vague essence of what we think makes our KONGOS sound. We have always listened to a wide range of music from ancient music to modern hip-hop and we somehow meld this ancient tribal thing with a modern sound.
Are there any tracks in particular you are favouring on the release?
Because we all write songs individually, we’ve probably all got different favourites for different reasons and it’s always changing. It might be a lyric that we wrote and resonates with us or it might be that we like a riff or a beat that one of the other guys has written.
In terms of performing new album tracks live, which tracks have you found to be fan favourites?
‘Come With Me Now’ always takes it up a notch with the fans. We’re really enjoying playing ‘Autocorrect’ on our current tour, it’s a loose homage to AC/DC ‘Thunderstruck’. You watch live footage of AC/DC in their heyday and the crowds are mental and I thought this would be a fun kind of song to do in that style. It’s a weird mix of AC/DC, Daft Punk and some cheesy classical chords. It turned out to be this hodge podge of a song that’s really fun to play live.
If you could describe ‘Egomaniac’ in three words, what would they be?
I, Me, Mine!
With your songs featured across a variety of popular platforms from The Expendables 3 to the MTV Movie Awards, where is the strangest place you’ve heard your own music?
A waitress in Saskatoon started playing us Come With Me Now on her iPhone not realising who we were.
If you could join the line-up of any UK festival next year, where would you choose and why
Glastonbury – really no explanation needed!
What are your plans for the rest of 2016?
We are now on our own headline tour of North America and will be touring pretty much the rest of 2016 and promoting our new album ‘Egomaniac’.
Anything else you wish to add?
A big thank you to our UK fans for their continued support! We hope to see you real soon.
You can catch KONGOS live at the following dates:
NOVEMBER
7th GLASGOW, O2 ABC
8th MANCHESTER, Ruby Lounge
9th LONDON, O2 Islington Academy
Tickets for the tour are on sale now via KONGOS website.
Watch the band’s new music video for ‘Take It From Me’ below: