Leeds quartet KOYO are back with their third album ‘Onism’.
The new release was partially funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign which saw the album through to completion.
Speaking of the album, the band said: “Before going into this album we had a bit of an identity crisis. We didn’t know which direction we wanted to go. Our first album was just off the wall, no rules, boundless creativity. Our second album was more refined, stripped back and focused. When we first started writing we had songs that leaned even more into where we were going with our second album. But sometimes you have to try things to realise they’re not for you! It was the long way round, but this helped us realise that we just want to do the opposite and get back to what made us excited about music in the first place!”
To celebrate their EP release, KOYO shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Onism’.
Pantera – Walk
We wanted the album to be raw and true to how we sound live. We knew we didn’t want to throw too many guitar tracks and overdubs at it. So we started listening to bands with one guitarist who really manage to make it work i.e. Pantera, Rage and RHCP. Listening back to those solos, how Dime would just lay down a ripping solo with just bass and drums underneath was a huge influence on how we could make that work on the record sonically.
Rage Against The Machine – Know Your Enemy
So Rage was an influence initially for similar reasons. Tom Morello’s soloing, particularly on this track. However we soon realised how perfect the old school production is on this album and ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ by the Chillis. It’s just so raw but also polished at the same time. That’s what we wanted to achieve. You’re just hearing the elements you see in front of you, but they’re just so polished because the performances are so damn good. We realised it’s all in the performance so we just made sure we had that down and then it was just a case of capturing it as best and clearly as we could.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers – If You Have To Ask
So again, Rick Rubin’s production on this was what we were going for. Also just the funkiness of the Chillis was a huge influence. If you listen to ‘Stoneman’, ‘Electric Eel’, ‘La Cucaracha’… this is the funkiest album we’ve ever done. Someone said it’s like if Rush did a Chilli’s cover which kinda made sense to us! Also, just the backing falsetto vocals in the Chillis. It just works so well with the funk. And that’s definitely something we took from this record!
King Crimson – Starless
This King Crimson tune was more of an influence on ‘Is This Real?’, the ballad on the album. The album is balls to the wall all the way through so we knew we needed some respite from that. However, we thought lets just have one song that does that, but do it really well and make it a real centrepiece to the album. The tone and way Fripp plays on this song was what influenced the main tapping motif that the rest of the song was built from.
Mastodon – Blood and Thunder
Finally, Blood and Thunder was a song that kind of just gave birth early on to the ideas that set the course for the direction the album went in. Just throw in the best riffs we could conjure and everything just pounding and in your face. Something that makes you feel like Beavis and Butt-Head and just want to bang your head. Drums that make you do the stank face. Face melting solos! That was the foundation of this album.
Stream KOYO ‘Onism’ via Spotify: