Yakul (Live) and Interview
So tell us guys, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music and to get together as band?
We started off just jamming and having fun in Tom’s basement! It came together out of a desire to collaborate on a project together after working on some projects and it developed into Yakul after a couple of lineup changes.
Who are some artists that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?
We all have pretty different influences but there are a few artists we all love like Mac Ayres, Daniel Caesar or Hiatus Kaiyote to name a few. Mac hit us up!
We know you have your new album coming up on the 2nd of august, can you give us any info about it?
We’re super excited! It’s the first record we wrote together from top to bottom around a drum kit and it’s reflected in the way it came out, we’re delighted with it.
How would you describe your sound?
We call ourselves Future Soul, but if you boil it down it’s RnB and Soul with beats that are a bit wonkier and some really loud bits every now and then haha
What's your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?
We’ve had loads of great moments over the last few years! A few that stand out are the amazing nights we’ve had headlining Ronnie Scott’s, playing Glastonbury or closing the new generation jazz stage at love supreme festival a few years ago.
Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?
Don’t get too hung up if your first release doesn’t pan out the way you thought it would, this is a marathon not a sprint and there will be loads of ups and downs along the way.
Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out?
I’ve been obsessed with Saya Gray at the moment, especially her album 19 MASTERS. I love hearing someone remind you that there’s so many different ways to write a song. Kind of shakes you up and opens a doorway to a whole other realm of creating. It doesn’t happen that often these days, so I’m always grateful when it does.
What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?
Mk.gee just put out a record called Two star and the dream police are which has blown us all away
What do you like to do when you're not making music?
We’re all super different in this respect but we all come together over a shared love of cooking. It’s weird as we seem to never agree on anything in this regard other than that we all love it haha
Name Three things you can't live without when in the studio?
Natural light - learnt the hard way after 7 years of windowless studios. Something to voice note ideas - I voice note everything when I’m writing, too many ideas get lost otherwise Some kind of keyboard - piano has always been my main instrument, it’s generally where I start writing from
Interview and pics by Silvia Fox
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