INTERVIEW: kleio discuss influences, passions, and their new single ‘yoko’

After originally breaking through with their brilliant debut single ‘lowlights & batteries’ last year, Irish four-piece kleio have now returned to the fold with their thunderous new offering ‘yoko’, a track which has seen them grow into one of the more anticipated names for the year ahead.

With a fresh and immersive indie-rock sound that takes cues from Catfish & The Bottlemen, we wanted to find out more about what has been inspiring them and driving their distinctive direction so far.

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What was the first rock song or artist that made an impact on you?

The first rock song I remember that made a lasting impression on me was Oasis’ The Importance of Being Idle. I hadn’t gotten into any genre at that stage but after hearing it. I went down an oasis rabbit hole, they became my only personality trait for a while, I had decided I was gonna be the cool kid in school that listened to old school music. We used to have. The Fratellis Debut album Costello Music as well which was on loop every summer for the first 12 years of my life so those are the first that spring to mind.

Who are some of your biggest musical influences within the rock genre?

Catfish and the bottlemen are my main ones. I loved their story and I constantly watched their live performances and how enormous their live set sounds. They’re from a small town like ourselves, that through sheer graft got out of it, so they’re a band that I really look up to. The other lads in the band are massively into the beatles, tame impala, pink Floyd, led zeppelin so there’s a lot of diversity in our influences.

Are there any non-rock musicians or genres that have also influenced your music?

I love artists like Frank Sinatra and Amy Winehouse, I don’t think they’ve influenced our music consciously at least but they are two of the absolute greats in my eyes. I almost solely listen to modern Indie rock though, I know what I like and like what I know for the most part.

What is your main inspiration when looking to write new music?

When writing the music it kind of depends on what I’m listening to at the time but there are a few boxes I always want checked. The biggest reason we’re in a band is we love playing live and so we want our audience to have a good time. We try to write with them in mind; are there points where they can sing-along or dance or whatever. I also try to keep the lyrics positive and relatable so it depends on what is going on with me or the people around me at the time.

What do you enjoy most about performing live and do you have any memorable live performance experiences you’d like to share?

Like I said the live performance is our favourite part of being in the band, selling out in Belfast last summer was probably our favourite moment so far, the Belfast crowd were immense and it was like we kept buzzing off each other on the night. Another moment was a hometown gig we played in January that had sold out, at one point during that gig the crowd started singing our songs back to us which was really cool.

What has been a particularly rewarding moment in your musical journey so far?

Last summer we did a tour where we played 10 gigs in 10 nights in the 8 cities of Ireland, it was such a gruelling trip that took a lot out of us, we were also working early mornings during the tour then getting in a car and driving to the venue, playing the gig and then coming back the same night. So we were exhausted when it was over but the feeling after the last gig had finished was such a rewarding one, we had stuck it out and put on performances that we could be proud of everywhere we went.

How would you define success as a musician?

I think in our band we’ve not got an ultimate goal, we’re incredibly ambitious and want to get as far as possible. We have small goals at the moment, festival bills, bigger headline shows and maybe eventually get to a place where we can be able to quit our jobs to play music, but after that it’s how far we can take it as I’m sure it is with a lot of bands, but we currently don’t have a goal that if we hit we would call it a success.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists who are just starting out?

I’d love to say that we can give aspiring artists a piece of advice that changes their lives, but I’d be lying if I did. We’re still learning the ropes and taking any opportunity we can to push ourselves further. I would just say have fun, being part of a band is the best thing I’ve done and even as an unknown group we’ve had experiences that I would never have gotten elsewhere, as well as giving us a real passion and feeling that we could go and make something of ourselves.

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Check out kleio’s latest single ‘yoko’ below.