INTERVIEW: Tokky Horror

The last time I spoke with Tokky Horror producer Zee, it was face-to-face outside of Hackney’s Sebright Arms in 2018. They were fronting a completely different band at the time, but the ethos behind their art has always been the same: make space in music for marginalised folks and get in the mosh pit if you can.

When we meet via Zoom for a chat this time around, Zee is taking their lunchbreak in the basement of Future Yard, an independent music venue in their native town of Birkenhead. Opening a month before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Zee has been working as their Operations Manager for the past few years.

“Tokky Horror played our first gig here, which was nice,” they tell me. “Birkenhead has always been this kind of outsider town to Liverpool. There’s a river that runs between us, and Birkenhead is always seen as ‘the dark side’ of the river. We’re not seen as properly scouse, and we’re not seen as properly Welsh, we’re kind of something in between. So it’s actually nice that the majority of Tokky’s beginnings have been in Birkenhead and we’ve been able to play my hometown.”

Alongside dual vocalists Mollie Rush and Ava Akira – two absolute forces of nature – Zee initially formed Tokky Horror virtually, sending demo’s back and forth online to entertain each other during the pandemic. Full of hyperactive beats, punk attitude and jungle-inspired electronics, the band playfully coined their sound as “virtual hardcore”. Since then, Tokky Horror have released their debut EP, I Found The Answers And Now I Want More and toured extensively across the UK.

Newly signed to Venn Records, the trio are currently preparing to release their upcoming EP, KAPPACORE on 12th May. Zee is wearing a black hoodie with the Tokky KAPPA-inspired logo on the front when we speak, which feels pretty apt. I ask what fans can expect from their new release.

“I think we didn’t really know what we were doing when we started Tokky Horror,” Zee laughs. “We just kind of kept rolling with it and writing and having fun just to kind of entertain ourselves. The songs that we’ve come up with that are now on KAPPACORE are the first songs we wrote properly together post-lockdown. Most of them were written around tours and live shows. So this almost feels like our first release. The initial EP we did and the stuff we released through Alcopop! was almost like the equivalent of a band getting into the practice room, which we couldn’t do at the time. It was us jut kind of playing with ideas and seeing what we were, and what we wanted to do. Whereas KAPPACORE is the first time we’d all come together to write something and be like, ‘This is what Tokky is, this is our statement.'”

This statement has been delivered in the form of the EP’s first single, ‘Toilet’. A blend of drum & bass beats, manic riffs and surprisingly vulnerable lyrics, the track is inspired by Zee’s own experiences of finding their feet within activist scenes in music and further afield. This need for real change is something that has always fuelled Zee’s output.

“I think a lot of my music has been about that, forever,” they comment, “but ‘Toilet’ specifically is more aimed at activist scenes. I always felt when I was younger and slightly more naive, that these movements I’d associate myself with were perfect. So lots of queer movements and scenes would be perfect in my quite naive head.

I think a lot of punks love the word ‘anarchy’, but they would much rather be pissed in a toilet somewhere than making genuine change, and it was quite hard for me to realise that. It was really hard for me to accept. I went through this big period of feeling almost hopeless. I think maybe in some part of my teenage, early 20s mind, I was like, ‘we’re going to burn this horrible world down! We’re going to build a new one!’ – then I realised the people who were going to burn it down were just wasted. That’s what ‘Toilet’ is about. You’re more likely to find these people passed out on the toilet floor, then stood outside Parliament protesting. I think I’ve realised that you have to be the change.

Whilst these epiphanies were initially painful for Zee, they were also the catalyst for creating the new space and ethos they felt was lacking from music scenes.

“The entire premise of Future Yard and my work here is to give young people and people from disadvantaged backgrounds opportunities to work and have careers within live music,” Zee continues. “We’ve worked on a tonne of training programmes and it’s about being the active change in your community and actively participating. I don’t think you can wait for a movement to come by and fix it, I think we have to just make these kinds of gradual, small changes ourselves. As far as Tokky Horror is concerned, we try to do that in our everyday existence. We try to play venues where we agree with their ethos, we try to make music that will maybe encourage people to do that. Our team and the people we work with, we trust them to be part of that change.”

Taking part in this year’s Independent Venue Week was another element of that. Tokky Horror played six live dates back in February to celebrate it, beginning their mini tour at The Moon in Cardiff, dropping by London’s Black Heart in Camden, before wrapping things up at the Quarry in Liverpool.

“I love Independent Venue Week,” Zee enthuses. “I love the ethos behind it and the way the public engages with it. You can tell there’s an appetite from people to support venues and support the bands during that week. There’s a real positivity around the whole thing. Particularly given that last January, most venues were closed because of Omicron. It was really nice to see a fully functional venue week this year. It was probably one of my favourite ever tours. You just go to the best venues in the country, what more could you want?

The Black Heart show was funny. It was absolute carnage from the moment we stood on the stage. I’ve always wanted to do that with my music, I’ve always wanted it to be that from the get go, that the room just explodes. The Black Heart was almost perfectly that. The circle pit opened during the intro music. We played ‘Insomnia’ by Faithless and as soon as that synth dropped, our guitarist James and I looked at each other, and we were like ‘this is gonna go off…’ We played some great shows that week. We played Blackpool, Newcastle and Manchester. We sold out a bunch of those dates out as well, which was great.”

Performing live is clearly where Tokky Horror thrive. Vocalists Ava and Mollie are renowned for their visceral, in-your-face energy and their commitment to making sure everyone in the mosh pits at a Tokky show has their boundaries respected. Carving out a safe space for their fans – whilst also feeling safe enough themselves – is at the center of all that Tokky Horror do. I ask Zee if fans have spoken to them about these triumphs, and their response is honest and considered.

“There’s a lot of women and gender queer, and queer people that come to the shows and are in the front row, and it’s really nice,” Zee says. “They don’t feel like there’s going to be this type of masculine mosh pit, and that they’ll get the shit kicked out of them. Having said that, we have had a little bit of backlash against moshing at our events actually. People have said that it made them feel uncomfortable, which I fully understand. I think it’s something that we’re trying to find a kind of happy medium on, where people can mosh and party and move, without it getting out of hand.

It’s such a great vibe at the Tokky gigs. The energy that the crowd brings, we’re always fully grateful for that. I don’t think we’ve ever played a show that’s not had a mosh pit. Even when there’s only five people in the room, they’ll start dancing and kind of going crazy. That’s amazing. We make music for you to move to. It is part of the culture, and it’s part of the band. But we’re trying to do that safely and do that in a way that makes people comfortable. It is 100% what we’re about. I would never want people to not want to come and see us, or turn away from a show because of it either.

I think moshing in general is having a little bit of an identity crisis. We’re seeing an increase in moshing at events that wouldn’t normally have them. There’s been a big backlash against moshing at jungle and drum and bass events. If I’m honest, I love moshing. I think it’s a great way for people to express themselves and to have that chaos and adrenaline rush that people crave. It’s just got to be safe. It’s got to be handled in a way that has the audience in mind, and people’s varying access requirements in mind. It’s a work in progress.”

It’s certainly something the band will be considering on the impressive run of live dates they have coming up in the next few months. This includes a slot alongside Brighton electro-punks CLT DRP – who Zee loves – supporting Alice Glass in Leeds, and a run of dates supporting Enter Shikari on their UK tour.

“Shikari were one of those bands that as a teenager, they kind of blew my mind a little bit,” Zee smiles. “I’ve always really loved electronic music. That’s what my Mum and Dad were really into, stuff like the Prodigy, Orbital and Underworld. But I grew up also loving heavy music and punk, so as soon as I heard Enter Shikari and the ridiculousness that was going on in their sound, something just really spoke to me. I really loved their Take To The Skies album. So to be going out on tour with them now and have that kind of nod of approval is really surreal, but a very lovely thing to have.”

Following these live dates, Tokky Horror will be on the festival circuit, which includes appearances at Blackpool’s Rebellion Festival, Burn It Down Festival in Devon, and the amazing ArcTanGent Festival in Bristol. “It’s the first time we’re playing ArcTanGent and the lineup is absolutely insane,” Zee comments. “We’re playing on the same day as HEALTH and IGORRR, who is one of my all-time biggest influences as a producer. I’m really glad that we get to play it.”

Before I let Zee return to their work, I ask if they have any bands or artists who they’ve been listening to recently that they’d like to recommend.

“I’ve got a tonne! Off the top of my head, I really love this band called Nihiloxica. It’s really percussion-led kind of techno. It’s absolutely amazing. I’d also recommend Zulu, who are a black power violence band. They’ve just dropped their album A New Tomorrow, and I’ve been rinsing that, it’s phenomenal stuff. They’re on my to-see-list this year.”

Tokky Horror UK Live Dates 2023
8th April – Manchester Punk Festival, Manchester (DJ Set)
13th April – St Lukes, Glasgow (supporting Enter Shikari)
14th April – New Century Hall, Manchester (supporting Enter Shikari)
15th April – KK Steel Mill, Wolverhampton (supporting Enter Shikari)
16th April – SWX, Bristol (supporting Enter Shikari)
17th April – Outernet, London (supporting Enter Shikari)
26th April – Oporto, Leeds (co-headline with CLT DRP)
27th April – Rock City Beta, Nottingham
28th April – The Black Prince, Northampton
30th April – Sounds From The Other City, Salford
18th May – KAPPACORE EP Release Party Blondies, London
26th May – Sneister Festival, The Hague NL
9th June – Fiestas De La Artes, Manchester
5th August – Rebellion Festival, Blackpool
18th August – Convoy Cabaret Festival, Dorchester
19th August – Arctangent Festival, Somerset
9th September – Burn It Down Festival, Devon

Follow Tokky Horror on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Kate Crudgington
@kcbobcut

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PREMIERE: Dream Phone – ‘Bad Girls’

Having been completely blown away by Oxford duo Dream Phone when they played live for us supporting Me Rex last month, I was thrilled to hear they’ll be releasing their debut EP in May. Counting BBC Radio 6Music amongst their fans, and sharing stages with the likes of Cheerbleederz and Supermilk, the duo started off as a pop-punk guitar and drums duo, before transforming into the wonderful auto-tuned glitch-pop sensation that we know today – ready to unleash more of their utterly unique sonic delights to the world.

Taken from the EP, new single ‘Bad Girls’ offers a joyous ode to Buffy and Faith (from best TV show ever, Buffy The Vampire Slayer), celebrating friendship and discovering your “bad side” as Jenny Bell and Hannah Watts’ sparkling charisma and vibrant energy shine through. Showcasing the duo’s ability to combine quirky voice augmentation with infectious, synth-driven glitch-pop soundscapes, it harks back to the innovative layering and sampling of Kathleen Hanna’s solo Julie Ruin record; oozing a euphoric riot grrrl inspired drive, whilst maintaining Dream Phone’s trademark playful allure. Of the track, Jenny explains:

“Bad Girls is about the excitement of making a new friend who has a big influence on you, and finding your partner in crime. When we’re not jumping around in Dream Phone, we spend a lot of our downtime watching Buffy – and in the ‘Bad Girls’ episode I love that Buffy is able to cut loose with her new friendship with Faith. We originally wrote the song as a simple guitar and drums pop punk song, and recently transformed it into this new glitch-pop sound”.  

Since the immense excitement of seeing them live last month, it’s in no way an exaggeration to say that I have not stopped thinking about Dream Phone (aka my new favourite band)’s wonderfully wacky and truly original offerings, and will be hitting repeat on the glorious hype-pop tenacity of ‘Bad Girls’ for the foreseeable future.

So, don your knee-high boots and wooden stakes, watch the new video for ‘Bad Girls’, and feel instantly better about life!

The self-titled debut EP from Dream Phone is set for release on 19th May via Divine Schism.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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Five Favourites: LibraLibra

Having just released their epic new EP, CUT, GIHE faves LibraLibra continue to impress with their utterly unique fusion of pop, electro and punk. Recent single, ‘Mother’s Ruin‘, for example, immediately hits you with the colossal, empowering grace of front woman Beth’s vocals as it builds with a swirling anthemic splendour. Reflecting on the process of healing from past traumas, its cathartic, emotion-rich power showcases the strength and determination that women are capable of – as the lyrics poignantly state, “girls who are beasts, we keep running…”

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of CUT, we caught up with LibraLibra to ask about the music that has inspired them the most. So, read about their five favourite ever albums, and check out the immense video for ‘Mother’s Ruin’ below…

BETH:

Erasure – Wonderland 
Erasure introduced me to the world of singing. My parents had a completion CD they played once in the car, and apparently after that, I was hooked. I would starting chanting “Moogies Love Love Dance” as soon as I was strapped into my car seat (‘Who Needs Love Like That’) and they would have to play the CD over and over again the entire car ride; I would be giggling and wiggling and singing along as best as a first time talker could – it had both me and my parents in a chokehold. I think Erasure, combined with New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears and Seal, were particular stand outs – as soon as I could work a CD player I would take these CDS from my parents collection and spend hours creating musical dramatics in my bedroom. Each scene was developed using particular songs from these artists, with a strong theme of triumphing over hate and pain. I would never let anyone watch – it wasn’t something I was creating to show anyone, I was insanely private, but I would spend hours on my own dancing in my room to what I thought were these profound scenes of art! I guess I was a sucker for synth led, extravagant and emotive pop.

Madonna – Ray of Light 
Madonna’s Ray of Light album was a continuation of me hiding away in my room dancing and creating make believe. I begged my parents for this album – I had started to seek out my own music, first it was Enya, All Saints, and then I heard ‘Frozen’ on Top of the Pops, and I knew I needed this album in my life. This album stuck with me for a good few years; it got me through hard times – I was bullied at a lot at school for being overweight and I loved to dance, but it was only something I could do in private. With this album I would spend hours dancing and just losing myself. I must give a lot of credit to William Orbit who produced this album, there is an essence that he added in the production and instrumentation that just tugs at my melancholic heart strings. This album fully charged my obsession with pure pop emotive drama. 

JOE: 

Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica 
I’ve been listening to a lot of dismantled dance music/leftfield electronic stuff while making this record. People like Aphex Twin and Leon Vynehall making constant appearances in my rotation. But OPN was always finding its way to the front of the queue for me. It’s hard to pick just one album but Replica might have topped it. The sound design and world he builds sonically for this album really stuck with me and inspired a lot of the production on our new EP, CUT.

GUY: 

Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 
For me, one of my most inspirational albums has to be Pet Sounds. I know it’s an obvious one, but I can’t really over estimate how much this album opened my eyes to the power of arrangement. I love the harmonies and chord movements, not to mention its impact on pop music in general and everything it inspired. While this record doesn’t immediately seem like it is linked to our music, I think this was the catalyst for me starting to dive more into Brian Wilson and his inspirations which eventually led to studying Bach and other classical composer – something which definitely permeates our latest work. 


ALL 3 OF US :

Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia (compilation) 
Radiohead are a band that have had an immense impact on each of us and these influences have manifested in varying ways on CUT. It’s difficult to hone in on a specific album, as the most influential thing about Radiohead for us collectively is the freedom they have to change and grow their sound. Radiohead are a band that clearly sonically push forward with each release in an attempt to cover (or should I say discover) new ground, as opposed to latching onto a formula that works and recycling it for safety, an ethos we also share. Musically, Radiohead are a band that understand the roots of harmony and they manage to incorporate influences from classical and jazz in a way that we have also started to play with more on this record while also going to the other end of the sonic spectrum, combining these more classical elements with the extremely modern sound of microtonal electronic weirdness found in the works of artists like Aphex Twin and OneohTrix Point Never. While I’m not sure CUT really sounds anything like Radiohead, there is a similarity in the way we try to fuse similar inspirations. The re-release of Kid A & Amnesiac in the guise of KIDAMNESIAC has been on heavy rotation in the writing period for this record and exemplifies a period of their writing where they had their fingers in all of those different genre pies: classical, jazz, rock and electronic – a range of influences which also permeates CUT.

Massive thanks to LibraLibra for sharing their Five Favourites with us!

CUT, the new EP from LibraLibra, is out now. Watch the immense video for ‘Mother’s Ruin’ here:

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FIVE FAVOURITES: King Isis

Multi-instrumentalist King Isis – whose name pays homage to their great-great-grandmother Omega King, one of the first Black opera singers in Chicago – seems to thrive in the uneasy space between indecision and taking action. The Oakland-based artist explores the gaps between these feelings on their upcoming debut EP, scales, which is set for release on 29th March via Dirty Hit/No Matter. Through a mix of shimmering guitar sounds, driving beats and relatable lyrics, King Isis balances feelings of frustration and apathy alongside buoyant melodies in order to overcome the barriers holding them back, whether they’re self-inflicted or otherwise.

An ardent believer in the empowering and healing nature of music, King Isis uses their artistry to enrich the lives of others too. They volunteer teaching music classes for low-income communities in Los Angeles, and have worked with the FreeStudio Program of Rikers Island, which creates a safe creative space for incarcerated youth and the children of incarcerated adults. 

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with King Isis to ask about their “Five Favourites” – five songs that have inspired their song-writing techniques. Check out their choices below and scroll down to watch the video for their latest single ‘taste of u’.

 

1. King Krule – ‘Czech One’
This song has been one of my favorites for a looooong time. I can’t recall exactly where I heard this for the first time, but sometime in college sounds right. King Krule has consistently been my favorite artist for the longest, specifically for the instrumental arrangement and the authenticity of his voice. This song is definitely different from a lot of his tracks, as it’s driven by keys instead of guitar, but the minor, moody melodic chord progression that carries the track has a special place in my heart. It feels like a dream to me. I feel like a lot of King Krule’s songs – including this one – have influenced the chords and shapes I use in songs and in my guitar practice.

2. Lauryn Hill – ‘I Gotta Find Peace of Mind’
Whenever this song comes on in my car, I gotta listen to the full 9 minutes. Her lyrics really resonate with me on this one. I feel like this song has influenced me specifically with lyric writing and strong melodies. Also her performance. I think a lot of what draws me to certain songs/artists and what I strive to do with my music is delivering authenticity through song. imperfections create perfect moments. The guitar is fairly simple, kinda going between two chords, yet is still super captivating because of her vulnerability both in her lyrics and performance. She’s repeating what appear to be simple phrases, but it carries so much meaning in how she shares these words. I think it brings me a sense of hopefulness and peace in moments of calamity. Her delivery and the repetition of certain phrases has definitely inspired how I create and share music. If you haven’t heard this song, listen!

3. Yves Tumor – ‘Gospel for a New Century’
I heard this song for the first time around the drop of this project. I started listening to Yves Tumor during college and was kinda infatuated with everything they were doing. I think what initially drew me to their music was the instrumental – I love a good bassline. When I’m listening to new music, I’m definitely drawn to the instrumental first, that’ll hook me in and eventually I’ll start hearing what they’re saying with their lyrics. If the music itself doesn’t catch my ear, you probably won’t catch me listening to it. I think Yves Tumor’s music in general and this song specifically has helped me be more open in my sound, they continue to inspire with their artistry. I have a couple songs on my next project that are influenced by the grunge-y, crunchy, darker melodies that flow through Yves Tumor’s music.

4. Hiatus Kaiyote – ‘The Lung’
I have a super distinct memory attached to the first time I heard this song. I was a sophomore in college, going through changes, discovering love, learning a lot about myself as a person. I was in my partner’s dorm room during a shroom trip and I fell in love with the magical energy of this song. I didn’t know what Nai Palm was saying for a long time – and honestly still don’t know what she’s saying – but that introductory guitar line instantly captivated my attention. And then she comes in with some infectious harmonies that still bring the same feelings it brought me the first day I heard it.

Ever since then, I’ve been a huge fan of Hiatus Kaiyote and Nai Palm. I think this song specifically inspired me to explore more harmonies within my songs and voice. In this song, her voice felt more like another instrument, moving in tune with the drums and other instruments in ways that still hold me more than the lyrics. I think that also inspired me to play with my voice more, explore the different ranges, sounds, and places my voice can exist in song.

5. Kanye West, Kid Cudi, 070 Shake – ‘Ghost Town’
I don’t remember the first time I heard this song but I included it in this list because everytime I hear it, I still wanna scream and cry with 070 Shake at the end. I love the rest of the song too, but when she comes in with “and nothing hurts anymore I feel kinda free,” it takes me out of whatever else I’m feeling and makes me feel like I can keep pushing through it all, like I can keep going. Something about this song feels familiar, like it’s all gonna be ok. In a similar way to how Lauryn Hill’s ‘Peace of Mind’ makes me feel, 070 Shake’s part of the song makes me feel hopeful, reignited, and alive. I think this song encourages me to dive deeper into writing and into myself, to continue to find freedom in creating music.

Thanks to King Isis for sharing their favourites with us!

Watch their video for ‘taste of u’ below

Follow King Isis on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Richard Mwanthi

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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