A Refreshing Pop Single From Katanak
A brand new single release from Katanak brings out a savory and lush pop formula that comes through with a great drive and hints of edginess but stands on the feet of honesty and straightforwardness while the song explodes into colorful choruses and memorable hooks.
"Lights of Tokyo" has a gracefulness to it in a way and that in itself has to do with the delivery in the performance not just vocally, but in the production as well because the way everything falls together creates a certain atmosphere and that is what wraps itself around you and gets you engulfed in the song itself.
There was plenty of attention to detail and intricacies when creating this track and that's a given, however, there's also a lot of love for the craft happening here and that's just oozing out of every orifice of this release.
There's something about this song that shows a lot of heart and the way that it's delivered gives the feeling of something almost nostalgic in a way.
This combination of attributes makes the song have a soul and in turn, it gives it this almost alive and breathing feeling which is something you come across rarely these days.
This is definitely a radio-friendly pop song that feels like it's built off someone of an emotional platform but the hooks have this impeccable way of bouncing around in your head for hours after the song has ended and the only way to satiate that is to listen to it again.
This is what I would call smart songwriting of course.
I'm not saying this is what the thought was when the song was written, but it certainly works so well to keep you coming back for more.
This track comes through full-bodied and Lush and has a way of subtly growing and intensity the longer it plays on which is also a wonderful and refreshing style.
you can really feel that drive and how everything comes off charming in a way that makes the song feel good to listen to.
You definitely get a summer vibe from this. Or at least I did. It was like a youthful sunset summer single that had angles of maturity to it within the songwriting itself but stayed vibrant.
With such a wonderfully woven single we wanted to have a sit-down with Katanak to find out what really inspired this song and what might be coming up next for the artist.
Here's what happened.
TSWS: Let's start things off with " Lights of Tokyo"! This track certainly had a vibrant, cinematic, colorful and honest feel to it! What is this single about and how did it come to be?
Lights of Tokyo goes back a long way actually. It was among the first lot of songs I ever wrote, back in 2016 or 2017, and it's still my favourite track to play live. Back when I wrote this track, I was influenced by early 2000's Australian rock and artists such as Powderfinger and Pete Murray. I’m a huge fan of The Wombats, COIN and The 1975 now and was looking to transform my original rock song to a UK modern rock/indie pop sound. I was stoked to find that both Matt McGuffie and Aidan Hogg were also huge fans of the bands I listened to, so it was easy to convey to them exactly what I wanted this track to sound like. I’m super happy with how it’s turned out and you’ve hit the nail on the head with vibrant, cinematic, colourful and I loved honest.
I got the idea for the song from my friend who had been to Tokyo and had met someone there. I wanted to write about not just the excitement of meeting someone new, but also being in a foreign city, not being able to navigate the language well, but a connection that transcended language.
TSWS: How do you record your music? Is it at a home studio or do you go to a big studio for this?
So It’s actually a mixture of both. When I’m producing and writing my music and figuring out all the little details of how I want everything to sound, I do it in my little home studio where I can do a pretty accurate demo mix and then I can take what I’ve done and get some vocals recorded at a more equipped studio to get that great vocal sound. The majority of the instruments you hear in ‘Lights of Tokyo’ and my other music for that matter is 80% recorded in my home studio bar, except perhaps the drums and vocals.
TSWS: How did this all start for you as an artist? When did you really fall in love with music?
I feel that most musicians just ‘know’ they need to do music. I grew up with a Dad and Uncle who played in bands so was always around music. I’ve just always loved music and picked everything up by ear. Yes, I had some lessons, but I can’t say they were a roaring success and even turned me off piano for quite a while. I was in love with music, not with lessons.
Everything I’ve done to date is listening, watching and emulating the artists I was listening to. I’ve played in bands that ranged from emo punk, rock to my current project Katanak, which can be anything from indie pop to modern/alt rock. I fell more in love with music once Katanak started and I started producing and playing with sounds as a producer as well as an artist.
TSWS: What kind of things really inspire songs for you?
A. For me it could be literally anything but mostly it’s connected to an emotion. The strongest one I’ve had was with my song ‘Weigh down” which came about when I was filming for the Elvis movie. I was in a job that was literally sucking the life out of me and I hadn’t been able to write a song for months at that point, and didn't really feel the passion for music like I used to. After spending literal months working on the songs for the movie, perfecting myself as a player and then working with world class musicians leagues above myself, it really shot adrenaline through my veins again and I wrote ‘Weigh down’ from that one feeling I got on the last day.
TSWS: This track has some great styles on it! Can you give us some of your biggest influences musically?
Musically my biggest influences are The 1975 and The Wombats as well as a couple other awesome bands peppered in there. Those two in particular really started my love for British Indie, and what became Katanak.
TSWS: What are you doing when you're NOT working on music?
NOT working on music is not an option, haha! I work full time in a job that is not music related (picture my sad face here) so my spare time goes into music. I’m currently doing some producing and writing with some emerging artists from all over and one rather big name in Australian music. I love getting my ideas down and seeing how they grow. For me, I spend just about every waking second that isn't spent at my day job practicing some form of music haha.
TSWS: Who's in your headphones right now?
This will probably come as a shock given the music that I write but I really love metal, and a lot of my go to listening songs are bands like avenged sevenfold and Architects. More in line with myself, I’ve really been loving Selfish Sons who are huge at the moment here in Australia, as well as local bands Loose fittings and The Baby Breaks.
TSWS: Are you doing any live performances right now?
Katanak has an east coast tour starting in June. We’re heading to Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Caloundra and Brisbane. Once that leg is over we’ll have more shows TBC. You can find all the info on my website: https://www.katanakmusic.com/
TSWS: What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
The short answer is new music, a tour, some festival spots, a sweet lil gig in Brisbane that I’m not at liberty to talk about yet, and a pretty cool video for ‘Lights of Tokyo’.
I put the video together myself and it’ll be out a couple of weeks after release. I was trying to work out what I could do for the video, how I could afford to record it, and was coming up with absolutely zero ideas. I mean the song is about meeting someone in Tokyo and the Tokyo landscape is very distinctive with neon lights and small alleyways. Very different to what we have here in Brisbane. Then one day I came across AI video. A spark was lit and I’ve put together this very cool anime clip about ‘running wild in Tokyo’. It’s different and very fun. I’ll have it up on all my socials and will also be featured on my youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@
During my tour starting in June, we’ll be playing the new music that will make up my debut EP so when we are playing near you, get along.
Keep your eyes peeled for some festival spots as well.
TSWS: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Definitely pre-save ‘Lights of Tokyo’. That link is: https://bit.ly/Lights_Of_
-
If you like an artist, let them know. I like to chat with new fans, so send me a DM and let me know how you found the music and that you read about it here on ‘The Sounds Won’t Stop’.