Upcoming Bristol rock trio Krooked Tongue share their highly anticipated debut studio album “I Know A Place”!
With the financial pressures of being an independent band navigating the costs of recording and releasing their debut album to vinyl, as well as self-funding a trip to New York City to showcase at its renowned New Colossus festival in March, Krooked Tongue turned to GoFundMe and with the support of their fanbase, raised £1,000 in less than two weeks.
Produced by long-time collaborator Josh Gallop (Sergeant Thunderhoof, Mother Vulture) at Stage 2 Studios in Bath, their 10-track album spans the breadth of the human experience: teenage love, life’s turbulences, unfulfillment, technology, human connection, grief and fighting fear and exploring the unknown. The album marks a shift toward the most striking evolution of the bands sound, from initially forming whilst at university together, to spending years refining their songwriting and finding a mature sonic identity that is unmistakably theirs. The album delivers sledghammer choruses, sing-along vocal lines, lyrical wit, scathing sarcasm and infectious melodies from the opening note, to the very last.
Oli from Krooked Tounge has kindly taken the time to chat with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution regarding the release of their debut studio album and you can find the full interview below.
Hey Krooked Tounge, thank you for this interview. Can you start by introducing yourselves to readers who might not be familiar with your music?
Oli: Thank you for having us! We’re Oli (songwriter, bass, vocal), Harry (drums), and Dan (guitar)! And we are an Independent alt rock trio from Bristol.
You just released your debut studio album, “I Know A Place”. How did the idea for this album come together?
Oli: We had the idea to do the album on the back of our last EP ‘Deathproof’ and it felt like the right time to release something bigger. We started tracking singles for a while and it just kind of evolved into the embryo of an album.
What are the themes behind the songs featured on the album, and what inspired you to use them?
Oli: Every song on the album tells a different story but the themes intertwine at points to create a more cohesive message. There’s songs on this album that are about love, loss, nostalgia and good times. Life is a long and turbulent road, so with ‘I Know a Place’ we wanted to convey the ebbs and flows of the everyday experience.
What are some of your favourite songs from the album?
Oli: We all have different favourites. Mine is probably ‘I Know a Place’ just because I love how much balls it has. Dan loved ‘Dog Days’ for its ‘golden hour’ soundscape and Harry’s fave is probably ‘Blood Shark’ (I think because he gets to smash the living F out of the drums on that song).
You self-funded a trip to New York City to showcase at its renowned New Colossus festival in March and turned to GoFundMe, which raised £1,000 in less than two weeks. How did it feel to have all of this support behind you while creating the album?
Oli: New York was incredible. And to have fans of our music come to see us at New Colossus meant the world. The GoFundMe went so much better than anticipated. Having never done something like a fundraiser before, we weren’t too sure on what the returns might be but so many people chipped in and supported us when we needed it most. Absolute magic. We won’t forget it.
If listeners could take anything away from this album, what would you like it to be?
Oli: Enjoy life and embrace every curveball it has to throw at you. This album is a journey. It’s meant to make the listener feel some escapism from the darker times and provide some shelter in an ever glowing, sunlit hallway between the past and the future.
What does this album personally mean to you?
Oli: It means everything. To finally have a full, 10 track body of work that will last forever is what dreams are made of. It’s a chance to showcase the depth and difference between our songs and to show the world every dimension of our band.
Are there any songs that did not make the tracklist that we see released at a later date?
Oli: We actually already have most of the next album’s worth of songs ready to record, it’s just a case of getting back in the studio and tracking them.
Following the release of the album, what’s next for this talented trio?
Oli: We have some shows in May to celebrate the release of ‘I Know a Place’ including Dot to Dot. So that’ll be nice to be able to play these songs live now that they’re all released. But in the meantime, we’re chugging along until the next cool as hell thing lands on our desk.
Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?
Oli: Thank you for being music fans in an era where short form content is all consuming. We hope you can enjoy our album as much we enjoyed making it. So pour yourself a whiskey, put on your headphones and click play on track one.
You can check out “I Know A Place” on Spotify below or via further platforms here.
Krooked Tongue: Facebook / Instagram.
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