Meet Otala: "We want to make music that keeps listeners feeling uncomfortable."
- ◡̈ Lia Qin
- Mar 7, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 5, 2023
If you haven't heard of Otala, today is the day. They are a Nottingham based post-punk(ish) quintet, they just released a new EP "Tell The Bees", and they did an interview with A Lucid Dream so you could know (not quite) everything about this band.
Interview by Lia Qin
Images & Words by Lia Qin (with the help from Akiyuki Kurayama)
These days, it feels odd to just put one genre before a band's name. Similar to many other recent post-punk bands, Otala incorporate lots of different styles into their tracks including genres that not usually involved in post-punk, for example their Bossa Nova inspired "Tell The Bees". Traces of influences from last century's The Fall and Television, to the current indie scene favourites Black Midi and Black Country, New Road(1) can be found in their rather atonal guitar riffs, the affinity of shrieking and discordant noise, the avant-garde jazz like saxophone, and the intense but vulnerable atmosphere. At the same time their raw sound might remind you of the underground independent music scene that Fat White Family and Gilla Band represent.
Unpredictable and unsettling seems to be a theme Otala seek to provide. Like what Oscar (Vocalist & Guitarist) told us in the interview, they want to keep listeners feeling uncomfortable, whether it'd be the lyrics, dynamics or dissonance. Without outwardly explaining too much about their creating process, it is left to you and me to decide how we wish to interpret the sound they've created. I'd say if you're into the post-brexit-post-punk wave bands, chances are you might enjoy Otala. Open you Spotify/Apple Music/Amazon Music, give their EP a listen, and treat yourself to a read through the interview we did with Oscar, Rory and Jack about their music, future (very exciting) gigs, and more
(1) In the interview we did with Otala, their Synth player Jack mentioned the comparison between their music to BC,NR's: "We’ve built a repertoire of comparisons that seem to crop up more often like Black Country, New Road but there’s nothing intentional on our end behind that comparison"
- First of all, who are Otala? If you could think of three words to describe the band, what would they be?
Rory (Bass): Unpredictable, Semi-pleasant, Noise.
- How long have you been together now? What’ve been your biggest band milestones so far?
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): Otala’s been going for about a year, but since about October with our current line up.
Rory (Bass): I'd say our biggest milestone is being asked to play Supersonic's festival in Paris. Although we've had a bunch of exciting opportunities recently so it's getting difficult to pick!
- Did you always have a clear idea of the kind of music you wanted to make or did you eventually find out your way?
Jack (Synth): I'd say our sound has evolved a lot. This includes the sound palette itself but also with significant direction and style added by new member additions. The music is definitely built on a lot of basic principles likely deriving or relating to genres like post-punk or even jazz. Structure is important to us as is making music that experiments with said structure to keep things interesting.
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): We want to make music that keeps listeners feeling uncomfortable, whether it be the lyrics, dynamics or dissonance etc.
- Congrats on the release of your EP Tell The Bees! We love how cohesive it sounds despite having only three songs. What’s it about? How did you piece it together?
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): I’d rather not outwardly say what the songs are about, it ruins some of the fun :)
Rory (Bass): We have had these songs developing for quite a long time since Oscar wrote them a couple of years ago, and they've been coming in and out of our live sets and rehearsals during our time as a band, so really we've been able to give them a new life now we have a more sturdy lineup of members. I think that helps them sound a lot more cohesive than they might have when we first played them.
Jack (Synth): Despite how proud we are of both the release and response of the EP, it also marks the end of another style/era. Much of this is carried forward into new material but I think people will understand when they hear some new stuff at our upcoming gigs
- Tell us a bit about the musical influences behind this EP? Where do you find inspiration when writing new music?
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): Again, would like to keep you all guessing. Some artists that I really think has been influential are Black Midi, The Birthday Party and Fat White Family.
Rory (Bass): I think it's hard to pin specific influences with the final sound being so much a combination of all our styles, although a lot of more recent albums that have come out while we've been developing the tracks definitely had an impact, like Drunk Tank Pink, Hellfire, and I Love You Jennifer B.
Jack (Synth): We’ve built a repertoire of comparisons that seem to crop up more often like Black Country, New Road but there’s nothing intentional on our end behind that comparison. The writing itself, musically, is a very collaborative effort with layers being added constantly during the formation of new tracks. We try to keep all the instrument parts individual/prominent on their own but keeping it coherent as a finished piece.
- From all the songs you’ve written (released and unreleased), which one are you most proud of?
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): I’d say Tell the Bees as its done reasonably well on Spotify, which we didn’t expect whatsoever.
Rory (Bass): Also Tell The Bees for me. I think it's the best example of what we're trying to do with our sound: mixing noisier more disjointed elements with softer, well
thought out sections, inspired by genres not usually included in post-punk like Bossa Nova.
Jack (Synth): Personally, Mill Grain Throat has always been musically one of my favourite songs but also fun to play live with several differing sections that set the pace and tone of the track as it plays.
- Does your relationship with your songs changes when you play them live?
Jack (Synth): It will usually be affected by how well we play it and the reaction it gets. Although this can change drastically gig-to-gig depending in rehearsals and the crowd itself.
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): All of our songs sound a bit different live depending on what we decide to do with them leading up to a show. You’ll be able to recognise them live but there’ll be a few changes gig to gig, so I guess the relationship with them is always changing as well.
- Your 2023 is looking pretty good so far – new EP, first time playing London, a headline show coming up in a few weeks, and heading to Supersonic in Paris very soon. How do you feel about achieving all these?
Rory (Bass): We're very excited to be putting ourselves out there more this year, and really appreciative of the opportunities we've had already - playing our first London show at somewhere as renowned as the George Tavern was a real milestone for us given how we pretty much stuck to the same few cities until early this year.
Jack (Synth): Yeah the London gig was such a big milestone and, in the politest way
possible, a good stepping-stone to hopefully getting more London-based gigs in the future.
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): There’s no particularly cool stories behind all these, just hours of sitting on our sofas sending emails and 1 in every 100 will reply. Hopefully there’s more to come!
Jack (Synth): Obviously, being an independent band, we have to do all the communication with promoters and other bands ourselves unless pre-arranged. We were happy to snap the opportunity to play alongside Gallus at Bodega when it came about and the addition of Dura Mater and M/W/C is just a huge bonus. M/W/C are definitely a band we had in our radar for a while and getting them on our headline was a long process but we’re grateful to get the opportunity to play with them.
- As an independent band, what are the struggles you’re facing as a relatively smaller artist and what are the things you wish the music industry could be different for bands like you?
Rory (Bass): It definitely feels difficult for us to get our music heard by as many people as we'd like, it does pretty often feel like our progress is at the whims of an unseen algorithm.
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): And the costs of playing the gigs, with travel etc. it’s always worth it in the end anyway. It’s the industry we want to work in so we can’t be too harsh!
Jack (Synth): It’s difficult to say about changes because it's a bit of catch 22 with the obtaining of desirable gigs. The thing about growing in the music industry is that it’s kind of a mutually destructive process at times. To play big gigs at well-regarded venues you need the recognition but, to get this recognition one of the larger factors is playing at said venues.
- Do you get a chance to see a lot of gigs? Are there any bands you’ve seen recently that you particular like and want to work with in the future?
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): Not too many recently but hoping to change that over the summer! One band I’ve seen a few times that have blown me away have been Fat Dog. Huge sound, huge energy, huge.
Rory (Bass): I think interacting with music in any sense is fairly fundamental to all of our lives so I couldn't imagine not seeing bands I like often. I saw Cowboyy recently which is one of the best gigs I've been to for a long time, I'd love to play with them at some point.
Jack (Synth): I very much enjoyed seeing Jockstrap, Viagra Boys, Fat Dog (again) and many others. Although, they’re not bands I’d say our anywhere near our current radar, they are bands who contribute largely to my music taste and personal inspiration.
- Lastly, tell us what has been your favourite Otala moment so far?
Rory (Bass): The first gig Jack played with us was pretty entertaining, especially given he's been our full time synth player ever since; he was front and centre stage playing the synth he'd never played before just because he didn't want to buy a ticket to the gig to see us.
Oscar (Vocal & Guitar): When we played Wide Eyed festival at Leicester O2, there was a wide range of complimentary cobs. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.
Otala's 'Tell The Bees' is out EVERYWHERE (Spotify/Apple Music/Amazon Music).
Here are some of the upcoming gigs Otala are playing; find them on Instagram for more up to date information.
March 24th - Bodega, Nottingham
Buy ticket
April 9th - Tarantino Festival (with Opus Kink, Femur, and more), Hull
Buy ticket
May 19th - Block Party Festival at Supersonic, Paris
Get in touch with us if you also want to chat with us about your band, or are looking for a platform to share your experiences and thoughts about the music and gigs you enjoy. We welcome everyone to join with open arms. DM (@notaluciddream) or email us (notaluciddream@gmail.com), reach out and be featured on the next A Lucid Dream article. See you very soon!
Comments