Long Island’s Koyo take us back to the good old days of the early 2000s with a thrilling, heart-on-sleeve brand of post-hardcore and emo that they describe as “honest, reminiscent and focused.”
Koyo is formed of a group of lifelong friends making music together, which first emerged to create more openers for local shows on Long Island. The members had all been part of other local bands but threw together a few ideas ahead of their first practice at HQ, at frontman Joey’s garage in Stony Brook, in September 2019.
And on the sound they’ve honed since, guitarist TJ told us: “Koyo is a band that feels full circle and we’re happy to finally pursue it. Koyo feels familiar. We wear our influences on our sleeve and it’s clear as can be. Long Island HC and emo from the late 90s and early/mid-00s with some modern-day touch.”
Our first taste of this was recent single You’re On The List (Minus One), which opens up with laid-back guitars that feed into engaging yet feisty opening vocals. The vocals pick up pace and feed into a deliciously catchy chorus “When your catastrophic dial tone, Meets the fear of being all alone, It’s stillness I choose, Restlessly reading the room, I fall for it every time, You inspire one track minds.” Second time around, the chorus ends on repeats of the final two lines as the track comes to a lively conclusion. Check it out in the video here:
That’s the second of three singles released from Koyo’s upcoming debut album Would You Miss It?, which is released on 29 September. On the album, TJ told us: “We’re all excited, but antsy for people to hear, it’s definitely eustress. We always talk about the lasting impression LP 1 has on a band. People should expect all killer no filler, they’re the best songs we’ve written so far. One thing I’d like to add is that there are no soft tracks, the whole record is filled with energy from start to finish. “
Proof of that statement are the other two singles released to date. Anthem starts out with a lively riff and drums that feed into engaging vocals “For anybody out there, That knows just where I’m coming from, To the ones that identify, With the same fire in their eyes.” It flies into a catchy chorus, then a second chorus gives way to feisty vocas “Am I loud and clear? The time is now is here, You know It’s L I H C forever, If you don’t get it you can fall right off.” Check it out in the video here:
More recently, Message Like A Bomb, which was released at the end of the month, starts with drawn-out guitars before edgy vocals take over with stabbing guitar notes.
From the album, TJ tells us to keep an eye out for its third Life’s a Pill. He told us: “It was one of the first songs written for the LP around the Drives Out East (2021 EP) era. I made a demo while I was still living at my grandma’s house in Hauppauge, to then us making a refined version at Harold’s apartment, to then us making last-minute studio changes. Life’s a Pill feels like a long time coming and showcases a more mature side of Koyo. It has some of Joey’s best lyrics and vocal melodies to date, I would even say it’s maybe my favorite chorus on the LP.”
TJK also gave us some insight into the challenging process of piecing together Koyo’s first album, telling us: “The whole record was created over the span of about 2-3 years with the majority of the record demo’d at Harold’s apartment. There were waves of excitement and also self-criticism. Through creative highs, lows, and extensive touring, we managed to come prepared with 17 or 18 demos. None of us had ever worked on a full-length record, so the whole idea was incredibly intimidating. We’re fully aware that LP one can make or break a band.
“I think one personal challenge I had was being open to an outside opinion on songwriting. We got incredibly lucky with our producer Jon Markson, he was super intuitive and completely understood us. A few days in we all sat together and then further cut down to 11 songs. We spent a week doing pre-production and with his help we were able to hone in every part, nuance, and idea. He’s also a great middleman when it comes to communicating your idea to another person, it’s like night and day. Placing our trust in Jon paid off and the songs are the best versions of themselves.”
Despite only starting out a few years ago, Koyo have a hell of a lot of music to dig your teeth into, including two EPs and a mass of singles. We especially love the sound of last year’s singles Straight North and Ten Digits Away, and Moriches from their 2021 EP Drives Out East.
The Koyo sound is influenced by a range of bands with Silent Majority, Taking Back Sunday and The Movielife being their key mission statement.
And on what inspires them to write music, TJ explains: “I used to get up every morning, get coffee, and drive around by the water listening to different records in full. Walking on the boardwalk at Sunken Meadow with my headphones used to be another go-to. Anything really with being near bodies of water, it does something to my brain and I get insane spurts of creativity. I’d speed home afterwards and mess around with some ideas, usually trying to mimic different parts of my favorite songs.
“Joey writes about real-life experiences and feelings about those events/time periods. Would You Miss It? feels like a coming-of-age piece.”
Koyo’s debut album Would You Miss It? is out on 29 September through Pure Noise Records, is available for pre-order now, and the band will mark the release with special plans that people can take part in. They’ve just finished up a UK and Europe tour with Fleshwater but you can see them play six shows back in the US through September, starting at The Liberty Belle in New York on 15 September. More info on their gigs is here.
And TJ adds: “Koyo has a bunch of amazing people in our corner. We appreciate everyone who works with us and has supported us since day 1. It’s recognized and we’re super grateful, I hope everyone’s ready for the next era.”
You can follow Koyo on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and Deezer. And you can discover more new music through their label Pure Noise Records.
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