KLOQ

For Essex, UK poptronica band KLOQ, combining their mixture of punk, hiphop, electro and pop doesnt yield a neutral grey but a powerful kick in the ass a shot of sonic adrenaline. With the release of their second album BEGIN AGAIN on Metropolis Records, these four upstarts merge music from the past and create something altogether different but comfortably familiar. To be honest, it's like progression and regression all at the same time, says Oz Morsley, the man behind the electronics and production.

This concept of diametrically opposed ideas uniting is a recurring theme within KLOQ. The music itself, while created within a studio, is modeled for how it should sound live. We set out with two primary goals for this album, explains bassist Tim Jackson. We first set out to make (as much as anyone can nowadays) an album that was fresh and original, and secondly, for it to sound as much as the live side of KLOQ as possible. What you hear on the recording is what you'll hear live. Their challenge of replicating the live experience in the controlled environment of a studio was twofold to avoid overproduction and to redirect peoples understanding of KLOQ as a band and not just a studio project. Originally birthed with rotating vocalists with Oz in the production seat as the constant, the new incarnation of the band is just that a band.

This new direction can truly be felt with Begin Again. Hearkening bands such as Kasabian, Prodigy, and Pop Will Eat Itself with a modern twist, the album is funky (Bleed), propulsive (True Crusader), Big Beat-esque (Zero 1), and its hiphop (Jenny). The poptronic New Wave of Chainsaw is reminiscent of like-minded bands such as Kasabian, Pop Will Eat Itself and Prodigy. Chainsaw started with a guitar riff I made up, totally set around the chorus, explains Oz. It just sounded so 'riffy' and odd that it worked straight away. I crafted the music in the chorus and set out an arrangement then Tim (bass player) and Dean (singer) came in and we tweaked the music and worked on the vocals together.

Formed after Oz left popular techno band Empirion, KLOQ started purely as an electronic band. The origins were mostly set in the dance electro scene explains Oz. There's been many different line ups but now there's four equal and key members. I've known Tim [bassist] for many years before he joined KLOQ as a live bassist. Dean [vocals] was singing in indie bands locally and we met him after putting out an advert after our second singer left the band. Alex [drummer] was also in a couple of well known electronic crossover bands and when our original drummer left, we called him up and he wasted no time in jumping onboard.....the final link in the band.

Now as a fully-fledged band both in the studio and out, KLOQ have their sights set on making Begin Again as huge as possible while retaining what makes them unique first and foremost. We just focus on what we're doing at all times, says vocalist Dean Goodwin. We don't try to jump on anyones bandwagon.