The sound made by YIPIOK is of exuberance, of summers and exhilaration! The melodies make you want to dance as hard and as fast as possible and their lyrics make you want to sing along loudly to. We got to ask the guys Johnny Levett and Kissy Smallwood who make up the duo a few questions and they responded in kind!
01. Hello guys! What’s up and how are you doing?
All is good. We’re currently half way through mixing our new EP and have been booking up some new shows. We have a new bassist for live so we’ve been writing songs with a bit more groove to them.
02. How did you guys come together?
YipiOK came about when Kissy said he’d produce my solo project I’d been working on. When we got in the studio it quick became a collaborative effort and that was the start of YipiOK :)
03. What is the origin of your band name?
I remember thinking it might be fun to make up a new word. And it happened that if you say you’ll be OK.. then it kinda sounds like YipiOK.
04. What was the inspiration behind Tango?
There were a few inspirations to Tango but I kinda like the fact that it means something different to everyone. However, I will say that Tango makes most sense to me when we play it live.
05. How would you describe the type of music you make?
I would say we are indie, electro, alt, hip, pop. Broadly speaking. We were also described as Wonky pop which I really like.
06. What city are you from? What are some of your favourite things about the city?
Kissy lives in Southampton and I live in London. My fav thing about London is the possibilities. Just having options of where to go and what to do really. And my friends. My favourite things about Southampton are Kissy, the cave where we record and Joiners music venue.
07. What was the most memorable gig you played at?
I really enjoyed our recent festival show. We played outside and there were fun fairs in the background. You can watch a vid of the show here
We also played a really fun show with Chk Chk Chk (!!!) at the Joiners earlier this year which was really memorable too. The venue was full and everyone was up for a good time.
Playing a show for John Kennedy in Tooting last year was pretty cool too. He’s proper sound.
08. What was the first song you two wrote together?
I think the first song we wrote together was a song called Dead Hearts? We recorded it in Kissy’s old bedroom studio around 2008. There are some really cool samples in it that Kissy made from a toy computer. We are still fond of it today. It’s a filthy electro freestyle pile-up.
09. Any local bands from the area that you are into and would like to share?
I enjoyed Cats on the Beach when we played with them. Crushed Beaks were cool live too. She’s not local but I saw Marissa Nadler recently in a Church and it was v spooky and cool. Also saw Marlon Williams in a church too which sounded great. Churches are multi-talented. I’ve recently discovered Miike Snow after Kissy and I saw them at Lovebox. Their Genghis Khan video is so cool.
-Kissy, any band tips for Southampton?
Young Adventurers and Toupé are two of the most fun bands playing around Southampton at the moment. Young Adventurers have a cool raw energy that is missing from a lot of new bands. Well worth a listen.
Toupé have been around for years but have only just started playing together live again. Complex riffs chucked in with very tongue in cheek observational lyrics. In terms of musicianship, they wipe the floor with most unsigned bands out there. Defo worth checking out.
10. Any sleeping tips?
Ha well let us know if you work this one out ok?! At the moment am enjoying falling asleep to Bill Hicks. Have also heard that exercise during the day can help when it’s gets to bedtime. And apparently calcium is important too.
11. What artists made you want to get into making music?
I was mainly into hip hop when I was younger so my heroes were Tupac, Eminem, OutKast, Scarface to name a few. The first time I heard DMX live totally blew me away. It was only on a cd but it made me buzz just listening to it. At the end of the show he sounded like he was stopping himself from crying and he said, “You ain’t ever going to see it again like this” and it all just felt really special. I like the idea of people feeling like that about our show. The Libertines, The Strokes, The Maccabees and The National have been big inspirations for me as well and more recently Kendrick Lamar and Father John Misty have massively inspired me.
-How about you Kissy?
Weird noises and musical toys are a massive influence. In terms of bands, seeing the video for Atlas by Battles when I was an clueless 18yr old definitely gave me a kick up the arse. And seeing the Cooper Temple Clause live a lot made me want to do energetic live shows. My fav band at the moment is Holy Ghost!
12. Any signature dance moves you guys utilize during gigs?
Well Kissy does the splits when we play live. Indy does some cool moves with his drumsticks and our newest member, Lawson, has some cool moves and looks very sexy in a pair of shades. We are just putting the final touches to our new EP so I guess we’ll have to work out some new dance moves as well.
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