Based out of the beachside town of Brighton, signed to a big UK record label, and frequently on must-watch lists, all eyes are on IYES. And they are going places.
IYES (pronounced "eyes") are the lush electro-pop duo comprised of Josh Christopher and Melis Soyaslanová. I had the exciting opportunity to interview them recently. In this interview, Josh talks about the complexities of making boy-girl vocal duets, how they convert their electronic sound into a huge live show, and hints on a big upcoming collaboration.
Let's start with some back story. How did IYES come about? I read somewhere that Melis attended a housewarming party that Josh threw and IYES was born that night. That's fun! What were you both doing before IYES was conceived?
Ah, yeah. We both met at my old house in Brighton randomly. Melis was the shy one that didn't say anything at all, and the rest were people full of confidence and stuff.
I warmed to Melis and the rumour she has a fantastic voice -- she looked great, too. the following day or something I invited her over (no nookie, as she presumed) and we made some music. "Lighthouse" was born and I sent it to a few tastemakers online.
Your early tracks like "Lighthouse" and "Glow" went from nowhere to total gangbusters in a short space of time. Indie Shuffle certainly caught wind of you early on. How has that early success shaped everything since?
The songs we had then were demos; we weren't trying to nail a sound or genre. Subtitles are a musicians worst nightmare -- a musician is meant to create whatever music he/she wants to. One day we might write something folky and the next we might try 80s electronic vibes.
The way it shaped us really is by building strong foundations within the blog for IYES. People just seemed to like it and I suppose we hit the start of the boy-girl combo thing that everyone can't help but do these days.
Often your tracks are vocal duets between you both. How does that play out in your creative process?
It's weird. Some ideas I will write and some Melis will write. I try to not make songs too narrative and slightly cheesy; it's hard to not create a theatrical concept when you're going between two people singing.
Your sound gets compared to the likes of The xx, Purity Ring, and MS MR. Would you count these or any current acts as influences of your sound? Or do you tend to look back in time for artists who impact your work?
I'm not really into any of the above artists personally; I've never actually listened to any of their records! (Eeek!) The weird thing is, I haven't had really any inspirations since my music listening days when I was 16-19.
Those "growing up" emotional phases was where I suppose I was learning most about songwriting and productions. I used to listen to McFly, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Eminem, some underground UK grime artists, and went through a jazz phase as I loved the drum arrangements. Such an eclectic mix of music, but as far as structuring music, productions in a pop format and songwriting goes, these were the best influences.
Recently, I just focus on living life and enjoying it, and draw inspiration from playing instruments and writing music that way. When I starting loving reverb on guitars, and vintage synths, I felt it was new to me so it was reflected in stages of IYES music. Now, I'm writing in a totally different way.
Tell us about the music scene in Brighton, your base. I imagine it as beachside, boho, and artistic. Is it?
The Brighton music scene is very student-y! Ha. It's a lot of indie and rock bands and singer songwriters. Looking through the scene, there are some amazing singer songwriters. I've found one and she is Joni Mitchell; period.
I'm looking forward very much to working with her on an organic natural sounding record.
IYES just wrapped some recent dates in London. How did it go? How does your sound translate into a live act and what can concert-goers expect from an IYES live show?
The headline show in London was awesome -- when people buy tickets to see you and don't watch the whole show through an iPhone screen, it is a great feeling. It's how live music should be - put away the phones till the encore people and enjoy the moment!
Our live show is fun and big. People expect us to stand there pressing buttons on an Ableton Launchpad and being extremely electronic, but I wanted the live show to be a proper, old school live show.
I like to refer to the band when we practice as becoming like Beyonce's live unit; we rock it up in places and make it loud. We have a full band including a drummer and guitarist, and we like to use a mixture on vintage sounds and digital equipment. It's very fun!
What do you both do when you're not being IYES? What's typical downtime for you both?
At the moment, I work on our label Love by Mistake and work with other artists. I enjoy the development and writing stages working with other people. I also end up doing a lot of remixes for IYES -- they're such a great creative output.
Melis loves yoga, good food, and staying calm; Brighton is currently a good place for her, I think!
What's next for IYES? Is it an EP? More tour dates? Hint, hint!
Haha. We have written plenty of music but to carry on writing is vital.
I think we are going to work on building the repertoire and releasing more music to keep our audience engaged while getting the album ready.
We have also done some collaborations with other producers, and one is very, very exciting. But we don't ever give too much away, do we? We wear black for a start...
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The current single from IYES is "Glow." It was featured in a Sony Xperia smartphone ad last year and will be formally released this Sunday March 1. Get it here.
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