Young Kato

YOUNG KATO

Young Kato announce details of their highly anticipated debut album ‘Don’t Wait ’til Tomorrow’ released on 5th April 2015.

Following a solid few years building their devoted fan base, and on the back of recent fan-favourite the ‘Sunshine EP’, the Cheltenham sextet are ready to fully establish themselves amongst their musical contemporaries.

Having already received support from the likes of Fearne Cotton and Zane Lowe at Radio 1, XFM and Absolute to name a few, the band have built up a strong live reputation with tours supporting You Me At Six and Rixton along with shows with Charlie Simpson and 5 Seconds of Summer. With several extensive headline tours, appearances at Dot To Dot Festival, Live At Leeds, Liverpool Sound City and showcases with Communion & XFM also helping establish their status as definite ones to watch in 2015.

‘Don’t Wait ’til Tomorrow’ is an ambitious statement of intent set to be released on the 5th April 2015, just before the band embark on their biggest headline tour since their March/April run which included a hugely successful sell out show at The Garage in London.

The ‘Don’t Wait ’til Tomorrow’ tour will kick off in Cardiff on the 7th April and will see the band play 18 dates across the UK throughout April, including a show at the Camden Barfly on the 30th – a stage the band first graced when they were invited to perform there as part of an episode on E4’s ‘Made In Chelsea’. The tour then finishes up with a massive homecoming show on the 2nd May at the Gloucester Guildhall.

Having been recently tipped as one of Billboard’s ‘Emerging Artists’ to watch it’s highly recommended you catch Young Kato at an intimate venue while you can…

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PEASANT’S KING

Peasant’s King are a five-piece band from Pontypridd, forming in January 2012 after the breakup of a previous band.

Somewhat innocently, they uploaded their material to “BBC Introducing”, not really expecting anything much to happen. Be honest, they rarely do, do they. But then a miracle happened. Their song, ‘Antidotes’ was selected as the ‘Introducing Track of the Week’ for the last week of November and got play listed, gaining praise from the likes of Fearne Cotton, Greg James, Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens.

“I bet that sounds amazing at the end of their gigs.” – Greg James’ thoughts on ‘Antidotes’

“They sound brilliant and they’re doing absolutely everything right, right now” – Huw Stephens

Sonically, the band has been likened to Kings Of Leon, Vampire Weekend and Mumford & Sons. Their music is an infectious mix of grooves, riffs and melody with epic, intense soundscapes at the core.

Regularly to be seen live at numerous venues throughout South Wales, the band have played the legendary Reading & Leeds festivals on the BBC Introducing Stages, sub-headlining before Dog Is Dead. They have also shared the stage with the likes of Gabrielle Aplin, Dog Is Dead, The Computers, Twin Atlantic, Catfish & The Bottlemen and more.

The band are currently readying themselves for their next major releases over the course of 2015.

Peasant’s King EP’s “Kingdom” + “Four Walls Are Home” are available now, including the singles ‘Cemetery’, ‘Promised Land’ and ‘Antidotes’.
      

ONLY SHADOWS

Only Shadows – “One of the brightest hopes for UK guitar music”  • amazing radio.

Having spent the entire first half of 2013 headlining shows across the UK in support of their debut single ‘Something Real’, recent BMG records and publishing signings Young Kato are now holed up in the recording studio working on their debut album with producer Dan Grech, who’s previous work with Radiohead, Beck, The Vaccines, Howling Bells and Lana Del Rey has seen him become one of the hottest young producers in the UK if not the world.

The incredibly productive early recording sessions saw the band come flying out of the blocks and the young six piece from Cheltenham are about to deliver their most accomplished track to date in single ‘Drink Dance Play’, set for release on Oct 14th as part of the ‘Drink Dance Play EP’. The EP also features the outstanding ‘DDP Remixes’ that are currently out at clubs across Europe and the UK with superbly crafted cuts from Nathan C, F U G Z and Chords.

Early adopters of Young Kato, both on record and live, may recall a demo version of ‘Drink Dance Play’ that featured on the self released, limited edition ‘Young Kato EP’. Consequently, ‘Drink Dance Play’ is already a huge live favourite at the bands sold out shows, regularly bringing the house down as their set closer with fans singing along in epic fashion to the wall of sound they produce as the song continues to build.

and another biog…

“I’ve gone through every pain in the book for this band,” says Tommy Wright, lead singer with Cheltenham’s Young Kato. “I’ve been pulled through the ocean, I nearly got hypothermia, I’ve been punched in the face, dragged along the concrete, I stood up and I had cuts in my shirt.”

Luckily, Tommy’s trauma has not been the result of any interesting ways of dealing with creative differences, he’s just talking about the video shoot for their the bands debut single ‘Something Real’, which saw him put through the wringer on location in beachside Denge, a former air force site in Kent. In truth, this band’s story so far has been altogether a more charmed tale, one which has as much to do with youthful super-exuberance as earnest singer-songwriting. This has turned out to be one of their greatest strengths, and if anything, the physical trauma of that video shoot is just one piece of evidence for their dedication to the cause.

Young Kato are Tommy, Jack Edwards (guitar), Joe Lever (bass), Harry Steele (keyboards), Sam Henderson (drums), Joe Green (guitar). They met as a group of mates from nearby schools, Jack and Sam bringing the circle together by being stepbrothers. “Effectively it started through failed marriages and we’ve gone from there.” The band formed through fun at first, until they realised that they were getting more songs which were getting better each time. They realised that they might be onto something, well, real. Jack was into Oasis and had started the band learning Oasis guitar parts, with Tommy at the time having the wrong idea about them – age having had him born into the wrong period – now admitting “I’ve come to my senses.” Joe, they all agree, is ‘a future A&R master’, having introduced the rest of them to fellow next-geners The 1975, Swim Deep and Peace at the point that they still had a handful of fans. But there were bigger influences at work too, they’ll cheerily cite the likes of U2 and Duran Duran as parts of their DNA as well.

The result is a euphoric blend of surging, fuzzy guitars, irresistible pop hooks and all-in-it-together chants. It’s a combination that clearly has garnered attention on both sweaty basement floors and in influential industry circles. ‘They recorded their debut EP with Gordon Mills JNR (son of the former manager of both Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, a fact they love the eccentricity of) in a shed in Guildford in roughly 4 days’, and it found itself making the Alternative Charts even at those early stages. Its lead track ‘Drink Dance Play’ became something of an early anthem. “That was our first ‘jam’ song if you know what I mean, it just came out of youthful, vibrant, colourful songs that we tried to out in the EP.”

But those three words, ‘youthful, vibrant, colourful’ sum up the band’s attitude as much as the title of the song. Live they have an impressive bite of course, one that’s hardening up with every show, but the band are refreshingly dismissive of having a ‘dark side’, knowing that there’s plenty of room for that a few albums down the road.

Next up as the bands second single is a newly recorded version of ‘Drink Dance Play’, produced by in-demand producer Dan Grech – who has previously worked his magic on the likes of Beck, The Vaccines, Howling Bells and Lana Del Rey, to name but a few. ‘Drink Dance Play’ is an equally ebullient and inclusive creation, full of pop hooks, which takes their message further. “It’s the song that everyone loves and gets everyone shouting along to, I think it’s the song that would sum our band up in 2 minutes 52 seconds. It’s nice to have a song like that already that everyone gets excited about. It’s almost like it just turned up and fell into our laps.”

Things were already looking good for Young Kato, but perhaps the most unlikely boost the band have enjoyed yet was when they found themselves as the guest band on E4’s scripted reality hit Made In Chelsea. They’d found themselves aware of the show’s on-the-button music supervision, playing the likes of Peace, Zulu Winter and Various Cruelties, and been pleasantly surprised at getting two plays of their own last year. When an episode in April this year found producers sending the cast to a gig, Young Kato got the call, pushed through by the music supervisor, by now a big fan. They found themselves performing theirs tracks: Drink Dance Play, Lights & Revolution at the Camden Barfly as part of the episode. It was, they admit, “the strangest gig we’ve ever played, but overnight, last year’s debut EP climbed swiftly to number 31 on the Official Album Chart, and re-entered the Alternative Chart’s top ten.

They still receive regular messages and support from that cast, but as Jack is quick to point out, their eyes are also open. “We’re not always going to be the band that were on Made In Chelsea,” he says. “We’ve got much more going on for people to talk about.” Their live presence is growing month on month and Young Kato have been in the studio with Grech working on new songs and finalising recordings sessions at both Strongrooms and Moloko studios. They’re confident enough to admit that the album will only come out this year “if it’s ready”.

Their twists of fortune have afforded them the chance to get it right, and spend as much time as they can honing the live show on the road. Now, they find themselves at the vanguard of what plenty of people have been hoping for for years. “I’m just pleased that guitar music’s back,” says Tommy, “somebody’s clearly given the green light so I’m just glad that it’s happening.”

And how would the singer like the world to view his band? “It needs to come across as a guitar band who are playing youthful, vibrant music. We like to have a good time, but they’re just good songs hopefully, songs that people can enjoy, jump around to and are uplifting. We don’t really want to be the guilty pleasure but we don’t mind. Pop can be a bit taboo, but the good thing for us is that guitar music and pop music are being pushed together and blended into something totally new so we don’t really need to worry about that anymore.”

If the British indie scene really is on the cusp of a brave new world, Young Kato could just be among its founding fathers. Tommy already has the cuts and bruises to prove it.