- 5/9/2025
Royel Otis stop by the KROQ studio in LA to talk new record, touring, and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00There's a skydiving story of how we met. I was a skydiving instructor and he was,
00:05someone bought him a free lesson for his birthday. And as we were going down from the plane,
00:13he started screaming, but it was like perfect pitch. And then I started harmonizing with it
00:17while we were screaming together, falling from the sky. And then once we landed,
00:22we got talking about music and that's the real start of it.
00:30The world-famous KROQ at KROQ in Los Angeles. Smiles the DJ here, thrilled to be joined
00:37by Royal Otis. Hell yeah. What's up? Welcome, gentlemen. Thank you for having us. Big congrats
00:43on the new single, Moody, which just dropped. Thank you, man. It's gone huge. It's gone
00:48gangbusters already. Number one. Yeah. Right? Number one with a bullet. That's it. It's been
00:53out for like a couple minutes and we're already going, man. That's got to feel good. You've had
00:57such a great run with the last record, so many successful songs on KROQ and other Odyssey
01:03alternative stations around the country. To see the fan base growing and to put out new music
01:08this quickly, that's got to feel awesome. Yeah. I mean, once we stop and slow down it,
01:14it'll feel good, I think. But at the moment, it's just like...
01:17Just doing the luge all through it, you know? Otis, have you guys had a chance to slow down at all?
01:26Not really. Like, we've... No, not... We kind of... We had a little bit of time over Christmas
01:31because we toured most of last year. Then went back to Australia and had a little bit of time, but
01:36we kind of came here at the start of Jan and started working on a new album, so...
01:39It's been kind of... Go, go, go. But that's... That's all right. Yeah.
01:44Pumping them out too, man. Moody is an incredible record. I've listened to it
01:49like probably 20 times since it came out. Genuinely, like, I love the song. I love the evolution of
01:54what you guys are doing. How did that song come together, Roy?
01:57Uh, we were in the studio with Blake Slatkin and Amy Allen. Two very, very talented people.
02:05And, uh, we were just, like, throwing chords together and stuff, and that's... That's what
02:09ended up coming out of it. All in a day's work. It was amazing.
02:13You've played, uh... We're recording this in L.A. at K-Rock, and you've played so many shows in Los
02:19Angeles over the past year and a half, two years now. In fact, I think your first U.S. show ever may
02:23have been at the Helpful Honda Soundspace at K-Rock back in January of last year. Since then, you've
02:29sold out the Fonda several times, Hollywood Palladium, and not only here, but just, you know,
02:33cities all over the states. Just every show has been getting bigger and bigger. Um, what's it
02:38been like for you guys generally building, uh, a crowd here, not only in L.A., but, but in the
02:43States and seeing how big it's gotten in such a short period of time?
02:47A whirlwind. It's been, been wild. Last year was like... It was weird because we had a tour in
02:53the States at the start of the year and then won it again at the end of the year. Just kind of seeing,
02:57like, I don't know, seeing the growth within a year is just, like, a weird thing to watch.
03:00Yeah. Especially when you're playing shows nearly almost every night. So, weird, but cool.
03:05Was there a moment where it felt like things shifted? Was there a time where you kind of said
03:09to yourself, okay, this is, this is really happening?
03:12I think the Salt Shed in Chicago for me was like a, that was a big one. Um, selling that place out.
03:20We walked in there and like into this massive room and I was like, uh, which room are we playing?
03:26Like, where's the room we're playing? And they were like, no, it's this one. And we sold it out.
03:31And they're like, yeah, yeah. It's like, oh my God. Terrifying.
03:35I mean, like the music is obviously incredible and, and, and the shows are great and you're
03:40an excellent artist, but is there, is there something that you've kind of heard from fans that,
03:44you know, can kind of help put together how the success has happened so quickly?
03:47I'd say a good team. Good team. Yeah.
03:51And that's that just like push us. Push us very hard.
03:55Push us in, I don't know, in the right direction probably. Yeah.
03:59And they kind of, yeah. Good people indeed. Shout out to Andrew too,
04:02your manager, who's amazing. Mads. Yeah.
04:04Love that dude. Yeah. All too. Um, you know, you've been working on this new record,
04:09the song Moody just dropped, um, regarding the record though, the full length, uh, how would you
04:13describe sort of like where that's going, you know, versus the earlier stuff?
04:18I think it's, um, I don't know, sonically a bit larger, I'd say. Um, it was a bit,
04:28I have no idea actually. I don't know where I was going with that.
04:31Was there any like particular influence or like a band that had a, a jump to a new record that had
04:36more of a sonic sensibility to it than maybe you were thinking about in the back of your head?
04:40I think, um, there was more thought after playing all the shows live, um, last year,
04:47I think there was more thought into like how this song would go if we played it live,
04:52as opposed to just like how it just sounds on the record. I think there was a bit more thought
04:57into that, but other than that, I just think it was just whatever, whatever came out.
05:02It's also kind of like, I'd say it's like an elongated version of like Byron Grill,
05:07which is one of our earlier APs. It feels a bit more like in, in that world.
05:11Yeah, that's true. Um, for sure. Roy, something that you said is, is really interesting talking
05:17about how you're putting these songs together and I'm paraphrasing here, but kind of like how
05:20they're going to go live. Right. And one thing that is so incredible about your, your live shows,
05:25having the pleasure of seeing several now at this point, um, you have this way of making your live
05:31shows feel like kind of loose, but yet very locked in at the same time. It kind of reminds me a little
05:37bit of like seeing a comedian. It looks like they're just talking on the top of their head,
05:42but like clearly there's so much time and effort and energy put into making that set work. And you
05:47guys do such a meticulous and great job with that as well. Um, is that how it's always been with,
05:52with Royal Otis or has that vibe kind of evolved over time? I think it's evolved. How, how late into the
05:59the tour did you see us? I mean, like I said, I saw the, the, uh, helpful Honda sound space in
06:04January of last year. And then the last show I think I saw was the last Palladium back in October,
06:10September of last year or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. It's probably pretty, pretty chaotic.
06:16We try, we try to make it seem like, you know, I try to think of it just like I'm in my bedroom
06:23sort of thing, but just with a, um, some dudes smashing drums right behind me. Um, but yeah,
06:31like a comedian, that's cool. I like that. But you know what I mean by that though?
06:35Cause it's, it's, um, they've planned it out so much, but they're making it look like it's ad lib.
06:40Is that what you mean? It's super graceful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's, it's such a,
06:44you have a way of connecting with, with your fans and your audiences at those shows, the Palladium in
06:49particular, I was upstairs and kind of looking at the crowd from that kind of bird's eye view.
06:53And you know, it's, it's, I don't want to say it's rare, but you don't see an audience responding
07:00and connecting to a band of your stature or of your sonic sensibility so early on, uh, in, in 2025.
07:08And it's just very inspiring and just very cool to see what's it like for you from the stage watching
07:13night. Um, it's wild. It's, it's funny. Like it also changes every night. Some nights you're like,
07:20this is like crazy. And some nights you're like, just like push through and get through it. But,
07:24um, yeah, it's always, it's always weird, especially like the Palladium show. That was weird.
07:28It was also a trip cause my mom and my auntie and my sister, like front row, just like,
07:33Oh, cool. They're just like dancing their hearts out. But, um, yeah, I know it's just,
07:38yeah, it's a, it's a trip. It's a weird thing.
07:40I think we've always taken that so seriously as well, like connecting with fans and always
07:45trying to make sure like they know they're a part of it and a big reason why we're doing what we're
07:51doing sort of thing. You've had some fun with cover songs in your sets. Uh, we've played Linger
07:57on K-Rock quite a bit, Murder on the Dance Floor, um, as well, you know, are, are any other,
08:04other covers coming? Are you kind of like letting that go? Is it like, Oh, we have these cover songs,
08:08we don't want to be known as that. So let's not do covers anymore. Like what's, what's your mindset?
08:12Because you know, Prats and Pain is such a phenomenal record. Sofa King is such a good song.
08:18Moody is amazing. Can't wait to play that on K-Rock so much. Um, just your general vibe with the cover
08:25songs and the success of them and just that mentality moving forward with, with covering songs, I guess.
08:30Yeah. We're appreciative of like what the cover songs have done for us and the audience that it's,
08:37um, spread us out to, but there's no plans. So I'm doing another one anytime soon, I think.
08:44Yeah. Love, I don't know, I love covering songs and stuff like that, but it could be a bit of time to
08:50like do our own music for a bit. Yeah. Yeah. Let's focus on Royal Otis and some original material,
08:55like Moody, um, which is, uh, the new record and it's very good. Um, I want to go back to that song
09:03for a little bit and just maybe talk about, you know, the inspiration behind it, the subject matter,
09:08what, just what, what is it about and what inspired you to, to both write that song?
09:12Well, it's funny because we're just in the studio with, um, Amy and Blake and we're just like jamming,
09:19like we normally kind of do. And then it was just like drawing ideas out. And then I think Amy
09:25actually had an idea about being like, let's like kind of ride around, like calling, like having
09:31troubles with a girl, you know, and like, yeah. And then we kind of just, yeah, we're working around
09:36that, drawing ideas around that. And I don't know, it's good. It's like that, I feel like that song
09:41came so like, it was the first one we did with those, with Amy and Blake together. And it came pretty
09:47naturally. It kind of just like didn't, I can't really remember the day that much.
09:51Yeah. Yeah. It's just something easy, like second nature. I think, I think the subject
09:58matters pretty, pretty obvious within the song. Yeah. It's a song you'll play on tour,
10:04which was announced a few days ago, a U S tour going down in 2025. Also on the Ohana festival,
10:11which we just found out about, which is very cool going down at data point, uh, in September
10:15with Green Day, Hosier, uh, Eddie Vedder and more when you're, uh, approaching an outdoor,
10:20like kind of theater festival set. What's your mindset going into that versus say a club or a theater
10:27show? Well, um, be prepared for the heat. Yeah. Drink water, drink a lot of water and, um,
10:36just try to be as loud as possible. I think that's the only preparation I do other than some drinks.
10:45Otis, is there a moment in the set where like the energy always seems to shift a little bit,
10:51like, uh, a part that hits different, like no matter like what city you're in or what the
10:56situation is? Yeah, for sure. Like, I don't, cause there's so many, we play such a variety of like
11:02tempos and I know energetic songs and not so energetic ones, but I always find that when we do, um,
11:08like if we do like, if we do linger or like till the morning, one of those slow songs is definitely,
11:14definitely a vibe change. But I don't know. I always, cause like if it shows an hour long,
11:19like it is kind of like a journey that you notice you first like come out, you like the first three
11:23songs always like everyone gets pretty into it. And then, you know, it's just like kind of slows
11:27down a bit and then picks back up, slows down, picks back up. You take that you, you put the people
11:31through a journey. This is what happens on a rollercoaster on a Royal Otis show. Yeah. Uh,
11:36we have Otis. We have Roy collectively known as Royal Otis here at K rock miles. The DJ here,
11:41the new song Moody just dropped. It's fantastic. Uh, tour dates have been announced. Go buy tickets,
11:46go see them. They rule live. Um, is there someone that, uh, you know, you've never seen live that
11:53you'd like to see live at some point Elvis would be sick. That would be cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was
11:59good. I don't think it's going to happen though. Plenty of people. Yeah. I'd love to see the cure
12:04live. I think the cure. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I think they play like a three hour show, but it feels
12:11like 45 minutes. It feels like you've seen, they played the Hollywood bowl a year and a half,
12:16two years ago. I was privileged enough to go to all three nights. So I got nine hours of the cure in
12:21three days. It is worthy of your time. They just put out a new record. It's the first in like 16 years.
12:26Yeah. I think they're working on new stuff and you know, go on tour again. So, and by the way,
12:30I think you share a label with the cure. So make sure they hook you up with some tickets.
12:33Well, they gave us, uh, the latest vinyl, like a couple of days early before it came out, which was
12:40so amazing. Um, also garbage. I just, I heard garbage is touring with the original lineup.
12:47Yeah. Indeed. In fact, they're actually on the Ohana festival on day one. You're playing day two.
12:54So what we should do is we should make sure Royal Otis is there a day early just to kind
12:57of take in the Dana point vibes and watch Eddie Vedder and garbage and Kings of Leon.
13:02I also want to say, um, Neil Young's playing at Glastonbury. Yeah. I've seen Neil Young before,
13:08actually. He's so good. Um, Lou Yachty, because we went and saw Tyler, the creator like a couple of
13:16weeks ago and Lou Yachty was supporting in Paris, Texas before. I wouldn't mind saying Paris,
13:22Texas and little Yachty because I, I missed them that night. I got stuck talking to someone
13:27downstairs, but yeah, little Yachty in Paris, Texas. Yachty's one of those artists, Tyler too,
13:34where it's like, you don't have to know any songs. Yeah. You can know nothing about them
13:38and then just the energy and the vibe and, and how they connect to an audience audience much like
13:43you guys do. It's, uh, it's pretty incredible to see. Um, is there a song of yours that's changed
13:50more than others, like from the time that you recorded it to like how it sounds now live?
13:55All of them sound pretty different live. Uh, a lot. Maybe, um, yeah, I don't know. They,
14:04they're a bit, Oysters in My Pocket is a bit like heavier live, I think.
14:09What do you reckon Otis? Yeah, I'd say, say Oysters. Also, we like added the intro and stuff to it.
14:16Yeah. But yeah, more, more or less the same. We, we try to make the live songs a little,
14:22like at least a little bit different. Otherwise just stay home, put up a poster and listen to the
14:28album, you know? Right. What's the point in seeing it live if it's not like a little bit,
14:33a little bit different to the, uh, recording? Is there something that people sort of consistently
14:38get wrong about Royal Otis? Um, that we're, we're lovers. A lot of people think we're lovers.
14:47Oh, that the two of you are in a relationship, right? Yeah, yeah. No, we're lovers, but just
14:52not with each other. You love each other. We love each other. Just not in love. Especially on cold
14:56nights, but like. How did you two get together and how did this whole journey start with Royal
15:03and Otis? Tinder. Yeah. Big old Tinder sesh. Um, I don't know, mutual friends and we just
15:13got talking about music, um, one night. Yeah. And then Otis showed me a song. I showed him a song
15:20and then, yeah, that's pretty much it. Nothing, nothing too exciting. I like to say other stuff,
15:26but it's just pretty lucky. There's a skydiving story of how we met. I was a skydiving instructor
15:34and he was, someone bought him a, um, free lesson for, for his birthday. And as we were going down
15:41from the plane, he started screaming, but it was like perfect pitch. And then I started harmonizing
15:47with it while we were screaming together, falling from the sky. And then once we landed, we, we got
15:52talking about music and that's, that's, that's the real start of it. The other one's just the,
15:58for the radio sessions, you know? It's a great story. It's not real, but you know,
16:04yeah, why not? Everything's real. If you can think about it, it's all simulation.
16:09Um, what do you think you'd be doing right now? If, if Royal Otis weren't a band,
16:14um, I'll be, Jemmo, Jemmo Otis, sleeping with the worms.
16:21Yeah, he'll be Jemmo Otis and I'll be sleeping with the worms. No, the, uh, last time you were
16:27meant to be in Los Angeles was for, uh, K-Rock Almost Acoustic Christmas, which I know there were
16:31some, some family, personal stuff that caused that to be unable to happen. I hope everything's
16:36okay. Hope you're okay. Hope all is well. We're really excited to have Royal Otis back with
16:41new music, excited to do some great stuff together in 2025. Um, Ohana Festival going
16:47down locally in September, a full U.S. tour, uh, has been announced. Anything, any parting words for,
16:54for the people watching, uh, the interview at K-Rock with Royal Otis? Please buy tickets. Yes.
17:02We love you, but yeah, we love you. And if you can't make it, we'll probably be playing
17:08many other shows this year, so you probably will be able to make it. At some stage. Otherwise,
17:14we'll send you a gift. Moody is the song, Royal Otis the band, K-Rock the radio station. Miles
17:21the DJ here. Thanks for, uh, checking us out and watching Royal Otis.
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