Interview with Karakana: ‘It’s the best song we’ve got, it’s got that push and pull’

Karakana, a five-piece rock band from Pontefract in Yorkshire, will likely release their second EP towards the end of the year.

They comprise Ryan Holland (lead vocals), Matthew Law (lead guitar), Joe Agar (drums), Adam “Ned” Nelson (rhythm guitar) and Niall Deravairere (bass). Deravairere and Law met in college and started a band in Agar’s garage and soon recruited Holland and Nelson to complete the line-up. They say they started writing original music for fun, combining their shared love of vocal harmony with music inspired by their favourite indie bands from the 2000’s. What started as a hobby soon acquired a life of its own and they gained a dedicated local following, released a multitude of well-received tracks and playing gigs up and down the country. Agar says of their name: ‘It means ‘garage’ in Swahili, which is where it all started, we found it using Google translate!’ Deravairere interjects: ‘Someone got in touch and said it means ‘factory’, so it’s one of those!’

‘We wanted a “four on the floor” bass drum, it’s very head nodding’

Mischievous, relatable and fun, the band recount personal anecdotes in their lyrics about life and love in a small town. Their latest single ‘Verona’ turns out to be a song they’ve had for a while and given an overhaul. It opens with a chuggy, infectious riff before Holland comes in on vocals that remind me of Red Rum Club frontman Fran Doran. It builds towards a festival-made chorus replete with “la la la la’s” that get you singing along: ‘We were over at Joe’s writing ‘Are You Thinking About Me Now?’, on the bridge and then ended up writing this instead,’ Holland said. ‘We spurred on, it started the same but in a different key.’ Agar nods: ‘It’s so driving that song. We wanted a “four on the floor” bass drum, it’s very head nodding. It were really organic.’ Deravairere jumps in: ‘It’s the best song we’ve got, it’s got that push and pull.’ Law agrees: ‘Everyone is playing what they want to play,’ he said. ‘You have this version of a song in your head, it was very collaborative.’ Holland agrees: ‘It’s more exciting to write a song than learn it,’ he said.

The track was inspired by the William Shakespeare play ‘The Two Gentleman of Verona’ about two best friends, Proteus and Valentine, who travel to Milan, where they both fall in love with Silvia: ‘We liked the idea of a song based on a proper story (laughs), not one we made up,’ Agar said. Law nods: ‘We took the characters in the song from it, it’s like Cliff Notes for Shakespeare! We just wanted to write a song about a story different to what we had before, and Shakespeare is just the top dog in that area so we thought we’d base a song on one of his stories. Matt wrote the opening riff. We wanted a dance beat, a driving force, we took it up a key. I played that riff on my Stratocaster using a Tube Scream pedal and a Klon pedal – not a real one, a replica. A clone of a Klon!’ Deravairere agrees: ‘We wanted a dancier, heavier song. That riff was the first thing we had.’

I ask if they have big pedal boards and they get very animated: ‘I take hand me downs from Matt,’ Nelson said laughing. ‘I’ve got a Line 6 which is great for me, it’s simple and compact.’ Law is laughing: ‘I had to do a five minute YouTube video for him!’ I ask them where ‘Verona’ typically comes in their set: ‘As soon as we have a new song, we play it live immediately,’ Deravairere said. ‘The last three songs, those’ll normally be the new ones, we start off with one the crowd will hopefully know.’

As the song kicks off: “This is something different. A change of the seasons. Give me a reason. Oh, poor Valentine, oh. He drank too much vino. But little did he know.”

‘Are You Thinking About Me Now?’ has a similar energy, kicking off with a hooky descending riff before erupting into a bouncy, dancey track: ‘The chorus, it were basically about when I started seeing my girlfriend I’m seeing now, telling her I wasn’t good enough for her and that I’m a changed man,’ Holland said. ‘We’re still together a year later, so it worked!’

‘He invited us to support him for one night in Huddersfield, he has a real rock star aura’

On the back of their debut EP release, multiple sellout headline shows and having previously supported Pete Doherty, The Sherlocks and Glass Caves, the band is preparing for an almost sold-out launch show at their new hometown venue, The Northern Social, this weekend (29 July): ‘A friend of the band sent it to Pete’s manager and he invited us to support him for one night in Huddersfield, he has a real rock star aura,’ Holland said. Deravairere interjects: ‘He was as cool as a cucumber (laughs), really nice to us.’ Holland agrees: ‘On the night, he’d accept poems from people in the crowd and read them out.’ They’re also big fans of Margate shimmery duo and couple Vona Vella: ‘They’re so nice and well impressive,’ Holland said. 

Deravairere cites The Libertines’ song ‘When The Lights Go Out’ as being his favourite Pete Doherty song: ‘Despite this being a Libertines song, the lyrics and how they describe an almost dying relationship makes you look for the outside in,’ he said. If he could play any venue, Deravairere plumps for the O2 in Leeds: ‘It must be up there, we’ve all watched a gig there at some point and it would be huge for all of us because of what it would mean.’ Law has other plans: ‘It would have to be the Royal Albert Hall, just because of who has played there – David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa etc. It’s such a historic and important place for music in England and the world. Seeing ELO and Elton John there was an absolute treat as well!’

There’s an undercurrent of darkness in some tracks, notably ‘Darkest Hours’, which opens with a faintly melancholic riff before morphing into a ska tune. The starting point for the track was Nelson’s backbone riff: ‘I did it on the acoustic first, I always do the guitar first,’ he said. ‘Within 10 minutes, I had the
structure, then the lyrics. I always try to come up with a concept. I almost think this one is Halloweeney but then it started to change to become about telling the person you love that the person they’re with might not be right for them. I’m really chuffed it turned out the way it did.’

Their second, as-of-yet unnamed EP, will likely come out towards the end of the year, although, for now, they’re keeping the details under wraps: ‘It’s similar to ‘Darkest Hours’, Holland said. Deravairere laughs: ‘We normally have stupid names for our songs. I’m surprised we haven’t done that for the new ones!’ Law looks at him: ‘Like the ‘Pizza’ song, that’s what we called it for ages!’ It was written about two years ago and we have not played it since I first wrote it! There are so many songs we go through and write, we just cherry pick the best ones.’

’I had an idea of what a great guitarist was before I even started to play myself’

They bring incredibly eclectic influences to the band, which goes a long way to explaining the mash up of influences you can hear in their songs: ‘My taste for music comes from my dad mainly,’ said Law. ‘I was raised on Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, ELO, The Stone Roses and The Rolling Stones so I had an idea of what a great guitarist was before I even started to play myself. I later found out who Hendrix, Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan etc. were and the rest is history! I also delved into Johnny Marr and Albert Hammond Jr. from The Strokes and that massively changed how I perceive and write riffs for the band. The first Strokes album is an absolute masterpiece and I’d say that we drew inspiration from that formula, which can be found in the fabric of most our writing to date.’

Holland’s introduction to music came courtesy of his dad who played in folk bands through the 60’s/70’s in Glasgow and ‘always had a guitar in his hands’: ‘I started off listening to mainly Paolo Nutini, but listened to what my parents had on so that would be the likes of Erasure, Beautiful South/Housemartins. Then when I came into my own, it was a real mix ranging from AC/DC to Catfish and the Bottlemen to One Direction,’ he said. Deravairere, for his part, says that his parents ‘aren’t massively into music and none of my relatives play any instruments, so most of the music I was listening to through high school I found from watching bands on YouTube or as a recommendation from a friend’: ‘One of the first bands I took a proper liking to was Two Door Cinema Club and their debut album Tourist History. I also listened to Bloc Party’s debut Silent Alarm a lot through school.’

There have been some funny moments along the way, as Law recounts: ‘The funniest moment as a band was sneaking Ned into Centre Parcs in the boot of our car, ooops! That was our first trip as a band without really playing any music. We had such a good time and that solidified us as a group of mates. Playing together as a band was then so much easier.’

Their dream line up offers something for everyone: The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Arctic Monkeys, One Direction, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Hendrix, Clapton, ABBA,
Blondie, and Pink Floyd to finish on ‘Comfortably Numb’.

‘Eric Clapton, he was one of the first people who made guitar music popular, to crank an amp and play rock ‘n’ roll guitar’

If they could go for a pint with anyone, Holland picks Paolo Nutini and Harry Styles: ‘Paolo Nutini, he’s my favourite artist ever, I listen to him all the time,’ he said. ‘Harry Styles, ‘cos I’m a sucker for One Direction (laughs). I saw him in London, he’s a great showman.’ Law is trying to choose between Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan: ‘Eric Clapton, he was one of the first people who made guitar music popular, to crank an amp and play rock ‘n’ roll guitar,’ he said. ‘He was one of the people that Jimi Hendrix wanted to play with, which says it all.’ Nelson goes with George Harrison: ‘To give him a big hug and just tell him how great he was.’

Agar joins in: ‘We’ve been really playing The Beatles a lot recently. You realise how underrated George Harrison was, how good his melodies were.’ Deravairere has other plans: ‘I’m more contemporary than these guys (laughs). I think I’d sit down with Alex Turner, to see if all those evolutions of his are real or just an act. If it’s an act, it’s genius.’ Law agrees: ‘The last two Arctic Monkeys albums are the best,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘He’s so far away from the four chords and the riff.’ Holland asks me who I’d pick, and I say probably Paul McCartney or Dave Grohl. ‘It’s mental to think how many people Dave Grohl has worked with,’ Law said. Agar agrees: ‘There’s a YouTube clip of him playing with Led Zeppelin at Wembley and it’s just epic.’ Holland jumps back in: ‘Taylor Hawkins’ son is so good on the drums, he’s just like his dad. When he’s done his G.C.S.E.’s, he’s joining the Foos!’