The musical duo REYKO, originally from Spain and currently residing in London, will play in Valencia on the 10th of March at ‘La Sala’. The duo consists of two members: vocalist Soleil and producer and multi-instrumentalist Igor. Igor met Soleil whilst seeking an angelic vocalist to help finalise his music production course during his studies at the University of West London. This hugely successful duo has gained almost 60 million listeners on Spotify and almost 30 million views on YouTube. Their song “Spinning Over You” became a radio hit in Spain, peaking at #13 nationally after it was chosen to be the official song for a large-scale ad campaign by El Corte Inglés department store in 2018. This song also features in the popular Spanish Netflix series Elite. “Hierba Mala” is included in Mexican Netflix series, La Casa de las Flores, “Set You Free” is the theme tune for the Netflix series Toy Boy and “Your Game” appears in the last episode of this same series, where REYKO were asked to write the song specifically for the scene. They have toured internationally, including the UK, France, Germany, Serbia, and Mexico. Their music is a delightful mix of genres and influences, combining traditional Spanish influences with millennial futuristic sounds. Soleil’s soft and subdued singing flows smoothly with Igor’s electronic arrangements, digital bass and guitar arrangements.
24/7 VALENCIA: Can you tell us more about how you met and how your music duo formed?
REYKO: It started as a final project for my studies. I was studying music production at the University of West London, and I was looking for a singer as part of my degree. That’s how we met… we worked on some songs together, and they worked well. And then after I finished my degree, we decided to start an actual band. We started putting out songs on SoundCloud, and now here we are now on our third album, Fantasia.
What inspired you to begin writing electronic music?
It wasn’t really because of the actual style. It was mid-2015 or 2016 that DIY computer music became a very viable and professional sound. And that was when we realised, we could do this by ourselves without having to go to big studios and spend a lot of money. So, we thought, let’s just throw ourselves into it. It was more of a practical thing, using the resources we had.
Which Spanish artists are your biggest musical influences?
We like Manu Chao, but he’s actually French with Spanish parents. We like Rosalia too.
And what about English speaking artists?
Billie Eilish, Wet Leg, CHVRCHES, Oh Wonder…
If you could open for any artist, who would you open for?
The Weeknd and maybe Empire of the Sun.
I understand you’re currently living in England. What do you love about living there? What keeps you in London rather than in Spain?
The music scene is so good. There are venues everywhere, new bands all the time. The music industry is really well-organized. We formed the band in London so there’s quite an attachment to London.
Which songs are you most proud of?
It’s usually the new ones, the fresh ones and you can’t wait to play them. But it’s hard to pick our own songs because they’re like our little babies…
Can you describe the feeling of when you find out that one of your songs has gone viral?
It’s so nice because you suddenly reach so many people in so few days and in so many countries too. It’s amazing, you know, from all over the world really. Everything kind of flourishes in a matter of days.
Do you have any advice for upcoming artists?
Work hard, write lots of music. Sometimes we’re scared of actually putting out songs but sometimes the best thing to do is don’t wait. Put out a song and see what happens. You don’t need to wait for the right moment. If you keep editing it on a computer, it’s not going to do anything.
You’ve released your new album, ‘Fantasia.’ Can you tell us more about this album, the process of making it and the songs in Fantasia?
So, this album is all about using all of our influences and just putting it out. It might sound a bit chaotic for the listener; they’re like, what’s going on? But in our brains, it has an order and it has a structure. It is very eclectic, and you have all the moods in the world…and it is just to enjoy the music. I mean, we wrote this album during the post-pandemic euphoria. So, we kind of wanted to reflect on those days, you know, like gigs happening again and everyone going out once more. But at the same time, there are lots of bad things happening too…like the Ukraine war. So, there are lots of extremes, we wanted to make an album that goes from a ballad to an upbeat song. We wanted a very dynamic album.
Are you currently working on any projects at the moment?
Well, since we’ve released ‘Fantasia’ less than a month ago, right now we’re focusing on presenting it live. This year is all about playing live, and seeing people… but you know, we’re always writing new stuff, always thinking of new music. Thinking how the album connects. Some songs go viral at least a year and a half after they’re released so you never know what is going to happen!
Could you remind us of the dates of your upcoming show in Valencia in March?
It’s the 10th of March 2023 at ‘La Sala’, Valencia.
Interview by Sabina Redfern
Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’
REYKO (Live)
March 10th
22h
La Sala
C/ de Campoamor, 52, 46022, Valencia
TICKETS: https://www.ticketmaster.es/event/reyko-entradas/33105
More information: https://www.reykomusic.com/
Listen: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1asECxd7DPIjTLu8NTc3ZA
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