Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Paramore: King Isis wraps up the tracks she had On Repeat whilst building her new opus, “SIRENITY”.
Oakland singer-songwriter King Isis is a swirling supernova in the contemporary indie movement. There’s such fluidity to their sparkling new EP, “SIRENITY”, that it’s impossible to box it into one sound or tone, instead sprawling across a multi-coloured tapestry, an emission of life’s rainbow of emotions and music’s mosaic of movements alike — from anguish to self-improvement, rock to pop.
Disclosing the ins and outs of their influences, King Isis drops by Wonderland for an On Repeat.
Listen to the EP…
King Isis Is On Repeat…
Natasha Benningfield – “Unwritten”
The soundtrack to my elementary school emotions that still holds up. Who doesn’t want to sing along to this song? “Permanently Broken” and “Lately” were inspired by that feeling, a chorus that’s so infectious you have to sing along.
Nine Inch Nails – “Closer”
I have a visceral reaction to this bass line. Tears Don’t Dry was inspired by this song’s driving drums and bass.
PACKS – “tilted crowd”
PACKS is one of my current favourites. I love PACKS‘ use of layers — both vocals and acoustic — that creates such a full-bodied sound. I’ve been incorporating that into some of my own music.
Lady Gaga – “Paparazzi”
Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” performance was one of my many gay awakenings. I love her. This song brings me back to my closeted days. The visuals, the live stage performance, and the melodies — she’s an icon.
Jensen McRae – “Wolves”
I love Jensen McRae’s vulnerability in this song – definitely felt seen in this song and is something that is difficult to speak to. I’ve been around a lot of ‘wolves’ and it’s comforting, albeit distressing, to know that I’m not alone in this experience. This song has definitely inspired me to be more open in writing about my trauma.
Portraits of Tracy – “The Party”
This song is just so good, and I love that Portraits of Tracy does her own production, definitely an inspiration to me as well to be confident in my own voice as a producer.
Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”
The song structure on this really hits hard for me, the ending is just so fun to scream to. I really wanted to write a pop song, so “Lately” was born.
Kanye West – “Frank’s Track”
After recording the voice memo in my room, I worked with someone to produce it out, but kept coming back to the voice memo version. “Frank’s Track” almost sounds like it’s a voice memo (is it?), and I think it also speaks to the fact that not all music needs a fancy studio to be good.
Sly and the Family Stone – “Keep on Dancin’”
This song was one of the inspirations for Bad For Me. Bad for me was one of the last songs of a long session that kind of just happened – we were just jamming and the song came out. This song – and a lot of Sly’s songs – feel like good days and jams, songs you want to sing along to. I wanted to make a song like that.
Anna Wise, Bilal, Geovariance – “Nova”
This is another one that inspired “Tuesday in LA” and “Bad 4 Me”. I love the rawness of the vocals, it’s grainy recording quality – good music doesn’t always need the best mics. The tone is so beautiful. This one also feels like a long improv, which is the basis of “Bad 4 Me”.
Paramore – “Fences”
I’m heavily inspired by 2000’s alternative rock sound, as you can probably see in a lot of my music. Paramore was a part of my middle school trifecta — which also included Fall out Boy and Panic! at the Disco — and definitely influence the angst expressed on “Permanently Broken” and “Lately”.
