Mixing musical sounds and styles will always create the most original music. We recently discovered the British band Dakú Lights that is infusing a fresh and confident mix of styles in a bid to spice up the current music scene. As they release their debut EP Illuminate, we had a chance to catch up with the band and get a look behind the scenes. Enjoy our interview with Dakú Lights:
What is the story of the name Dakú Lights?
Dakú is derived from the Japanese language and can be translated in English to ‘dark’. We wanted to make the name of our band multi-lingual! The second word of the band name is ‘Lights’ as we all individually represent one coloured light. Bhavini represents red, due to her passion, fire and determination. Haiiiro represents orange, due to his enthusiasm and creativity. Panda represents lilac due to his spirituality and love for music. We combined the two words to indicate the dark/light theme in our music. The ‘lights’ side of our music is very upbeat and fun, for example our singles Set Me Free, Run Away and Bubblegum all depict this mood. Whereas the ‘Dakú’ side is more moody and slightly darker in tone, for example our singles Say No More and Over can be seen to depict this mood.
How did the 3 of you come together to form the band?
We were all working on individual solo projects and careers at the time but it was through a chance discussion online, believe it or not, that we met! We just realized that we all had similar interests and decided to meet up and have a jam session. It was from there that we started hanging out more often and eventually, before we knew it, Dakú Lights was born!
How would you describe the Dakú Lights sound?
We would describe our sound as eclectic pop; the reason for that is because we have actively embraced the fact that all three of us enjoy listening to very different music but music that we are able to mix together to create something unique. Bhavini is a fan of R’n’B, Haiiiro a fan of LoveTrap and Panda a fan of K-POP and so we played around with taking influences from all three, and others such as EDM and even Indie. We’re very proud of our sound; we have also played with the idea of Dark and Light sounds, creating a theme in our music. For example, our tracks “Over” and “Say No More” are described as a Dark sound because they are very melancholy and moody whereas “Set Me Free”, “Run Away” and “Bubblegum” are in the Light sound because they are upbeat, poppy and very vibrant. We think it’s a really interesting concept.
Who are your influences?
There are a lot to name, we’ve asked each other this and we can rarely pin point the same answers each time but if we were to name the names that consistently pop up, it would be Mura Masa, The Chainsmokers, Adele, Michael Jackson and K-POP groups BTS, BlackPink and Big Bang. There are so many new and fresh artists debuting all of the time at the moment though, that we’re always being inspired. We want to be one of those debuting on a larger scale soon too!
How do your songs come together?
Dakú Lights are trying to bring a new flavour to pop music. As all the tracks in our EP are self- produced and self-written, they are very dear to our hearts. We have future bass, dub step, r’n’b, Indie, KPOP and EDM elements all combined in our music, along with our experimental harmonies, which create a new sound all together. Bhavini and Panda are the main songwriters of the band whilst Haiiiro is the main producer. All three of us combine our ideas and make magic in the studio!
What is next for Dakú Lights?
You can expect us to keep growing; both musically and as performers. We have begun this journey now and the only way is up.
We will be performing our EP and other cover songs live when we set out for our tour this summer. We are perfectionists so we are currently tackling our stage performance technique and routines, rehearsing as much as possible because we want our string of shows to be great for not only any fans we have gained but casual audience members who may not have heard of us as of yet. We have plans to tour up and down the U.K for the remainder of the year but there’s potential to perform internationally at some point this summer too. We are also working towards the next stage of our musical career and that is self-producing our first album!
What advice would you give to other bands on the rise?
We would tell all bands to learn their sound and embrace. We say this because it will make it easier to connect with your audience and in the long run will enable your following to continuously keep growing, helping to advance your career!
STAY TRUE TO YOUR MUSIC!
Keep up with more news and music of Dakú Lights HERE.
