Interview: IOTA

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Jodie: My parents are super into heavy music so I was introduced to it from the womb. I'd like to think if I didn’t get into music I’d have still done something creative but have absolutely no idea, I’m a producer but I guess thats still music, probably travel the world trying to fill a void.

Jose: My parents are both musicians and always encouraged me to play, so I have done from a young age. I would probably still be doing something in music, but more on the production side of things, but right now I’d probably be traveling as well.

Tom: When I was like 2 or 3 the music channel on the TV was just on one day and ‘All The Small Things’ by Blink182 came on and I remember watching it and thinking that I wanted to be exactly like the guy covered in tattoos one day (Travis Barker).

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Jose: I also like to produce electronic music and rock climb!

Jodie: I have a studio, I like to produce music when I’m not playing music lol.

Tom: I read quite a bit, watch tv/anime and go to the gym

Joe: Nerd out about synths

How long has your band been around?

Current line-up, 2 years.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

Bristol, we all actually met at uni when we were studying music so it has a lot to do with influencing us as a band. Bristol is also such a great creative place for music.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

Mule: There are a few stories behind this, but I'm fairly sure Jose saw the name on a shop when he was on the bus and we decided it was a great name for a band- it gives this idea of something super small- smaller than microscopic; I sort of like the idea behind that.

Jodie: It then just kind of stuck, I didn’t really like it at first.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

Jodie: Some of my favorites have been our Bristol headliners at Crofters, we decorate the place up and it has been so exciting having people in the place we are from singing our songs back at us. When we played Great Escape was super cool too, and with Static Dress recently. We had so much exciting feedback on the new material.

Tom: Probably when we opened for Static Dress recently. We got to play to people who had never heard or seen us before and after talking to people in the crowd after the show they all seemed to love it and it was cool to make new fans.

Jose: I love the crofters gigs! As it’s our hometown, there’s always a load of people and it’s just a great atmosphere!

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Jodie: Favorite venue so far was probably Crofters in Bristol because it just feels sentimental. Dreaming of Downloaaaaaad!

Tom: Favorite so far was probably The Exchange in Bristol. Would love to play the main stage at Reading and Leeds and also the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Jodie: Reading 1992 with Nirvana, Pumpkins, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Mudhoney SO MANY MORE UGH.

Tom: I'd love to play shows with Foo Fighters, Bring Me The Horizon, Machine Gun Kelly, Kenny Hoopla, Maggie Lindemann, Fall Out Boy the list is literally never ending.

Jose: My answer probably changes depending on my mood/ what I’m listening to at the time, but at the moment it would be: Hundredth, Heavenward, BMTH, Softcult, Ocean Grove, Teenage wrist, and Moodring.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Jodie: I’d say, its going to be hard, all the time, and your going to hate each other, a lot, ha, but there is actually nothing better in the whole world than being on that stage with your best mates and having people singing your songs back at you. So don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks and DO IT.

Tom: I’d say that people aren't going to understand why you want to do it and there's gonna be people who tell you you can't do something or that you shouldn't be doing it cause you never “make it’ but just ignore those people cause at the end of the day those people probably haven't got anything going on in their lives and they are only telling you that because they gave up on their dreams a long time ago.

Jose: Stay true to what you want to do and stay original!

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Jodie: I think similar to the question before, just keep going and have fun. Because it's so easy to forget to do that.

Jose: To not buy so many shirts - the ironing is ridiculous.

Mule: Always simplify things- and create space, so many bands try to crowd sections or try and figure out something for everyone to play at every second of the song- dynamics are way more effective and silence is just as powerful as sound.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Joe: Take It, I love how it switches from an all out raw assault to a euphoric break about halfway through the song that builds to the end of the track with vocals and guitars layering up. It means a lot to me because it was one of the first tracks I wrote with the band and takes me back to the early days of being involved.

Jose: They’re all like your children, so it’s hard to pick a favourite, but I think Dreamer marks a positive turning point for us as a band and so that one springs to mind.

Jodie: Sometimes and Isabelle have the deepest meanings to me, no matter how many times I’ve sang those words, I still feel them.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Jodie: My Enemy is one that everyone sings back to us, but my favorite is definitely Take It.

Jose: I really enjoy playing take it as well!

Tom: I really enjoy playing all the songs with the most energy live so id have to say Take It, Demons and Control

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Jodie: We have the studio which gives us the opportunity to work between the live room and control room, it's fun to mix between the two but at the moment we love writing in the control room and being able to chop and change things so quickly. Songs usually start from a guitar and vocal idea and then just evolve.

Joe: We write collaboratively in our rehearsal space and track demos on the computer. It is nice to alternate between these two approaches early on in a song's life. It's refreshing to hear new songs live and as an arrangement on a computer.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Jodie: I think a common theme is to not let people or yourself hold you back from doing what you want to do. It is important to us that our music gives off impressions to achieve and do what you want to do in life but also just subtle love letters to people who inspire us.

Mule: Usually just stuff that affects us, so in terms of recent releases- Dreamer was about those people who have dreams and yet doss their lives away doing nothing to try and achieve them and holding yourself back from achieving too. Take It is about dealing with general life anxiety. The newer stuff (releasing soon I'm sure) focusses more on personal emotional struggles and tends to be a lot more raw.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Mule: Who doesnt?! We've always had disagreements (there's five of us, it was gonna happen) we used to just continually discuss stuff until everyone changed their mind and agreed but that's not particularly efficient when you're trying to make quick decisions about time sensitive stuff. In recent months we've started straight up voting on important stuff when we can't agree- simple majority (3/5) and yeah occasionally some people might not have things the way they want but that's just how it works. Democracy yay!

Tom: 100%. When you get a group of people who all have strong opinions on things and are so passionate about the band of course you’re going to clash on things. You just have to remember that you’re opinion isn’t always going to be right, your way of doing things isn’t necessarily the best way or only way to do things and at the end of the day everyone only wants what's best for the band.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

Jodie: World domination. We’re releasing lots of music this year, playing some festivals including Burn it Down.

Tom: We’re going to be releasing a lot of new music this year and hopefully we’ll gain a lot more fans from that and start playing bigger shows and playing with more established bands. Also we’re at the start of writing new music so it’ll be exciting to see what we come up with next.

Joe: We have an EP coming this year, more music videos and some exciting gigs planned

You can find the band online here: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IOTAOFFICIALUK

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iotaofficialuk

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/iota/1470145424

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_B6dOh7wTqEkmrrzEQD99Q

Spotify: