A little under two weeks ago I stumbled into Criminal Records to feed my growing vinyl collection. I came across an in-store performance by Atlanta’s own Koyal to support their sophomore EP Joyride. My lingering Sunday hangover was tugging at my coattails to head back home and listen to some new records, but the tunes coming from this chance card drawing of a show had me fixated until the last note. The crowd, a cocktail of clientele and Koyal fans, shared in my fascination as if the band put a trance on the entire store. They definitely did Criminal Records proud as their humble stage attracts the likes of local legend Teddy Swims who performed there the previous Thursday.
I connected with Koyal after their show to get better acquainted with the up-and-coming group, which turned into a conversation about how they put together this show and how they felt about playing at Criminal.
“We were so ecstatic to host our Joyride EP release show at Criminal Records, one of our favorite spots in Atlanta, as we visited the store when we were beginning the writing process. We hit a rapport with some really kind staff members and on a whim asked if we could play there sometime! A year later, it felt like such a meaningful culmination of Joyride as we walked on stage at Criminal Records celebrating the release of our EP!
“It was spectacular to see fans, friends, family, and new audience members in the aisles of the store. Criminal Records is also the first store to have our CDs stocked on their shelves, and we’re so thankful to [them and their staff] for believing in us.
“The show was incredibly fun and the coming together of our creative community! We had our longtime friends and musical collaborators join us on stage for a couple of songs—Nathaniel Pittman on guitar and Justin Golding on saxophone.”
Following their stellar performance, Koyal mentioned the release of a lyric video for their single “I Wanna Believe” which premiered today on YouTube. The song is about longing for a higher ideal while also wishing to be abducted by aliens. It was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Greazy Wil after the band won his TikTok competition. The video was animated by Orri Olson.
Watch/listen above.
More Info
Web: koyal.band
Instagram: @koyal.official
Twitter: @officialkoyal
TikTok: @koyal.band