A Conversation With Royel Otis
Interview by Tommy Moore
Royel Otis "Heading for the Door" Single Artwork
Royel Otis is an indie rock duo out of Sydney, Australia
After brushing shoulders working at the same bars and cafes, it only took a handful of times hanging out for the two, Otis Pavlovic and Royel Maddell, to start exchanging demos. Since then, Royel Otis has grown to produce chart topping and viral records, selling out venue after venue across multiple continents.
Royel Otis Photographed by Georges Antoni
Pratts & Payne, the South London pub that sits around the corner from the famed home studio of producer Dan Carey, has an important place in the history of Royel Otis. When making their debut album with Carey in early 2023, the Australian duo – childhood friends Otis Pavlovic and Royel Maddell – would decamp to the pub to finish lyrics and make decisions on the direction of their first LP. “Dan would ask us to record vocals,” Royel remembers, “and we’d say, ‘Just give us half an hour, we’re popping to Pratts & Payne’, and we’d have a pint, a few shots, and get some lyrics down.” Eventually, it made such a mark that they named the record PRATTS & PAIN.
Royel Otis PRATTS & PAIN Album Artwork
For past projects, the duo recorded mainly back home in Australia. Naturally, creative influence is pulled from the landscape you’re surrounded by, and Maddell tells DAYBREAK, “I think because we recorded a lot of [past] stuff in Byron Bay in Australia, you can really hear the sound change in the album, PRATTS & PAIN, because we recorded it in South London.” On top of the influence it has on them, Maddell also notes, “I feel like the landscape and where you are also affects the people who you record with, because we go to record where they live. I think their idea or their inspiration maybe translates more onto our sound than our songwriting does.”
Since the record’s release, the pair has been on a tear as their 9 month long tour has been escalated as PRATTS & PAIN continues to strike a chord and by their recent cover of “Murder on the Dance Floor” taking off online. Guitarist Royel Maddell tells DAYBREAK, “We went into [tour] fried, and now we’re aging 10 years a month. We've been getting so much support we didn't realize we would get.”
"We went into [tour] fried, and now we’re aging 10 years a month. We've been getting so much support we didn't realize we would get."
Royel Otis by Alex Wall
The pair write lyrics together, and describe the process as like a tennis match. “Someone gets an ace, someone gets a fault,” they laugh. “It’s a doubles match and we’re on the same side, playing against a very good brick wall.” In mixing their skill sets, they write songs about drunken arguments and personal trials mixed with surrealism in a way that is mirrored in their music. Between touring and writing, Maddell tells DAYBREAK they’re pulling their last bit of “energy from the bottle of Jaegermister.”
Outside the highs and lows of life on the road, the pair has varied approaches to ways they try to disconnect and quiet their minds. Maddell tells us, “I personally like to have a bath, but with the shallow water and water running into the bath, so it's just loud and white noise and you're feeling the water all around you while it's splashing. I think that's probably my biggest escape that I would highly recommend.” Pavlovic has a different approach, where as they drive into a new city ahead of load in and soundcheck, he’ll put his headphones in and up as loud as he can and disappear into music–which is currently Wilco.
"I personally like to have a bath, but with the shallow water and water running into the bath, so it's just loud and white noise and you're feeling the water all around you while it's splashing. I think that's probably my biggest escape that I would highly recommend."
Royel Otis Photographed by Georges Antoni
In an opposite approach, Maddell tells us he often doesn’t pull inspiration from “other artists or sounds.” Instead, he gets “really emotional on planes watching a TV series that is really inspiring.”
After forming in 2019 and slowly drip-feeding music into the world during the pandemic, Royel Otis garnered fans in BBC Radio 6 Music, triple j and on US college radio. To date, they have amassed over 35 million streams, covered global playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, and headed out on a debut headline tour of the UK and Europe.
"I get really emotional on planes watching a TV series that is really inspiring to me."
Royel Otis by Tryson Burraston
Across the debut album, Royel Otis swing between melodic, pop-inspired indie and woozy psych, but it never feels tied to one lane. As soon as one style or mood has outstayed its welcome, they handbrake turn into psychedelic weirdness or dissonant noise, keeping everybody on their toes. After the table was laid on the two EPs, PRATTS & PAIN brings everything from the band’s history together on a record that’s reverent towards their beginnings but unafraid to push forwards into new sounds.
Royel Otis Photographed by Georges Antoni
Royel Otis
Interview by Tommy Moore
Royel Otis is on tour throughout the US and Europe for the rest of the year. It's show you won't want to miss, and we highly grabbing tickets if they're within throwing distance. You can find Royel Otis tour dates here.
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