Pool Of Sound - Oya Paya

 

The three piece that are 'Oya Paya', describe themselves as 'a smelly group of twenty-somethings making spicy music' and comprise of drawling singer-guitarist Maxime McGowan, bassist and producer Saam Jafarzadeh and drummer Ashwin Menon. They take their name after a little game from Singapore that kids use to divide themselves into teams. Sort of like a more complex version of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. You chant "Oya Paya Som!" and on "Som!" you either show the underside or overside of your palm. Matching palms are all on the same team. They have nailed their own spin on indie-rock, with a little bit of smooth rapping on the side. Their music is exactly the right mix of chilled out instrumentals and catchy lyrics. Saam and Ash went to school together in Singapore and after flying halfway across the world, the pair found themselves studying at LIPA where they met singer and guitarist Maxime. Max says, " I lived in France for most of my life and when it came to applying for uni I applied for four French business schools and LIPA. With my dad originally coming from Liverpool he had always told me about LIPA. When he came back here he picked up an application form – and I suppose the rest is history."

Bringing together a variety of ideas grown from different cultures and interests, the three set about making a band to tie their backgrounds together. Saam jokes, "Having known Ash from Singapore and then meeting Max at LIPA in 2012/13, by the time we became a band I had already got over hating them. Ash continues, "It was all just a bit of fun in my bedroom when we started out. It was just me and Saam at first, and it was only when we wrote, 'Nothing Left' that we felt we had something."  Upon hearing the instrumental, Max was given the chance to sing on the track, and thus Oya Paya the band became a trio. Bido Lito continue their story intheir magazine; 'In November 2016, Oya Paya were one of the bands who appeared on Bido Lito!'s stage at the Liverpool Music Week closing party. It was there that they really jumped to our attention, and the Spiritual Bunker showcase at Meraki suited them down to the ground. With a natural groove underpinning their set, the trio really pushed the crowd’s expectations in terms of the standard guitar/bass/drums setup. Some of their slow motion RnB beats, with Max’s throat-scraping vocals floating over the top, highlighted a restraint to a standard 'rock' formula that was refreshing.'

With his student visa due to run out, Ashwin had to leave the UK, and was forced to return to his native Singapore, making live shows for the project nigh-on impossible as it unfortunately restricted him in working hours as he requires a working visa to return to the UK. It didn't stop them from creating and releasing music though as they've been used to writing and recording from different countries since the beginning of the band. Press shots used projections of his face, a sign that in spite of the distance between them Oya Paya remained, essentially, united. Their single, 'Why?' emerged from the period after Ashwin had been forced to leave the UK. "Being separated felt like having the future of the band stripped away from us, but from the ashes of frustration we have this song," the group explain, and 'Why?' emerged in the few weeks after Ashwin headed back home. "The overall mood of the track reflects how terrible we all felt at the time. We could've sat around and asked ourselves why these bad things happen but instead chose to get off our butts and make a song about it. We made use of the only thing that still connected us (the internet) and started piecing tunes together across continents. It's meant to resonate with anybody who's ever felt lonely and isolated. It's a convoluted way of asking life 'why' does it have to be so difficult? The fruits of our labour have helped us understand that it’s not impossible." 

The geographical distance had led to a frustrating inability for the three-piece to play live together but they have made the best of it, both by turning their frustrations into key inspiration for some of their tracks, and by making the most of the brief slots of time they get together to coalesce their artistic visions. In 2020 they made a comeback after a brief hiatus with two brand new singles, back to back, 'Kobi' and 'Phillip', gaining national support from BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 and BBC Introducing as well as being tipped by respected music publications including EarMilk and Clash Magazine. This was followed at the end of the year by the release of their infectious single, 'Focus'. Evoking the same dropped-shoulder slackerism of 'Beck', 'Pavement' or 13-era 'Blur', 'Focus' is filled with angsty vocals, infectious grooves and deceptively intricate instrumental interplay, setting a thematic precedent for their new body of work. Sharp-tongued, social satire is delivered sleight-of-hand by the characterful, low-key drawl of lead singer and guitarist, Maxime McGowan, pinned in place by intuitive and precise beats from drummer, Ashwin Menon and wild, technically unsurpassable bass lines from band member and producer Saam Jafarzadeh. Much like the rest of the album scheduled for release later, 'Focus' was recorded entirely remotely in the midst of lockdown with the three band members separated by nearly 7,000 miles, never once all recording in the same room.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/03/pool-of-sound-screentalk.html