New Single ‘Commedia’ Out Now

Emerging once again from the shadows, Nottingham-based Otala ready themselves to release their latest single, ‘Commedia’.
Having built on the triumph of their debut EP ‘Tell the Bees’, which captivated with its unyielding dissonance, Otala prepare to take the next bold step, exploring their sound much further.

‘Commedia’ opens with a deceptive calm, with gentle guitars and wistful sax lines, luring the listener into false senses of security. Obscure and haunting lyrics review a discordant social landscape, while layers of disarray are peeled back with an angular noise-rock scalpel and their atypical song structure.

1. For someone that is yet to discover Otala in 5 words how would you describe yourself.

(Jack ) Jaw Dropping Macaroni Cheese Music

2. What inspired you as an artist?

(Jack) Macaroni cheese

3. What is your process for preparing to perform live? Do you have any Diva demands?

(Jack) We need macaroni or it’s not happening

4. Where do you feel you fit into the music landscape?

(Oscar) – Hopefully somewhere cool

(Rory) I don’t think we really know, we usually tell everyone we’re whatever genre people tell us we are after gigs, and that normally changes every few months.

5: What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?

(Oscar) Otala band love all forms of musical artistic expression

6. What’s currently in the pipeline for 2024?

(Rory) Hopefully more releases, we’ve got a lot of tracks that have been developing over time and new ones popping into the set all the time, so getting some of those out would be lovely.

7 What would you say is your greatest strength as an Artist?

(Rory) Nothing special, maybe just our willingness to travel. Accepting we’re gonna spend a lot of money on petrol and flixbuses right from the start has let us play a lot of cool gigs and meet other bands and fans that we wouldn’t have if we’d stayed at home.

8. What would you say is your greatest weakness as an Artist?

(Rory) I think probably the same as most bands our size, it’s very hard not to worry that we’re doing it all wrong, especially when the industry seems so opaque. It’s difficult for us to take a step back and just appreciate what we actually are doing and how we’re improving.

9. What can fans expect from your new single ‘Commedia’?

(Rory) This one’s been developing for over 2 years now so it’s all a bit more considered than the tracks we released a year ago, but I think playing it together and learning how we play with each other for a year of live shows let us record it with a bit more spontaneity as well.

10. What music artist would you say have influenced your work?

(Rory) In terms of actual influence to the music we make I’d say it’s current artists for the most part. It’s pretty common that a new track or album will come out that all of us get really into and that inspiration inevitably bleeds into the direction we take for those few weeks.

11. Who would you most like to collaborate with artistically?

(Rory) Wilco

12. What was your worst performance?

(Oscar) A recent one in which my guitar amp, Jack’s synth and all of our monitors went bust. The show must at least attempt to go on.

13: What was the most difficult obstacle you have ever faced and how did you overcome it?

(Oscar) When Jack’s synth broke on the way over to Paris and we had to solder it mid sound check.

(Rory) Yeah, either the synth soldering or my car breaking down in the rain on the way to the Opus Kink gig with everyone’s gear in the boot. Our failures as a band are usually electromechanical.

14: What is your creative process when making music. Do you work with others or is there just you?

(Rory) Someone, usually Oscar, brings an idea to practice and it’s almost always in the setlist of the next gig we play. I think that way of developing mostly at live shows is a really nice way of ending up with tracks that feel like they belong to all of us.

15 Where do you see your musical career in 10 years?