DISCOVER | The Kokroachez – Oxford, United Kingdom.

Today on DISCOVER, I’m joined by The Kokroachez. The Kokroachez are a four piece alternative rock band from Oxford. Current members of the band include Ella-Mae Edwards (Vocals), Jaime Berry (Guitar), James Green (Bass/Vocals), and Jaume  Taylor (Drums). Today we talk about future goals, whale blubber chewing gum and how to stop travel sickness with a plastic fish.

Welcome, let’s start at the very beginning Kokroachez, where did the name come from and how did you all meet?

Jon: Thanks for having us, Jaume and Jim formed the band in primary school with many many members (and dancers). At that time we were obsessed with the Beatles and the end of the world so what better bug to base our name off than the indestructible cockroach while trying to be like the Beatles? The name the cockroaches was already taken so we decided to add some spice by changing the spelling – although now no one can spell our band name.

We then met Ella Mae summer last year at an open mic at a perfect time when we were in desperate need of a new vocalist and she then slotted right in!

We met Jaume  at college last year and our drummer suddenly left last summer. We had loads of gigs to fill in so we got Jaume in and he fit in perfectly and within a week – we played a festival!

AH, I see it now. Now you’ve mentioned it… The Beatles, Kokroachez… I get it. Very smart! It’s great to see people at a younger age being influenced by the likes of the Beatles! What other bands would you say influence the music you create?

Jamie: Depends on the song and time in which we write the song as I usually write with a specific influence in my head. Our recent stuff has been very influenced by Foo Fighters, Paramore, Sam Fender, Royal Blood and Marmozets. We have been told recently that we remind them of Billy Talent and Avenged Sevenfold as well!

Ella-Mae: In a vocal sense are influences are Paramore and Evanescence.

 

Some great bands there once again! With the influences being such varied in style, how would you say Kokroachez fits in genre wise?

Jamie: If we are put in a box, our official genre is Oxford indie but we sit more in Alternative Rock. Our songs range similarly to how I write with a specific artist influence in mind with whatever genre I am listening to.

Jim: What genre did we remind you of when you first listened to our music?

Very interesting question to myself there Jim, It’s rare that I’m asked questions so this is fun! When I first listened to your music on Spotify – I listened to the 3 track ‘Pest Control’ and it was very hard to put you directly under one genre, One song reminded me of the foo fighters-esq vibe (Pest control) then you had other songs which had more of a old Punk Rock vibe (‘Never enough’). I do say you’ve successfully been able to branch out music across multiple genres! Do you ever write music worrying about what other people will think of the music or do you write what makes you guys “happy”?

Jon: We write what comes into our head at the time, we don’t write for what we think will do well or people will like. I think that’s definitely the best way to do it so that we don’t burn out writing to please other people! It’s always great to be reassured by other people that they like our music though!

That’s a smart choice. I think a lot of people especially now focus on ‘what will sell / what will people like’ and often forget the fun in music and creating things THEY like. So, let’s talk a bit about you guys – What do you like to do outside of music?

Jim: I work at a garden Centre getting hit on by older ladies and spend the rest of my time at the gym

Jamie: To be honest all I do is go to the gym and sit in my room and write music. As a whole, we all like going to gigs and watching the awesome talent in the oxford music scene.

Ella-Mae: I love to do art, horse riding and I love charity shopping. And I also like to play violin and have recently started playing saxophone

Just out of curiosity how old are we talking here … as in poor Doris and Beryl on their Saturday day out just after bingo club? Looping back slightly, in 2023 you recorded a 3 track single called “Pest Control”. How did you choose which songs that you would feature on this recording?

Jim: Yes, Exactly.

Jon:  We really wanted to record Pest Control. It felt right for the times. We wanted to show a range of genres, so ‘Never Enough’ was always a big crowd pleaser and we thought ‘Misunderstood‘ might be accessible for a wider audience. We recorded all of them in a day because we wanted the recordings to sound as close to our live shows as possible.

I have to say I think you did really good with the recording, so hats off to you guys! With us coming to the end of 2023 now, What are your plans for 2024, anything exciting – any shows already planned?

Ella-Mae: Our plans this year is to record our new album and release some singles off of that and really just to get more of our music out there. We’re recording at Spotify studios soon and we’re focusing on our social media and growing out fan base. We’re headlining at the bullingdon on the 26th of November.

Jon: We’re starting to put some dates in the calendar for gigs next year but the focus is definitely on writing, recording and releasing. Our aim is to get a show on a major festival like Truck, isle of white, 2000 trees etc.

Ohhh a festival slot would be a great achievement, You mentioned playing a festival at the start of the interview. Which festival have you recently played?

Jon: Some great bands agreed to join us to play! We went on early so we could watch all the other bands and introduce them onto the stage.

 

That sounds and looks like it was a super fun day! We are at the end of our interview now, unfortunately, but it has been amazing to check in with you guys. I like to leave the interviews at a fun, end-of-interview high. So my last and closing question to you guys is… What is the most absurd thing you’ve been tricked into doing or believing?

Jamie: I used to get really travel sick. We were talking about it after rehearsal the other week and I asked the others if their teachers used to give them a fish to help them not be sick on school trips. None of them had a clue what I was talking about! My teachers used to give me a laminated paper fish to sit on to stop me being sick for the journey! It kinda worked too! I honestly thought it was a thing!

Ella-Mae: I used to think in year 7 that chewing gum was made out of whale blubber but I was quite wrong I don’t know where I got that from.

Artist: The Kokroachez / Label: Unsigned / Genre: Alternative Rock

For Fans Of: For Fans Of: Paramore, Marmozets, Foo Fighters, Billy Talent.
Next upcoming shows: TBC 2024.
Can be found on the following platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, X (Twitter), Music available to be streamed: >HERE< (Pest Control)