Written by SOKOJO, produced by Burak Yerebakan (Yard Of Blondes, Model, Crook…) at the Wakeful Room, and mastered by Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More..), SOKOJO’s debut EP “MORE” is being released on February 4, 2022. The 5 tracks EP includes “Keeps Me Going”, “More“, “Something Real”, and the 2 exclusives “Never Knew” and “Again?”. The EP release comes out with a new music video for the song “More”, written and directed by band member Kris Soekotjo with cinematography by Chrisopher Breitinger.
The music video depicts SOKOJO playing in a World War II bunker alongside the story of the main character eventually confronting her about wanting more from his love than a partial split.
SOKOJO will play a live show at The Mint in Los Angeles on February 18, 2021, along with Yard Of Blondes and Iron Point.
“Sokojo has a sense of rock and roll attitude that is often missing in this style of music nowadays (…) Sokojo is heading for the big time” – Jane Howkins, York Calling
Fusing the power and attitude of hard rock with danceable rhythms and precise hooks of indie music, SOKOJO is the new rising alternative/hard-rock band in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2018, SOKOJO is composed of Kris Soekotjo (lead vocal/guitar), Kyle Soekotjo (guitar/vocals), Sabastian Neudeck (drums) and Jeff Lane (bass/vocals).
Drawing influences from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s rock scenes, yet honing an original sound that feels at home in the 2020s, SOKOJO’s songs hold meaningful messages, feel radio-ready, and have their unique set of fingerprints.
Noticed in 2019 by producer and guitarist Burak Yerebakan, through the wall separating their rehearsing rooms, he offered SOKOJO to play at the infamous Viper Room for the first time, opening for his band Yard Of Blondes (“Murderology”, “Do You Need More”, “Hummingbird”). Then followed a string of dates for SOKOJO, opening for Jason Newsted of Metallica.
For the next two years, SOKOJO made a name for themselves playing live, from the Sunset Strip to backyard parties, gritty Oakland dive bar Stork Club, and storied LA clubs such as The Mint, Molly Malone’s, State Social House, etc.
When the COVID-19 crisis wiped out a planned summer 2020, the band turned its focus to the studio, booking sessions with Grammy-nominated engineer Zach Fisher at LA mega-studio Big Bad Sound (Weezer, Rancid, LA Guns), and producer Burak Yerebakan’s studio The Wakeful Room to start recording their debut EP, “MORE”
The band released the EP’s eponymous first single, “More”, in May 2021. A riffy stomper about a toxic mix of drug problems and trust issues in a crumbling relationship, the song turns a classic rock motif on its head: it’s not about love as a drug, it’s about drugs as a love.
The second single, “Keeps Me Going”, released in July 2021, sets the band’s bluesy riffing to a dancey punk beat and tells the story of a guy whose tank is empty on everything but silver linings. The release included the band’s first music video, which garnered 20,000+ Youtube views and found significant interest on popular Spotify playlists in the US and abroad.
The third single, “Something Real”, released in October 2021, is a hard-rock power ballad, in which the main character searches for a connection with people absorbed by the social mediums on their phone, entranced by the blue light which disconnects them from reality.