Name: Yakul
Members: James Berkeley (vocals and keys), Tom Caldwell-Nichols (bass), Sam Hughes (drums) Leo Utton (guitar)
Interviewee: James Berkeley
Nationality: British
Current release: Yakul's Outlines EP is out via Yada Yada.

If you enjoyed this Yakul interview and would like find out more about the band, visit their official homepage. The quartet are also on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and bandcamp.



For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

It’s tends to differ a bit, but usually there’s some kind of jumping off place whether it’s a rhythmic pattern, harmonic progression or melody fragment.

I find that I’ll get momentary glimpses of the potential journey of a song, and then we just have to try and navigate it while the feeling lasts!

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

The most important tool for us is time and space. That’s why we’ve got in the habit recently of taking extended writing retreats in the countryside. Having days on end with no focus other than creating provides us with a perfect environment for expression. That, coupled with the calmness and peace of the countryside has definitely yielded some of our favourite music.

You could call these getaways our ‘research’ I guess.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

I’m a big advocate of routines, and my morning routine is probably my most important. Myself and Leo are really into meditation and mindfulness, so whenever we’ve taken these writing retreats, that’s definitely how we get into the correct mindset for creating.

We tend to get writing quite early on in the day, the moment we all sit at our instruments someone will just start playing something and it all just goes from there.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

There isn’t a specific blueprint that we follow, though I’d say it often begins with either a keys or guitar progression.

That said, I’m pretty sure that ‘Time To Lose (feat. Adi Oasis)’ started with the drum beat.



When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

Lyrics always come at the end for me. I want to know exactly what my melodic phrasing is before fitting that around the words.

Once all the instrumentation is in, it’s easier for me to feel where it wants to be taken lyrically.

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

It really differs from song to song, but one of the core components of our writing process is allowing space for every idea. We don’t move on to the next song until the one we’re working on is completed, which is an interesting framework to create within. It forces you to focus in and finish the journey of each song. Some will definitely be easier than others!

Weirdly with a song like ‘Falling Sky’ which has quite a lot of switch ups, the initial structure came together really fast. Leo started with the guitar line in the A section and it just took form.



Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

I love this Michelangelo quote ‘I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free’.

I think a lot of the time with creating, you can see multiple pathways which can sometimes lead to indecision. Conversely, other times the direction feels very clear, and every choice seemingly happens naturally. Ultimately, we strive to not get in the way of the process and just allow it to take form. The thinking part of our brain can often be the reason we fail to finish a song because we judged an idea too harshly. It’s all ego related so we’ve built up and cultivated a space of freedom and non-judgement which really helps with creating freely.

We definitely make some bad songs, but we always give the ideas space, and enjoy the process.

Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?

I don’t think it’s ever really finished, there’s usually a point where any extra changes just feel like horizontal movements. We tried not to dwell there and just commit to what we have.

It all comes from having trust in your ideas and creations which is something you build over time. It needs to be internal and not be affected by external opinions or factors.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Our process can be slightly extended, which I think is more standard within bands rather than music made fully in the box.

We’ll take writing retreats and make initial demos. Once we’ve returned we’ll then revisit those and potentially change the structure / instrumentation etc which will lead to a more finalised pre-production. Then we’ll track the drums with our very good friend Jim Macrae, he knows exactly how we want our drums sounding! Once we have that base it’ll be built up instrument by instrument and then I’ll delve deeper in the production which usually is the final part of the process.

There can be a lot of refinement within all of those steps. Generally we have a clear vision of the destination of a song by the time we have the finished demo, but we try to stay as open as possible to new pathways that appear along the way. That’s the beauty of creativity!

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

Being in control of the production on our music is really important to me. We’re always open to other people’s ideas, but usually I tend to have a very clear vision for how I want the production to sound. So I like to be able to stay in the driving seat for that part of the process! 'Take Flight'’s a good example of this - from the beginning of the writing process I knew that I wanted to make the drums and vocals really saturated, it felt so natural when we got deep into the production.

Jim Macrae has been integral to us as well. As I’ve taken the reins on the production, Jim’s continued to mix all of our work. Because we’ve worked together for a while now, he gets exactly how we want it to sound. There’s very little back and forth with mix notes because of that.