Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Kiosk
I’ve seen Kiosk many times over the past year, and it feels like they get more exciting with every show – constantly gigging, the electro-punk duo are forever expanding their sound, which has significantly evolved since I first caught the band, then a trio, a few years ago at Leeds’ Back to Back Festival.
A few years on from their formation and Kiosk have become one of the most interesting acts in the city, which is practically spitting out great bands at the moment like oil from a hot pan. Spreading their infectious sound across the country, they’ve already played alongside the likes of Machine Girl, SILVERWINGKILLER, and Mermaid Chunky with just one single, ‘dogma’, to their name.
It’s their relentless dedication to playing live that has allowed them to craft such a buzz already, and now they’re releasing the double single ‘Heaven Sent/Sure Shot’ via the beloved local label Private Regcords.
Kiosk features just two members – Bella Alcock and Rory Maslen, better known as Maz – and when you see them live, they appear to work in perfect harmony. Maslen sometimes loosens their grip on their bass to mess with synths, while Alcock stands behind more buttons and a laptop screen, the gentle lilt of her voice standing in sharp yet perfect opposition to the heavy basslines and danceable grooves at play.
‘Heaven Sent’ is a particular standout of the duo’s live sets, and it luckily doesn’t lose any of its bite when recorded. Maslen’s bass is still just as infiltrating, inescapable, winding, and the pulsating synths an instant earworm. Meanwhile, the band try something a little different on ‘Sure Shot’, a sprawling spoken-word piece in which Alcock muses on breaking down in convertibles over an anxious beat and an insistent, repetitive jolt of bass, which builds and builds as the story unfolds like a Lynchian nightmare.
With a slew of shows on the horizon and a vinyl release of the double single featuring remixes from fellow Leeds acts TURNSPIT, Bug Teeth, and DJ Suburu, I first had to sit down with the pair to discuss Leeds beating Manchester in a fight, Alcock’s disappointment in Sharknado, and Maslen’s endless love of Jaco Pastorius.
Quick-fire Questions with Kiosk:
How would you describe Kiosk in three words?
Bella: “Buttons and knobs.”
Maz: “Better than Monopoly.”
Who are your dream dinner party guests?
Maz: “Jaco Pastorius, Les Claypool, Tina Weymouth, Carlos Alcaraz, Kate Bush, and Paula Rego.”
Bella: “David Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan, Miriam Margolyes, Joel Gion, and Viv Albertine.”
Have you ever cried at a gig?
Maz: “I cried a little bit seeing Sorry play at End of the Road. I’ve been into them for so long, and they got me through Covid and lockdown. I’ve seen them a lot over the years… they just get me like nobody else.”
Bella: “When Massive Attack brought out Elizabeth Fraser for ‘Teardrop’ in Bristol. I got close to tears.”
What’s the worst film you’ve ever seen?
Bella: “I thought Sharknado was going to be great. I thought it was going to be so bad it would be good, but it was just bad. I was very disappointed”.
Maz: [Maz spends the whole interview changing their answer to this question, before landing on Kelly Reichardt’s recent film]. “The Mastermind. I liked it at first, but ended up hating it. I didn’t give a shit about the fact that this guy has just done this thing for no apparent reason. I just don’t care.”
What’s in your dream rider?
Maz: “A massive bottle of champagne – one to spray and one to drink [laughs]. Chinese cigarettes. A range of Southeast Asian dumplings.”
Bella: Real Vogues, not the ones from the corner shop. A nice sandwich, maybe a few packs of crisps. Oh, and a basket of white kittens and a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones taken out.”
What’s the best hangover cure?
Bella: “Vietnamese food like pho – something really spicy to flush it all out.”
Maz: “Telling everyone I don’t get hungover.”
Are The Beatles overrated?
Maz: “They’re underrated because of the fact that there is a conversation about them being overrated. I mean, listen to Revolver. It came out in ’66…”
Bella: “Most of what I know about The Beatles I know from playing Beatles Rock Band on the Wii. Justice for Yoko. They’re rated exactly as they should be.”
What’s the best name for a pet?
Bella: “If I had a fish, I would call it David Schwimmer. Or Chicken if I had another cat.”
Maz: “John Francis Anthony Pastorius IIII or Pasta for short.”
What would you say is the most unexpected influence on the band?
Maz: “Metallica. I love Metallica. Their fusion of really elegant classical composition with heavy technical, but still quite poppy, music is really inspiring to me. And tennis, which requires so much dedication to the sport – having to maintain your body and your mind in order to keep improving, and keep actually doing it with longevity.”
Bella: “The artist Mike Kelley. He did a few things about the subconscious and teenage spirit, memory. The Poltergeist. I like the idea of dreams and surrealism.”
What is your favourite book?
Maz: “The Lord of the Rings trilogy… actually Fellowship of the Ring.”
Bella: “The Waves by Virginia Woolf, and I really like Han Kang. Human Acts is a really good book.”
Who would win in a fight, Leeds or Manchester?
Bella: “Leeds mogs Manchester.”
Maz: “Leeds would win because Manchester is too flat, so they probably have bad cardio.”
What/who is your musical enemy?
Bella: “Encores. Stop doing encores. Stop playing peek-a-boo. Stop writing them into sets. Face the music.”
Maz: “Exploitative grassroots promoters. I’m not gonna name names.”
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Maz: “‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads. C’est que je fais c’est soir la or something.”
Bella: “‘West End Girls’ by Pet Shop Boys.”
What song would you want played at your funeral?
Maz: “Continuum by Jaco Pastorius.”
Bella: “I plan on being immortal until I think of a song.”
If you could curate the perfect festival, what would it be?
Maz: “Regtown or End of the Road, but they already exist. Maybe End of the Road with an extra stage curated by Private Regcords.”
Bella: “Seconded.”
