MIXTAPE
SUNDARA KARMA
Image by Margot Parker
The Hook mixtape is compiled through a series of music related questions. Each artist who fills it out can answer as many or as few of the questions as they wish, and elaborate on their choices, or let them speak for themselves.
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Artist
Oscar Pollock of Sundara Karma
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Location
London
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Members
Oscar Pollock (vocals/lead guitar), Ally Baty (guitar), Dom Cordell (bass), Hayden Evans (drums)
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Press Clippings
“It’s this inextricable sense of theatre that’s setting Oscar and Sundara Karma increasingly apart from their guitar-bearing peers. If the trend for guitar bands in recent times has been towards the gritty and unadorned, then this quartet are flying the flag for something altogether more imaginative and fantastical.” - DIY
The last piece of music you paid for (streaming doesn’t count)
The vinyl of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Song To A Seagull’. Found it in an old dusty record shop on a recent trip to LA and thought it would be the perfect gift for a friend
Your favourite place to listen to music
Probably walking or on the bus on a sunny day. When I’m out and about with headphones on I can really crank the volume and not have to worry about the neighbours.
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A song which reminds you of your childhood
When I was very little my dad and I would drive around listening to Jeff Wayne’s musical version of ‘The War of the Worlds’. The first track on that album ‘The Eve of the War’ always takes me back to that time.
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Your go-to karaoke song
I can do a pretty great Neil Young so sometimes it’s ‘Heart of Gold’, and sometimes I do Elton John’s ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’
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A song which could change the world if everyone heard it
‘Do You Realize??’ by The Flaming Lips. Life’s so short and it’s easy to live as if it will go on forever but it doesn’t and when you live with that awareness love suddenly becomes a priority. For the world to change we need to start living very differently and I think this song points us in the right direction
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A song you’d rather never hear again
I could live a very complete and satisfied life without ever hearing that M83 song ‘Midnight City’ again.
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A song which reminds you of someone you don’t see anymore
When I was at school my Spanish teacher who was a French man would sometimes let us stay after class and he’d play us some really cool music. One of the artists he showed us was Manu Chao - distinctly remember listening to ‘Bongo Bongo’. Never got the Spanish GCSE.
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A song which gets you in the mood (for dancing)
Peter Gordon & The Love of Life Orchestra ‘Still You’
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A song which gets you in the mood (for romancing)
I can’t find a way of answering this sincerely so let’s go with Throbbing Gristle - Hot on the Heels of Love.
The soundtrack to your last holiday
Due to severe weather conditions I was pretty much stranded in a lodge up in Idyllwild, California for nearly a week and had Val Stöecklein’s ‘Grey Life’ playing on repeat. A very solid album to be stuck with for a week.
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A song which has changed your mind
I’ve always been aware of A$AP ROCKY and thought he was cool but when I heard ‘Fukk Sleep (feat. FKA twigs)’ I was like damn, that song slaps hard.
A song which makes you cry
I was pretty obsessed with Disney’s ‘Tarzan’ film growing up. Whenever I hear the song ‘You’ll Be In My Heart’ I well up a little.
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A song which makes you laugh
Die Antwoord ‘Baby’s On Fire’. Few groups have managed to walk the line of artistic mastery and comedic genius as tastefully as them. The industry has become so toxic and full of shit it is literally ridiculous what is required of musicians these days to make money or to gain success. This song is hilarious and it says fuck you to all of it.
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A song which gives you goosebumps
My mum was very ill when I was a teenager and when I heard the Tears for Fears song ‘Woman in Chains (feat. Oleta Adams)’ I honestly thought it was about her. She had to fight really hard to get out of a very dark place and it feels like the lyrics and atmosphere in that song sum up her struggle with mental health perfectly. She is my hero.
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A song which makes you feel empowered
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith 'Existence In The Unfurling'. It literally feels like you’ve been hijacked by some sort of alien technology and transported to another part of the multiverse
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An artist you regret never having seen live
De La Soul - luckily there is still time.
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An artist you hope to see live soon
Weyes Blood! In love with her latest 2 albums and I cannot wait to hear those songs live.
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A gig you’ll never forget
Our set designer for the latest tour very kindly invited us to go and see Kylie Minogue @ The O2 as he was working on it at the time. It was the most incredible pop show! There were like 4 confetti drops.
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An album you know by heart
‘Scott 3’ by the late and great Scott Walker.
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A cover which is better than the original
Talking Heads - Take Me To The River.
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A song you first heard on a film soundtrack
Glass Candy’s ‘Digital Versicolor’. My ‘cinema awakening’ was perhaps when I watched ‘Bronson’ by Nicholas Winding Refn when I was thirteen or fourteen. It opened me up to cinema as an art form but also to how important sound was in film..
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A song you love in a foreign language
Mahmoud Ahmed ‘Titesh (Don’t Worry Forget About It)’
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An instrumental song you love
Laraaji ‘I am Sky'. I was first introduced to Laraaji through a Duncan Trussell podcast and was recently lucky enough to see him perform.He's the closest living being we have to Yoda.
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A song which gets stuck in your head
I always catch myself singing Carole King - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
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A recent musical discovery
Bedouine
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