Children of Zeus (aka Konny Kon and Tyler Daley) aren’t new to the music scene. If you know your hip-hop, then you’ll know Konny Kon was part of the Mancunian hip-hop trio Broke ‘n’ English with DRS and Strategy. Tyler Daley, also known as Hoodman, made his presence in music known firstly as a solo rapper but over the years transitioned into singing as well, much to our ears’ delight.

Their dynamite release, ‘Still Standing’ is what placed Konny and Tyler firmly on the map as Children of Zeus and was their first single (with ‘No Strings Attached’) from their varied soulful compilation, titled ‘Story so Far…’ released last year. Now, we are expecting their upcoming debut album within the next month.

As a pair, these two are paving the way for proper soul music, which has been a little neglected by UK ears. Especially within Manchester, as it is better known for its dance music – Tyler has some beautiful drum ‘n’ bass features out there – and legendary indie-rock accolades. Music by Children of Zeus is like food for the soul and worth a listen, particularly on an overcast day when all you can do is dream of the Barbados coastline.

You wrote your popular song ‘Still Standing’ roughly nine years ago, that’s practically a decade! The song speaks about mother-son relationships and is easily relatable, from that I have speculated that family is really important to the both of you. Could you expand on how family inspires you…

Tyler: I personally come from a very large family. So, family is everything to me. They keep my life eventful, to say the least, so that provides more than enough writing material.

Staying on the topic of family, I feel like music taste is developed from a young age and my introduction to soul music was through my Dad. Would you say it was your parents who influenced your music taste?

Konny: My parents listened to a lot of different music, but I always loved the more soulful stuff: lovers rock, slow jams and then I found pirate radio and worked out exactly what I was into. 

T: We have a song on our upcoming album called "Daddy's Car" talking about the music that we would listen to on road trips with family. My old man was always educating me on music.

Alongside being a soul and hip-hop lover, I am a drum and bass head and to be truthful; it was through hearing Tyler on liquid tracks that I discovered you guys. Specifically, it was the remix of ‘Still Standing’ by Lenzman that led me directly to your music and ‘The Story so Far…’. Who or what ignited the idea of a remix?

K: I think it was Lenzman’s idea. It was a great idea! Probably still the biggest song we have. More so than the actual original!  

I’ve also got to say, as a drum and bass head I’ve obviously listened to ‘The View’ countless times; the soul and lyricism on that track hits your core. How did the drum and bass features help with your confidence as a singer before coming together as Children of Zeus, Tyler?

T: To be honest, confidence wasn't a massive issue. I was singing many years before "The View", but as far as relaunching or even reigniting my career, it was a springboard for the plans we had all along as a family.

Moving back to ‘The Story so Far…’, it was a fantastic compilation of music and such a fantastic introduction to what COZ is about, but you didn’t want to put it out initially. What changed your mind about that?

K: Because we were conscious it wasn’t an album… we were wary of putting out music that was made over the space of eight/nine years in different studios/kitchens and people thinking this was us saying, ‘This is everything we have.’ It’s like a collection of demos. But in the end, it introduced us to the world and gave us a project that people consider a classic. It worked out well for us to be honest. 

As you have said in previous interviews, the songs from ‘The Story so Far…’ were written over-dispersed time periods. How did you approach recording them? Was it just playing around and seeing what worked or did you have a clear vision?

K: No, there was no vision making them for an end goal of an album, so to us, it’s not cohesive. Maybe it sounds that way to people because we stuck to our guns and the one thing we said right at the beginning was, let’s just make timeless soulful music and not chase whatever everyone else is doing and just do what we know. There’s no formula. What you hear is just in our soul, and we aren’t trying to make anything to fit a sound… it’s all we know. 

Will there be any noticeable changes or developments in the new album from ‘The Story so Far…’ or would you say it flows from one to the other?

T: I think ‘The Story So Far...’ was basically giving people a look at the development of our sound. We've said many times before; we don't believe we've created a whole new style or anything that hasn't been done before. We just do it in our way bring it all together. The album is literally a progressive continuation of what we've been doing from the jump.

Does this mean that the upcoming release is all new material or will there be tracks on there that have been waiting for our ears for years?

T: No, we actually got a little bit of time to create new material from scratch. One or two of the songs are ideas we've had lying around, but this is all fresh music for the people. 

How do your long careers in music assist in producing tunes as Children of Zeus?

K: The mad thing about the new album is we approached it almost like we were fourteen again and we found the fun in making music. We scrapped a lot of the rules and usual song structures and just went with making music. We also lost the ego. As MCs, writing your own words is important but we let that go for the betterment of the art, and there are parts of the album where we both just wrote the lyrics line-by-line, and Tyler wrote for me, and I wrote for him. It sped up the process, and I think it made the writing better than before. 

With the fickleness of the music industry and the ever-changing trends in popular music, it’s admirable that you’ve stuck to what you most enjoy. Have you felt any pressure from the industry to go a certain way with COZ or do you guys just go with the flow of it all?

K: I think we’ve realised sticking to our guns is what people like about us. One day I’ll tell people about all the shit we turned down that probably would’ve made us really rich and well known. But it would’ve cheapened what we do, and it would have been over before we knew it.

Finally, the Brighton music scene is always bustling with emerging talent. To the young people trying to find their way in music and make a living off of it, what advice would you give them?

K: If you want to make a living maybe get a job because most of us never make enough money to make this full-time. If you truly love what you’re doing stick with it because the rewards aren’t always financial. I’d also say that all the rules about music were made a long time ago and none of it applies anymore. Just make music true to you, whatever it is. There are enough people out there who are probably into that, too. You just need to utilise the internet to reach them and then go see the world when they’re enhanced enough to spend money on your music.

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