Los Angeles indie rock band WALLA’s rise has come naturally.
The group, which formed after singer/guitarist Jonathan Hoonch Kim put out a call online, self-released its “Animal of Love” EP in 2012. The set drew the attention of Josh “Igloo” Monroy (Ludacris, David Archuleta), who offered to produce the EP that became the band’s “Nature,” due on Tuesday and premiered below.
“Working with a producer from Sony, he really polished our sound, gave us great instruments to work with, a great studio to work in,” Kim says, adding that the group remained independent for the moment. Monroy is signed to Sony/ATV publishing.
The resulting four songs are an upbeat blend of synth-pop and spiky guitar work, in the vein of groups such as Passion Pit or Vampire Weekend.
“I think our sound is pretty popular in Brooklyn and Canada, but not too many bands are doing it in L.A.,” Kim says.
The EP’s just debuted on the CMJ charts, with the title track having reached No. 6 on FMQB’s Alternative Specialty Charts (as well as No. 1 online on blog aggregator the Hype Machine). WALLA plans to keep the momentum going with its debut album and planned appearances at CMJ, SXSW and perhaps Coachella in the coming year.
“I have tons of ideas for songs so it’s just a matter of choosing the songs and cranking them out,” Kim says.
Hear the band’s “Nature” EP below: