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Many incredible bands have come out of Manchester: The Smiths, Joy Division, Oasis. We’d like to introduce you to Arkayla. Since forming in 2023 the band has built a loyal fanbase through their live performances. The four-piece Manchester group recently released their latest EP Back to Belle Vue. The band took the time to answer all our questions about the out of the box inspirations behind the EP and gearing up to embark on their biggest ever, sold out UK headline tour. 

OnesToWatch: For those that don’t know, who is Arkayla?

Arkayla: We’re four guys from Manchester who all made the mad decision at a young age that we wanted to be rockstars. We love the Beatles, the La’s, the Smiths, the Strokes and writing songs about the most random things. We’ve been together with this lineup for about 2 years now and it’s been a blast. Especially in the last 12 months where everything seems to have gotten a bit crazy. 

Your new EP, Back to Belle Vue, has been out for about a week, how has it been now that the EP is out in the world for fans to hear? 

It’s been amazing! We’re really proud of this record, we definitely think it’s a level above anything we’ve put out before. We recorded it a good while ago as well so we’ve been itching to get it out, and I think the fans have too. The response from them has been great especially in the crowds at the festivals we’ve played since its been out. Seeing multiple moshpits going on at the same time during “Run Kid” at Leeds festival was definitely one of the highlights of our journey so far. 

Are there any specific sonic inspirations you had when creating this EP?

We weren’t necessarily trying to go for a particular sound on this record. We pride ourselves in our versatility which comes from the fact that all four of us have such varied musical tastes and inspirations. Joey’s always been into his heavier stuff so it's no surprise that a song like “Doba” started out from one of his basslines but then you contrast that with a song like “My Number” which definitely takes a lot from my (Cal’s) love of soul music. We’re all really involved in the songwriting process which sets us apart from most other bands. I think that's what gives us a unique vibe. 

There are some really cool inspirations for the songs on the EP, explorer Aleksander Doba for the final track, “Doba,” and Dylan’s great grandfather, lead zookeeper at the Belle Vue Zoo, on “Vivian.” How do you guys take these out of the box inspirations and turn them into an Arkayla song?

Essentially we always keep an eye out for a weird story that could make its way into a song. We’ve always loved the idea of telling stories in our songs and often the stranger the better. I remember the first time I heard “Gary” by Blossoms and I just loved how bizarre the story was and the idea that anyone would think to write a song about it. We first got the idea to write about Aleksander Doba when Finley was doomscrolling one night, ended up doing a three hour deep dive into his life, and told us about it the next day. We felt a life like that deserved a song and one that he probably wouldn’t have got otherwise. Vivian came about when Dylan told us the story of his great grandfather being bitten by a snake when he was a zookeeper at Belle Vue Zoo and we couldn’t believe he hadn’t told us about it before. When you have stories like that the songs just write themselves. 

Are there any other out of the box ideas that we may hear songs based on in the future?

You’ll have to wait and see. We have a big long list of ideas that we’re hoping to pull out the bag at some point. We’ve done a Polish explorer and a snakebite that happened in the 1940s so who knows what could come next.

In September and October you guys have your biggest ever headlining tour, which has already sold out! How are you preparing for that?

Well we’ve got a few new tunes and tricks we want to try out for it so we’ve just been in the rehearsal room throwing out ideas and seeing what works. We really want to step it up a notch for this one especially with the venues getting bigger and the crowds getting better. We want to make sure that each gig is a properly memorable experience for everyone that comes down.  

Is there a tour stop you're particularly excited for? I’m assuming the O2 Ritz in Manchester is up there. 

It's hard to look past the 02 Ritz to be honest. It’s a venue we’ve all been going to since we were very young so it's a real privilege to be headlining it. Hometown shows are always something else especially if our last one at Academy 2 is anything to go by. Having said that, we're heading to a few cities we’ve never played before like Hull, Norwich, Brighton, Cardiff, and Sunderland so we’re all really excited to see the crowds down there. We’ve had a lot of fans asking us to gig there over the years so we’re expecting great things. 

Couple of fun questions to wrap up. Firstly since the EP name is in honor of the old Belle Vue Zoo, I would love to know what zoo animal you think best represents the EP.

That’s a great question. I’m tempted to say a chameleon just because of the variation on the EP but I think I'm gonna go with a chimp. It's got a cheekiness to it's also pretty human in that it touches on some universal elements of life. Or should I just say a penguin because everyone loves penguins. It's hard to pick. 

And finally, who are your OnesToWatch? Who are you listening to that we need to be listening to?

The indie scene seems really healthy these days. There are a few bands we’ve been getting really into. The Guestlist and Westside Cowboy are two Manchester bands that both released really great albums recently, not that they need too much introduction. We’re big fans of the North and Cherryholt who are both supporting us on our upcoming tour. There’s a band from Leeds called L’Objectif who I think are massively underrated and finally a band called Gans who I saw at Victorious festival where they totally blew me away. I could go on for a while to be honest.

Listen to Back to Belle Vue below: