Artist Radar: LEISURE

Imagine looking at a beach through a kaleidoscope. The scenery is calming with an added prism of trippy visuals. Serene, yet psychedelic; Grounded, but colorful. Influenced by 60s funk, 70s pop, and 90s rock, it’s difficult to peg the band LEISURE with a single genre. Their true sound is like laying on that sand and looking up at a technicolor sky. 

The foundation of the group has been strong since the very beginning, with all five of LEISURE’s members (Djeisan Suskov, Jaden Parkes, Josh Fountain, Tom Young, and Jordan Arts) coming to the group as experienced artists, songwriters, producers, and musicians. Having lived through the relentless grind of starting a career in the music industry, LEISURE comes together as a collective of artists looking to experiment. 

In 2014, LEISURE was formed during an impromptu trip to the coastal paradise of Muriwai, New Zealand. Jaden Parkes rented a beach house for the group to collaborate in. He extended an invitation to the soon-to-be members with no plan or rigid schedule, just a space to let go and see what would happen. The seven-day jam session turned into the creation of LEISURE. They wrote their first song “Got It Bad” during this creative retreat. It went viral almost immediately.

The group has a new EP in the works, Side A. As the name would suggest, a Side B is also on the horizon, serving as LEISURE’s newest album broken up into two parts. “We’ve talked a lot about how music and content is digested these days and wanted to adapt our release process to fit that,” the group said in an interview with LADYGUNN. “I kind of see it like you’re playing that game where you’ve gotta keep hitting up the balloon before it hits the ground.”

Side A is set to release on October 30th. In the meantime, you can enjoy their latest releases “Lonely Nights”, “Spark It Up” and “Slipping Away”.

- Written by Mallika Pal