Get to know Children Of Zeus, the duo oozing soulful class

You’d think living around the corner from each other in Manchester would have meant Tyler Daley and Konny Kon hooked up in the UK’s Rainy City. But it actually took a simultaneous festival booking in France for them to first cross paths.

“Our groups [Body Roq and Broke ’n’ English] were booked at the same festival in 2004, and a year later we connected doing some music,” Konny tells us. “I don’t know how long we would have gone in Manchester without bumping into each other.”

They waited until 2012 for their first joint show, and their first release, the calming ‘Still Standing’, didn’t come out until 2016. Since then they’ve treated us to a dusty combination of r’n’b, soul and rap remiscent of early noughties stalwarts like Common or Talib Kweli, as ready for hazy Sunday mornings as for a sunset festival slot.

Had Tyler not wowed a hard-to-impress Konny with his productions in the early days, though, the project might not have even come to fruition.

“He played me all his hardest hip hop beats and I didn’t really make much of it, Konny says. “The last beat he played was a very soulful 80s-sounding beat and I perked up.”

“Once we’d connected on a level where we figured out what we both liked, it was like, ‘Okay, maybe there’s more of a friendship here that could develop as far as music’, Tyler adds. “It’s rare to find someone who’s into exactly what I’m into.”

Listening to their tunes, you might recognise Tyler’s voice from modern d’n’b anthem ‘The View’, a collab with LSB and DRS, or Goldie’s most recent album, ‘The Journey Man’.

The latter was “more like a science project than making music,” Tyler says, but one that meant he “learned a hell of a lot and stretched myself as well.”

He took that experience into the making of their debut album ‘Travel Light’, which features vocals from DRS and Terri Walker and production from London house producer K15.

“I don’t think it’s going to shock anyone,” Konny says. “Sound-wise, it’s just doing what we do, but I think the only thing that’s slightly different is the execution of it. This one was more ‘No, that song isn’t going to make it because it doesn’t fit with the rest of the album.’” Sounds like fans of 2017’s ‘The Story So Far’ mixtape can rest easy knowing it won’t be much of a departure from their usual sound.

Summer’s looking busy. They’ve played Field Day, and a ‘pinnacle’ slot at Outlook’s Amphitheatre is lined up, but they reckon they’ll have to tour outside the UK in the winter to keep things rolling. France is the perfect starting place, right?

‘Travel Light’ is out on July 15 via First Word

Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter