Кинг Йосеф возвращается в Австралию в поддержку HEALTH: «Страх — лучший мотиватор»

Returning to Australia this September in support of HEALTH’s headline Australian tour, industrial powerhouse and multi-genreist KING YOSEF joined SPOTLIGHT REPORT to talk about creation, inspiration, honesty and the Spire of Fear. SR: Hello, King Yosef! Thank you for taking the time to talk today, it’s especially exciting because, in just under a month, you and the band will be returning to Australia. Supporting HEALTH and alongside PERTUBATOR, the anticipation palpable amongst fans, how are you all feeling ahead of September? KY: I’m feeling good! You know, Australia is kind of like a second home base for us, is how it feels, nowadays. The support there has always just been really good. I think also, I’ll get to see some friends, be back with HEALTH, like, I’m stoked; it’s perfect for us, and also perfect for our setup. SR: All unique entities, each artist on this lineup possesses a common characteristic – transcendence through conflict. King Yosef’s live performance is described as both “intimidating and engaging”, the push and pull nature of your music has reached a zenith on 2025’s Spire of Fear. Asking Jake Duszik something similar last week, what propels these consecutively concurrent creative contrasts; are they curated or organic? KY: Wow, that is a really well put question. I think that it’s, ironically, like a pendulum. So, sometimes they’re super organic and sometimes they’re super curated. But, it’s more like they become curated once the organic thought has already happened, you know? Wherever I start is where my heart tells me to start on things, and then when I get to the other side of it, I might be like, “Okay, well, now this doesn’t feel right to me because it’s leaning too much in one direction.” If it doesn’t feel like, uhhhh, (motions air quotes) I’m speaking my truth, it then reinforms me to push harder in another direction. SR: A grand master of genre fluidity, while self-describing King Yosef as industrial metal, the influences of electronica to hip-hop are as indelible on your solo work as others’ artwork which you produce. Another dichotomy unlocked via this method, the results are always intimate but intense. How do you sustain this balance, whilst deciding upon the parts of yourself to protect or embed? KY: I think, especially when it comes to like lyrical content, that it’s pretty Freudian for me; so, I don’t get that much of a choice. And, I don’t think you can share too much. I think you can just say it poorly when you’re oversharing, if that makes any sense. I think anytime I’ve ever censored myself, it’s not because I don’t think what I’m talking about is important, if I’m pulled that way. It’s more that I don’t have the language yet to express myself. For me, it’s always felt semifinite, the space of King Yosef. Like, it could be in 10 years that I just don’t have anything left because it’s like I’m trying to exonerate anything inside of me at any point in time. And not to be like the music’s my release, you know, but if I’m not using it as like a tool that I’m honest with, then I’m not receiving the benefits of what it’s supposed to give me. You can’t do that unless you meet it at a full humility point, starting at zero and just being like, “Whatever I’m supposed to write will come out and I can’t hide from that”. I think, once you start to be like, “Oh, well, what if, like, a person sees it this way or that way?” Then the honesty just starts to plummet, you know, and, when you’re being honest like that too, you may find it hyperspecific, but if the language is good enough, most people will just kind of feel whatever they need to feel out of it. Spire of Fear is a great example of that; people telling me that they think a song’s about a thing and those songs are really intense and really personal to me. Their interpretation of it is, like, completely the opposite, you know, of something I intended and I was very honest about. SR: It is such a pleasure to hear someone speak so articulately about the power of lyricism. An avowed lover of all things literary and philosophic, through which your music can definitely be catalogued, I thought we might put that to good purpose, with a little game of association? KY: For sure! SR: Starting out with a broad one, what is, in your opinion, the most powerful of all human emotions? KY: Um, I hate to sound like Donnie Darko, but I think fear; that’s why Spire of Fear is what it is, you know? SR: (covering face in delight) Oh my gosh, I love that so much, that entire answer resonates on so many levels (both laugh). KY: Yeah, I don’t know, it’s hard to say, but I think more frequently than not, people are driven by that than they are by love. And, while I think people seek all of those things out for sure, being terrified will push people to do things that they never thought were possible. Whereas love might do that, (and) it’s those the stories that we all love to talk about, they’re rare, you know, and the stories that we all have TV shows about are people doing things out of fear, that are terrifying. So, I would say fear. SR: As the saying goes, it’s a great motivator for the best or worst of reasons. KY: (nodding) Amen. SR: Okay, next up: Which non-musical creator is most akin to King Yosef? KY: Wow… It’s so hard to say this, pick one and not feel like an asshole, you know? Like, “the greatest of this thing”! (both laugh) I don’t know if I could pick one, but I could tell you an author that’s made me cry the most, or that has hit me the hardest when it comes to writing things, or I feel like I’m being mirrored back to me? SR: That’d be amazing! KY: The first time I read The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, that book absolutely shattered me. I read it during the process of Spire of Fear and, oh so many times, I was like writing a song, talking about a thing, and then I would come home from the studio and I’d be reading my book and then, 75 pages later, a guy in Russia is telling me that he had the same thought 200 years before, you know? SR: Thank you for such an authentic response, I could never have anticipated such an amazing answer to that question and apologies; I understand why the use of the word ‘akin’ needed to be tweaked but there’s so much superficial talk these days regarding ‘influencers’ that I didn’t want to dilute the significance. KY: Totally. I feel like reading that book, at that time that I was writing, it felt so much like somebody I never knew, who I, in a lot of ways, disagree with was speaking back to me in a way where I was, like, “Wow, you already knew; you know before me.” And, the prophetic nature of so many artists, authors, writers who have come before in influencing and almost through a looking glass of time and space have been able to resonate with the current, although I’m not sure if that says more about people’s reluctance to learn from history… SR: Yes, as a teacher, it’s sometimes the bain of my existence. But, I live in eternal hope! One last one for today, and noting your fantastic use of the vernacular: in your estimation, what words epitomise the experience of King Yosef? KY: Wow. Um, how about this, I’ll just go with a quote from The Brothers Karamazov? SR: Perfect! KY: I’m going to use the quote, when they’re at the monastery and they’re chatting; it’s the deliberations between the two brothers, the father and the monk. He basically says, “Above all else, don’t lie to yourself”. To lie to yourself is to be dishonest and, like, to get as close to being a beast as you possibly could be, and then you look for anything to be offended by because you don’t know what the truth is about yourself anymore. I’m always trying to be as honest as possible when it comes to music and recording, or whatever it may be. I say this in most interviews, but my goal is always even if you don’t like what it is, you couldn’t say that I didn’t try my best or try my hardest or try to be honest. SR: An absolutely perfect sentiment to end on, I am so excited to see King Yosef live once again in just four weeks. Best of luck with the rest of your day today, and thank you. KY: Thank you, I appreciate it. HEALTH AUSTRALIAN HEADLINE TOUR 2026 WITH SPECIAL GUESTS PERTURBATOR & KING YOSEF FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER – THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER – THE ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER – THE FORUM, MELBOURNE WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER – THE ODEON, HOBART FRIDAY 25 SEPTEMBER – THE GOV, ADELAIDE SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER – METROPOLIS, FREMANTLE Tickets from destroyalllines.com