Nathan Smith

Every artist reaches a moment when they realize they have to take a leap—when staying the same is no longer an option. For Koyal, that moment came when they left behind their engineering degrees, stable jobs, and familiarity to pursue music full-time in Los Angeles.

Their upcoming album, Breathe In, Breathe Out (out February 28), captures that reckoning with change. The push and pull of expectations, the need for escape, and the uncertainty of diving into the unknown. Across its tracks, Koyal blends indie rock, immersive soundscapes, and a continuous thread of unwavering optimism, proving that their risk is already paying off. We were lucky enough to sit down with the band ahead of their new album release.

Disconnecting to reconnect

Koyal’s latest single, “Hiatus,” is a fitting introduction to the band’s headspace. A vibrant, saxophone-laced anthem, “Hiatus” explores the need to unplug from a hyperconnected world and embrace solitude.

“I was off the grid, in my own space, just at the piano, and I felt this overwhelming sense of independence,” recalls Wallace Henry, one-third of Koyal and the main writer on Hiatus. “I loved the word ‘hiatus’—it perfectly summed up everything I was feeling.”

The sentiment resonated instantly with Pooja Prabakaran, the band’s lead vocalist, who added the lyric:
“Girl, don’t you know, I’m on vacation?”

“I hate answering my phone when I’m taking my break and my me-time, you know?” she says. “The expectation is that we’re always online, always responding. But we need that space for ourselves.”

Adding to the song’s laid-back but danceable energy is the continuous presence of saxophone, a choice that makes “Hiatus” stand out.

“We had been wanting to put sax on a song for the longest time,” Prabakaran explains. “It just clicked for this one.”

Produced with multi-instrumentalist Tony Dowd, the sax wasn’t just a one-off solo—it became a woven element throughout the track, reinforcing the song’s carefree and joyful groove.

An album rooted in escape and reflection

Unlike traditional concept albums, Breathe In, Breathe Out didn’t start with a clear theme. Instead, the album’s core emerged naturally from months of writing and self-discovery.

“We didn’t set out with an overarching idea,” Prabakaran explains. “But as we looked at everything we had written, we noticed this recurring need for escape—whether it was from expectations, societal pressures, or just needing a moment to breathe.”

That realization gave the album its name and guiding force.

“A couple of the songs unintentionally had the words ‘breathe in, breathe out,’” she adds. “And we thought, okay, there we go. That’s our album title.”

The band’s journey from Georgia Tech engineering students to full-time musicians is deeply reflected in the record.

“When we started, we were just playing music for fun,” Prabakaran says. “But gig after gig, tour after tour, we realized our hearts were in this completely.”

That realization led to one of the biggest decisions of their lives—moving to Los Angeles to fully commit to their music.

The move to LA and a moment of uncertainty

Relocating to Los Angeles was a major shift for Koyal, bringing them into a city brimming with artistic energy.

“There’s an undeniable creative force here,” says Noah Weinstein. “It feels like everyone is making something, and there’s this built-in encouragement to push yourself further.”

But their first months in LA were unexpectedly marked by one of the city’s worst wildfire seasons.

“The morning before we left Atlanta, we filmed the ‘Hiatus’ lyric video at Elysian Park,” Henry recalls. “The next day, smoke was covering the entire sky. We ended up evacuating for a week.”

Despite the unexpected chaos, LA has become a home base for creative freedom, from producing new music to planning their first West Coast tour.

Recording at Headroom Studios

Much of Breathe In, Breathe Out was recorded at Headroom Studios in Philadelphia, a space deeply tied to Dr. Dog’s legacy.

“We spent two weeks there, working 12-hour days,” Weinstein says. “It was intense, but also the most creatively fulfilling thing we’ve ever done.”

For a band with engineering backgrounds, their approach to recording was naturally experimental, routing vocals, drums, and guitars through layers of pedals and amps to capture textured, immersive sounds.

“We didn’t just want clean, standard recordings,” Weinstein explains. “We wanted depth. Something unexpected, something reactive to what we were playing.”

The songs that define Breathe In, Breathe Out

As the album release approaches, the band has a few tracks they’re most eager to share with fans.

For Prabakaran and Henry, that song is “Half Alive”, the album’s cathartic, climactic closer.

“I wrote it during a time when I wasn’t making music, just grinding through a job I didn’t love,” Prabakaran says. “One night, I woke up at 4 AM with the words in my head. It was my subconscious telling me what I already knew—I needed to change my life.”

Henry describes it as a massive sonic experience, full of layered sound design and a powerful outro.

“You put it on in the car, and you’re just surrounded by this wall of sound,” he says.

Meanwhile, Weinstein is excited for fans to hear “We’re Alright,” the album’s opening track.

“It’s triumphant,” he says. “It acknowledges the pressures we face, but then declares—we’re making it, we’re alright.”

A new life for their songs: The remix album

With Breathe In, Breathe Out set for release, Koyal is already working on their next project—a remix album featuring reinterpretations of their songs by producers across the U.S. and even France.

“We sent these songs out to all these different producers and said, ‘Hey, pick a song that most resonates with you,’” Prabakaran explains.

Hearing their music reimagined has been both exciting and eye-opening.

“It’s so cool to look into other people’s brains and see how they hear and perceive our stuff,” Henry says.

Though the band hasn’t heard the finished remixes yet, Weinstein notes that the process itself has been inspiring:

“You realize how much can change with just the same stems,” he says. “It’s definitely a creative exercise—not just for them, but for us too.”

Looking ahead: Live shows and a music video premiere

Koyal is also gearing up for a West Coast tour and the release of their new music video for “Gasoline”, filmed in the California desert—at the same location as Selena Gomez’s “A Year Without Rain” video.

“It was one of the first things we did after moving to LA,” Henry shares. “It felt like the perfect way to kick off this new chapter.”

Triumph, transformation, and taking the leap

For Koyal, Breathe In, Breathe Out is more than an album—it’s an anthem to their transformation.

“We sing about pressures, about wanting escape, but there’s always this feeling of triumph running through it,” Weinstein says.

With an album that reflects their journey of independence, a remix project on the horizon, and a tour in the works, Koyal is proving that taking a leap of faith pays off.

Pre-save Koyal’s new album Breathe In, Breathe Out here. Out February 28!

Images courtesy of Big Hassle and Gabriel Trujillo