Get Unreal With Real Lies
The London duo talk about the music and the sprawling influences that birthed their radio show.
Kevin Lee Kharas (left) and Patrice King (right) make up Real Lies
Real Lies know how to take you on a journey. The London-based duo, comprised of Patrice King and Kevin Lee Kharas, have wowed audiences for close to a decade with their unique brand of Electronic music, blending rambling Beat-like poetry with euphoric production. Despite this, their creativity needed a new outlet, and UNREAL Radio was born.
Produced immaculately by King and landing somewhere between a late-night phone-in and pirate radio, every listen serves as a venture into the unknown, as RL unfurl a vivid sonic world, hazy yet piercing in its execution. Over the music is the magnetic voice of host Kevin, uttering soliloquies ranging from existential echoes to ceremonial sermons on the mount. But UNREAL is a collaborative effort with their hardcore fans, known affectionately as the RL Ultras, who chip in with voice notes, splattered across the show, to add commentary to the already unpredictable proceedings. Musically, UNREAL transmits a wave of Techno and Tech House from the likes of DJ Technics, HVL, Tano, Blixa, ERP, Kelman Duran and more, while also serving as a preview for new and unreleased RL material to whet the appetite of listeners.
With their new album Lad Ash out next month, their first since 2015’s Real Life, RL are set to further reveal the layers of their mystery in thrilling musical fashion, as evidenced by recent singles ‘An Oral History of My First Kiss,’ ‘Since I’ and ‘Your Guiding Hand.’ Keakie sat down with the duo to talk about UNREAL Radio was conceived, their influences and how their music feeds into the show’s sprawling universe.
“I’d surf the medium wave dial, listening to cabbies foaming at the mouth on late-night talk radio phone-ins, and picking up transmissions from the pirate dance stations in and around London. The original vision for UNREAL Radio was to relive that experience.”
How did the idea for UNREAL Radio come about? It’s quite an immersive and interactive experience listening as I’m sure is by design…
Kevin: Patrice has always played records and I've always talked rubbish. It seemed inevitable that we would bring these two passions together at some point.
What is the aim of UNREAL Radio?
K: When I was about 9 years old, I’d lay in bed watching the sunset turn the skies over the motorway pink, wishing I could be off outside somewhere. I had a cheap radio-cassette player on my bedside table. Desperate for some kind of human connection, I’d surf the medium wave dial, listening to cabbies foaming at the mouth on late-night talk radio phone-ins, and picking up transmissions from the pirate dance stations in and around London. The original vision for UNREAL Radio was to relive that experience, with ASMR, expensive Italian House records, ‘Boy’s Own’ and the radio station from [the movie] ‘The Warriors’ blended in.
What do you want listeners to take from it?
K: ‘10 Bad Things,’ our regular rundown of the most repulsive, ridiculous and all-round rotten things in existence, should give people a useful steer through life. Aside from that, it should feel like a members’ club. Something private but connected. People shouldn’t feel alone.
Which genres and sounds do you want to showcase with the show?
K: Records that were made in 1994 that sound like they were made in 2022; records that were made in 2022 that sound like they were made in 1994; Lo-Fi House made by people who used to play bass in Indie bands ten years ago; whatever is in the Top 10 Tech House chart in the big name download stores; featureless Ambient music that has no discernible qualities at all and as such evades traditional notions of worth.
Does your music feed into the radio show? If so, how?
K: Yes, 100%. Each episode of UNREAL Radio features between three and five totally new ‘LATE EDITIONS,’ which are lyrical demos written over other people’s music. We regularly work these up into our own fully fledged releases – our singles ‘I Wander’, ‘Boss Trick’ and ‘Birds’ all started life as ‘LATE EDITIONS,’ as did a couple of other tracks set for release this year. One is on our forthcoming new album, Lad Ash.
What has been the most satisfying aspect of the radio show to you?
K: In each episode, our loyal gang of acolytes – the RL Ultras – send in voice notes in which they reminisce over intimate details from their past – we’re blessed to layer these very personal tales over some of the music that most moves us.
With your new album Lad Ash out in April, how has your understanding of the music you make been affected by the radio show?
K: I’m not sure. Maybe it’s shown me that it’s best to always keep things instinctive and off-the-cuff.
What is on your bucket list of things to do on the show?
K: To bring on new voices, and for those voices to reach as many people as possible. We would like our world to touch more lives.
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