Motown meets AC/DC. The Chamber Brothers meets Funkadelic. Led Zeppelin meets Solomon Burke at a MC5 gig with Primal Scream supporting. This is where Payola chooses to set up house. Add a touch of Tom Waits, The Staple Singers, Neil Young and Sly Stone, a heap of volume and energy, and you're getting close to what Payola are all about.

The intention from the start was to keep things as live and untouched as possible, capture the band in all its ragged and beautiful rock n roll glory, and deliver a set of songs that are charismatic, inventive, and echo the spirit of what great albums are made of. Well crafted songs played by people who mean it. Music that makes you want to start a band.

In 2005 Payola released 'Gone to Ground' 4 months after forming through Wellingtons Jayrem Records. Recorded completely live in York Street studios the reviews were favourable:

"Some bands toil for years and release a sub-standard set of songs with poor production. Payola are clearly talented and Solomon Cole's rich vocals are the driving force behind these songs" – Dominion Post

"The album contains a depth that can astound as much as many acts chugging away on the international circuit." - Real Groove Magazine

"Payola will appeal to those who long to languish in the loose-limbed expression of the soul era. Raw and Robust" - Metro Magazine

The lead track "Every Little Step" was used in the Californian Independent film "Dead in Love" and the album received college radio airplay in the States and Canada as well as Triple J in Australia.

In 2007 they are back with the release of limited edition E.P entitled 'Dirt and Stars' showcasing several new tracks as a taster of their new sound. The E.P. is a genre-hopping mix of Parliament styled sci-fi funk fused with alt-country gospel tunes and furious guitar fueled metal soul all wrapped up in a sound so live and vital it'll pin you to the back wall, steal your cigarettes and waltz off with whoever you had your eye on.

This time round singer Solomon Cole and bassist Lee Catlin decided to helm the production duties recording the band in remote locations from living rooms to deserted churches in the wilderness achieving a far more colourful, eclectic range of sounds and production styles that have allowed this record to breathe in a less one dimensional manner. Tracks like "Oscillator" with its tank-like heaviness and feet failing groove are devastatingly dance-able yet will literally bite your lungs out and feed them back to you within its 6 minute long fury. The title-track has Nina Simone singing George Clinton metal as Sophia Tupuola's anguished and melancholic tone pleads atop this minor key stomp. The band then delves effortlessly into country/soul territory with the beautiful gospel feel of 'Got to Get Around'.

Payola bring back the notion of a band you can truly believe in, grow with, and whose music will eventually be the soundtrack to your lives. They represent all bands who are compelled to push the boundaries in order to produce innovating, ever evolving music.

To understand how important Payola could be to your life is to realize what it would be like to live without eyes and ears in a panoramic world set in surround sound. Be good to yourself and let 'Dirt and Stars' into your heart!!!! You're lucky we got to you in time.......