Spotlight On... Slow Karma

Having spent the last month trying to wash off the mud from their Kelburn Garden Party performance, we catch up with a finally-clean Jack Elliot and Dave Lloyd – two members of Edinburgh band Slow Karma. The band have, in just a year and a half, sold out their first headline show at The Voodoo Rooms, bagged a headline slot at The Liquid Room next March, been invited to play monthly slots at The Jazz Bar, and released nearly ten singles.

Last week they released their latest single, Price Check, featuring a guest turn from Kai Reesu rapper Jurnalist; in early September, fans can expect both a feature-length film and a live album of their Season One finale show at The Voodoo Rooms. Slow Karma’s bold vision, high energy and prolific output have set them apart – and generated some serious momentum.

We chat to Jack and Dave about the band’s ‘extended family’ approach, putting on a spectacle with 14 musicians playing one show, Edinburgh’s jazz community, and their big plans for Slow Karma.

Can you first talk us through what kind of music you make? What does Slow Karma sound like?
Dave Lloyd: We were having this debate on the way to Kelburn! I’d say the music we make is improvised, collaborative and doesn’t fit neatly anywhere. I ended up looking up the term 'nu jazz' and I think it does describe us pretty well.

Jack Elliot: I don’t love that label. What we do is inspired by jazz, funk, electronic music and improv. We don’t use loads of electronic sounds, but we write with that sensibility. We’re part of a generation of musicians who’ve grown up with Limewire, YouTube and now streaming. We’ve been able to jump about and go deep on anything. It could be seventies Nigerian funk one week, then dub or Slipknot the next. I think it is that kind of omnivorous listening that defines the band.

And how did you all meet? What’s the Slow Karma origin story?
DL: For years, Jack and I have been running Lost Oscillation together – our recording studio in Leith. The rest of the core band has all come from Music Base, the building we’re in. We love it here. EHFM is upstairs, our studio is downstairs, there’s Drum Central down the hall, and both Kyle [Grieve, drums] and Callum [Stevenson, guitar] teach in the building.

But there’s lots more people involved than just you four, right?
JE: We’ve got a sort of extended family of musicians. Me, Dave, Kyle and Callum started it, but Jack MF joined really early on, playing percussion. And we have lots of people who play regularly with us. Emma and Justyna on strings, Lesley and KC on horns… in fact, at our Voodoo Rooms show, we had 14 different musicians play on the night.

Let’s talk about that Voodoo Rooms show; it was your first headline show and you sold out! How did it go?
JE: We had quadraphonic audio, 33 channels, all these musicians, including Dara Dubh on the harp and Jurnalist rapping. We filmed it with three camera operators and multiple static cams.

DL: Honestly, we didn’t know if we could pull it off, it was a massive undertaking. But everyone just pulled together. And our sound engineers Laurie and Goretti were the stars of the show.

JE: The point was to make it as special as possible. Inviting people to come out is a big ask, so we wanted to make it worth it – a true spectacle.

And how did it feel on the night?
DL: Unbelievable. I felt like I was on drugs.

JE: It felt amazing, like life was meaningful.

You’ve been playing at The Jazz Bar every month. How has that helped the band develop?
JE: Everyone has been really encouraging and supportive. The speed at which it has helped us develop has been huge. It's been formative, and we’re incredibly grateful to The Jazz Bar for giving us this opportunity!

DL: Yeah, that place is like the heart of our community. The Music Base building is one, and The Jazz Bar is the other. We’ve been watching Aki Remally play since forever. And now he might be joining us on stage! It's mad!

Let’s talk releases. What’s coming next?
DL: We’ve just released our latest single Price Check, featuring Jurnalist. It came out on 25 July. It's a track that originated out of a beat that Jack made on an MPC about ten years ago, and we made this out of it back then. We revisited it with Slow Karma and Jack found Jurn, an American rapper living in Glasgow. It was a perfect fit.

JE: It was one of my favourite musical experiences when he came to the studio. He came in and just smashed it.

DL: We filmed it live with percussion and horns. It's one of my favourite things we’ve done. It's our first release with vocals as well.

JE: On 12 September, we’re also releasing the professionally-shot film of our Voodoo Rooms show. We’ve been really ambitious with this, using multiple cameras and editing it in the style of old school stand-up comedy specials. It's basically like a feature-length film; the quality is unreal. We’re releasing the audio of the show as well, like a live album. This is the final release of Season One of Slow Karma!

Finally, what’s the longer-term plan? What’s the vision for the band?
JE: Every March we’re going to play a big show in our hometown, Edinburgh, for the band’s birthday. Last year was Voodoo, next year we are headlining The Liquid Room. You can grab tickets already.

DL: For The Liquid Room, we want to add a choir, backing vocalists – make it more cinematic, darker, and more theatrical.

JE: Every year will be a new season of Slow Karma, all new music – these shows will be the finale. And we want them to get bigger and bigger.

DL: It feels like there’s something really exciting happening in Scotland. There’s lots of people doing something great musically, and really supporting each other. We’re excited.

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Price Check is out now

Follow Slow Karma on Instagram @slow_karma_

Grab tickets for their show at The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 21 Mar 2026 here