On Tuesday (Nov. 3), Ekoh and Lo Spirit, the two members of one of 2026’s most exciting bands, Ninth Key, joined Loudwire Nights to discuss their music and what comes next. This interview explains how the band came together and what listeners can expect from its music.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

Ekoh and Lo Spirit, also known as Joshua Landry, spoke about their excitement for Ninth Key and how the band helped them avoid burnout from the ups and downs of the music industry.

“I was in and out of bands in high school and in my 20s, but most of the time between 16 and 27, I was producing and writing for other artists,” Landry shared with Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.

“I was cutting my teeth on the other side of the fence in the business.”

After starting his Lo Spirit project, Landry began to find success that, as he put it, “quite literally changed the trajectory of my life.”

“I hit [Ekoh] up to kind of like cover a song and do a short-form cover, which is what I was doing on TikTok for quite awhile,” Landry continued.

“I ended up making my own version and then him and I kind of made a collab together on the Lo Spirit side of things.”

Ekoh, who came up in the independent hip-hop scene, was thrilled when Landry contacted him about collaborating.

“I was a fan of Josh for everything that he was doing,” Ekoh said.

“I’d seen him online and loved his voice. I didn’t know that he was a writer as well and then once I found that out and I dug into his discography and the things that he had written, I was just like, ‘Oh, this guy’s absolutely incredible.'”

Their friendship grew, and they began working together more often before deciding to create Ninth Key.

“It was kind of eye-opening in the way that it was like, oh, we kind of stopped having fun making music awhile ago,” Landry admitted.

“It just sort of became a chore and a thing that we did to keep the ball moving. But it was like anytime that we got together and made stuff, we actually had fun and it was exciting and it was different. I don’t know, I feel like in a serendipitous way, we sort of saved each other from the loony bin in this business.”

Ninth Key’s music brings together Landry’s musicianship and Ekoh’s hip-hop sensibility, a combination that has connected with nu-metal fans. Their song “Happy Feels Like” had remained on the rock radio chart for 20 weeks, and the band was announced as support for the 2027 Rise of the Roach tour with Papa Roach and Ice Nine Kills.

“If people see it, they’ll get it,” Ekoh said.

“I watch what [Josh] does and I’m like, I know people are going to go crazy when he does this or does that … I’ve never thought that about my music, that felt too like a ‘cool guy’ thing, but it’s different with the band. I can look at it objectively and be like, ‘Okay, this is really cool.'”

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Ekoh said his excitement about Ninth Key was strong enough to make the project a personal test of his musical instincts.

“If this doesn’t do anything, I quit,” he expressed about Ninth Key.

“Like, literally I’m done because I must be so off. My ear must be so wrong that I should just not do this anymore, you know? I’m like, to me, this is the shit. This is the coolest thing … I’ve been excited about it since day one.”

What Else Did Ninth Key’s Ekoh + Lo Spirit Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

The conversation also covered Ninth Key’s debut full-length album, Papa Roach and Ekoh’s view of Lo Spirit’s music. The band discussed its song count and approach to the album, while the musicians shared their appreciation for one another.

The interview covered the band’s 13-song collection, Papa Roach’s ongoing appeal and Lo Spirit’s creative work.

• Ninth Key’s debut album: “We’re not afraid to say that [it’s coming]. We have a whole album. And to be honest, Ekoh’s probably going to spill the beans live anyway at some point. But there’s quite a bit of songs. There’s like literally 13 right now and we love every single one of them. They’re all very different. I think we’re used to albums where it’s like maybe you’ve got three or four singles on it that people really dig and then you have maybe 10 that are just kind of like album tracks. But to us, we didn’t write this to be an album, so I don’t think we were thinking about that. We were just writing songs and so every song, to us, is basically a single. We are so excited about every single one of them that I think we’re basically just going to be trying to put as much focus on every single one of them as we do the other. We won’t tell you when it’s coming out, because to be fair, we’re independent and we don’t know.”
• Lo Spirit on Papa Roach: “A lot of people from the outside, if they’re not paying attention to what they’re doing, they’re like, ‘They’re an older band, they’ve had a 30-year career.’ I’m just like, no, they’re bigger than they’ve ever been. Not only are they playing to the fans that they’ve always had, the fans that have grown up with the band, but they also have teenagers and people in their 20s, younger people that are loving what they’re doing now. You can’t say that about basically any other band from that period that had a hit like ‘Last Resort.’ They’ve always inspired me and they still inspire me now where I’m just like, damn, they’re honestly some of the smartest and nicest dudes ever, despite how much success they’ve had. They’re such normal people, too. Just a great band, man.”
• Ekoh on Lo Spirit: “I think his Lo Spirit project never did what it should have because I think it was so good. I feel like if we can package what Josh does in a different way and push it over here, then people can see how good he is.”

The 13 songs give the group a collection in which, according to the members, every track is treated as a potential single rather than as an album-only cut. The band did not announce a release date and said that, as an independent act, it did not yet know when the album would arrive.

Where Can You Listen to the Full Ninth Key Interview?

The full Ninth Key interview is available in the podcast player below. Loudwire Nights replays online, airs live on weeknights at 7 PM ET and is available through the Loudwire app, local radio stations and on-demand podcast services.

Ninth Key joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, Nov. 3; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand here, as well as on Apple and Spotify.

What Did Ninth Key Say About Its Debut Album?

Ninth Key said it had 13 songs for its debut full-length album and considered every song a potential single. The band did not share a release date.

The debut album has 13 songs, and the band has not announced when it will be released.

Who Is in Ninth Key?

Ninth Key is the musical partnership of Ekoh and Lo Spirit, the project of Joshua Landry. Their music combines Landry’s musicianship with Ekoh’s hip-hop sensibility.

Ekoh and Lo Spirit form the band Ninth Key.

Who Is Touring With Ninth Key in 2027?

Ninth Key was announced as support for the 2027 Rise of the Roach tour with Papa Roach and Ice Nine Kills. The article does not specify tour dates or locations.

Papa Roach and Ice Nine Kills are the announced headliners for the 2027 Rise of the Roach tour featuring Ninth Key as support.