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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Lucky Soul
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 12 May 2010
Formed in 2005, Lucky Soul are a six-piece pop group from London. After releasing a few singles and an EP called ‘Ain’t Never Been Cool’, the band put out their debut album, ‘The Great Unwanted’, in 2007. Released on their own label Ruffa Lane, the album was produced by George Shilling and received high praise from critics (not least Team CMU, if I remember rightly). The band released their second album ‘A Coming Of Age’ last month, and are now set to play The Great Escape in Brighton this weekend. Founding member Andrew Laidlaw took some time out to answer the Same Six ahead of this Friday’s gig.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I started late, I didn’t pick up the guitar til I was 20, but the rest of the band have been playing and performing since they could walk. I didn’t really get going til I did my sound engineering course and spent a lot of late nights in the studio, and that’s when the proto-Lucky Soul came into being.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Bit of insecurity, bit of heartache, a bit of death, the usual.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
When the lightening strikes it’s a case of playing the same few chords over and over, til the pure melody takes hold. I don’t usually write anything down at the start, I figure if I can’t remember it then I can’t expect the punters to either. These days I’ll do a bit of work with our singer Ali to get the key right first. Once the song’s ready for the band, there’s a bit of head scratching while they work out what weird jazz chords I’m playing, but they always knock it into shape pretty quickly, despite my ill advised food metaphors. Musically I’m the weak link but, luckily, I’m in a band full of amazing musicians to hide behind.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Old stuff mostly, things with amazing melodies and arrangements. The Smiths, The Stones, Stax, Serge Gainsbourg, Scott Walker, Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson, Gram Parsons, Bobbie Gentry, Stereolab, loads of old soul and disco. Classic things really.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Give it a chance, eh? There’s more there than meets the eye.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Well, I hope a lot of people like it, obviously, but I’ll be happy if it doesn’t get ignored and makes enough money to make another. Who knows? It’s very hard to call, things have changed so much in the industry lately – the golden years are over and all we can do is cling on to the driftwood. There’ll never be another ‘Pet Sounds’, but you know, we can try and we’re not going to leave it so long this time.
MORE>> www.luckysoul.co.uk
