Artist Of The Week #0073 - Laville
This week’s Artist of the Week is North London soul sensation Laville, who’s EP ‘Thirty One’ is out now via Acid Jazz Records. He took a moment to talk to us about the release.
Where was the EP recorded? Any behind the scene stories?
The EP was recorded in two separate studios. Well three as some of the demos were made in Germany then brought back to Penge, And some were recorded at Rimshot Studios. Tristan Longworth took care of the UK based recordings and Maarteen Heeman the German side. Some people might have some mad stories of when they recorded their material, but I had the most chill experience creating this EP. We drank tea, ate soup, picked chillis, fed chickens and made soul music.
Why is it called 'Thirty one'?
‘Thirty One’ being the year after thirty is a momentous thing, your now free of the excuse of absolute youth. It's also the name of my second single. Which is about being of age and knowing what you want and not being apologetic for it. It's about freedom really, and I'd hope people can hear the freedom in every aspect of the song down to the instrumentation.
You say this EP is a snippet of what kind of music you want to make. What sort of things can we expect from you in the future?
The music I make is always soul music no matter what the beat is I believe. My own EP is mix of live recordings and pre recorded tracks as I wanted people to hear the voice. I think there is a lot of trickery in music and every now and then it's good to just drop all of that and make honest recordings.
It has hints of an old school flavour to it.Who do you draw inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from a diverse background of music, through the years I’ve listened to soul, rare groove, pop, rock, hip hop, drum and bass, Jazz. I guess that’s why I like to feature on people’s track because I get to express my self through that genre. But my main love is soul and disco music
It features a cover of JP Coopers 'Passport home' what made you pick that song?
This is a song I just love to sing, it's beautifully written. The lyrics are so honest and thats something I like to do in my own writing.
You are the first male artist to be signed to Acid Jazz Records since Jamiroquai. How does that feel? Do you feel at home there?
It feels good to know i'm in good historical company, I grew up listening to Jamiroquai and the Brand New Heavies. ALOT. So signing with Acid Jazz seemed so natural. As I knew they would understand the music I wanted to make, which was the many sides of soul music.