Inspired #294 - LELO
Leeds’ indie-poppers LELO recently released ‘Faceache’, their first single since 2019. We caught up with them to find out exactly what inspired both the track, and them as a whole.
Who are your top three musical inspirations?
Ronan: That’s such a tough one! Narrowing it down, I'd say the artist that inspired me the most as a songwriter initially was Bill Ryder-Jones.
I remember hearing 'Satellites' just as I began writing for this project. I’d pretty much never picked up a guitar before, but I knew that I wanted to write something with that sort of energy. I loved the tones and the way that it flowed but seemed to constantly tease the build. I think it just really excited me, and I owe a lot to that song.
Aaron: Really hard question but I'd have to say New Order. They're the band that opened my eyes to electronic music, and I'm always ripping off Peter Hook! I'm still very much inspired by the kind of 'man-meets-machine' dynamic between the drum machines and synthesisers and the guitars and vocals. The contrast between the rigidity of the sequencers and the imperfections in the singing and playing is something I really enjoy, and no-one's ever done it better than them.
Tom: I think I’m probably gonna have to say The Cribs. For me, their music is so honest and raw that they always stay true to themselves and each album has its own authenticity about it. Ryan is also one of the most underrated guitarists in the game, his riffs are so angular and their tunes always seem to be so catchy.
What city do you find the most inspiring?
Maybe it’s a cop out to say your hometown, but I think Leeds has it all. I love it here and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
I’ve written, or at least started every song idea that I’ve ever had here, and whilst I probably couldn’t tell you why it inspires me, I reckon that probably speaks for itself!
Who is the most inspiring person to you?
I'm not sure I could pin that down to just one person, and to be honest, I think it’s always changing.
Most recently, I think I’d have to say the England Men’s football team. But not really because of their football - despite how amazingly well we did...
Everything that they have done off the pitch has been totally inspiring.
It’s been incredible to watch a group of young men who are so resilient, compassionate and closely knit- achieving what they have, and overcoming such awful abuse in such a classy way.
The fact that they’ve done it all in the spotlight for people - especially kids - to see across the country and beyond I think is really, really special.
What were the inspirations for your recent single ‘Faceache’?
I wrote the bare bones of the song about (and whilst still living in) a situation that I was finding quite tough. I think that itself was a massive inspiration to me - trying my hardest to make the best of this pretty grim time of my life. It was a coping mechanism, but in hindsight, I do think it was an inspiring one.
I also remember listening to loads of new music at the time - a lot of which had more electronic elements than the music I would typically listen to. Specifically I remember listening to the latest Death Cab for Cutie album (a lot!). These sounds that were relatively new to me were a big influence on the palette of the track.
Because Faceache's origins and influences were so fresh to me personally, I was enthused, working longer hours than I had on other songs previously.
Our producer, Mickey Dale deserves a very big mention here as well. The track changed shape dramatically from the scrappy demo form we originally took to his studio (the Cellar of Dreams).
He is a huge part of this track and Faceache wouldn't be the same without him. Mickey of course brought with him his own influences. He heard flavors of cLOUDDEAD as well as The Postal Service - which is really interesting given that I was so into Death Cab at the time! We ran with these references and this without doubt a big factor in how the track turned out.
Finally, how do you hope to inspire people?
I don't think we do anything with the explicit goal of inspiring people. I think if you focus on creating good music that connects with people they'll be inspired as a result.
I think / hope it's as simple as that!