Artist Of The Week #254 - Freddie Lewis
This week’s Artist of the Week is Bristol based rising star Freddie Lewis - who has just released his new EP ‘More Than That’ - a beautiful piece of art that explores the public’s perceptions of gender and transness.
More Than That is a masterful body of work, with a healthy sprinkling of tongue-in-cheek wit and candour, it evokes deep reflection and contemplation through Arlo Parks-esque relatability, as Lewis breaks down the walls of the public’s perceptions of gender and transness, in that that he is ‘more than that’ which gender prescribes him. The new track ‘Dawn In June’ centres around Lewis waking up to a genderless world, a world without judgement over one’s genders, a freer world and an ideal world. The fictional landscape is painted sonically through ethereal, longing synth lines, as Lewis flings open the door to romantic “scenes I can’t articulate”.
He took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there Freddie - how are you? So your EP is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hey! I’m well thank you! Thank you for having me. I’m excited mainly. It’s such a special feeling for something to be out there after so much work on it. I think the word release is a very accurate feeling, in the literal sense the EP is released but also lots of control and finishing and fine tuning is released too. It’s a timestamp of this is where my work is right now, this is how I’m feeling right now, let me let you into that.
It is called ‘More Than That’ - what is the meaning behind that?
It’s called ‘more than that’ because the thread that runs through the EP is this idea that I am ‘more’. The ‘that’ I’m referring to is, I guess, external ideas of me. And my previous ideas of myself. I wrote the EP specifically about gender and transness, but also, fittingly, about ‘more than that’. As in, that both inside my transness, I’m more than what gender prescribes me, and outside my transness, I am a person who is far more than gender! I also think it’s about ideas of good and bad and those things becoming less clear as I allow myself more nuance. I think it’s a very true reflection of where I’m at with my life and sense of self, I am learning to accept more complicated parts of me, and in turn accept more complicated parts of other people.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
It was recorded with two incredible producers Fin Dawes and Charlie T Smith, mainly in Charlie’s home studio. But the creative process started a good 6 months before that, in summer 2022. I wrote this poetry collection about what I was feeling at the time about gender discourse and sex and love and language and how all those things felt linked, stumbling on a this key theme of ‘more’. Then I made my own demos for maybe up to 20 songs, and weeded out my favourite 4. The last song that got written was ‘prettiest secret’, which I wrote with Charlie T Smith and Jodie Mellor, two of my best friends and long time musical peers. I went to theirs for a session and was like hey I need a fifth track for the EP, I wanna write a jazzy pop song about sleeping with people I shouldn’t. They were on board, I imagine because through being very close friends of mine for five years or so, they’ve seen exactly what I’m singing about play out in real time.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
I think this EP more than my previous work is influenced by jazz-standard chords and melodies. I’m such a big Frank Sinatra fan, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday. All those BNOCs. Then I’m also influenced by more modern takes on soul and jazz brought into pop. Like RAYE and Olivia Dean, as well as the bluesy guitar and electronic elements of Jack Garratt’s first two albums. I think all these things married up make the sound world for the EP. I also wanted to play with structure as the work is about questioning the ‘structure’ of gender, so the first 3 songs use a binary structure, the 4th deviates slightly with one spoken line (as though cracks are showing), and the fifth interrupts the final chorus to change up and give a proper bridge. This happens in the song that’s about waking up to a genderless society, where the structure of gender is broken and we are all a bit more free to be how we like, so it made sense to me to reflect this meaning in the structure of the song.
If the EP could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
This is such a brilliant and difficult question. I think cause the EP is so definitely about being trans and being more than being trans, I think maybe it has to soundtrack some kind of trans late teen moving to a big city and finding their complexity film, which to my knowledge hasn’t been made yet. So if you’re making that film and you see this send me an email.
Failing that, the next film in The Meg franchise. Not because I think artistically it makes sense, but just because I love big creature films and Jason Statham. Maybe it’s ’Dawn in June’, my song prospecting a genderless future but playing over a scene with Jason Statham on a beach drinking a whiskey with his buddies from the research base prospecting a giant-shark-less future.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP - if so, which one and why?
I’m such a lyrics nerd so this is really hard! It’s like picking a favourite child!! But as we all know the eldest child is truly the favourite, so I’ll have to go with the first line written ‘I’m a thousand things that you see two of, so tell me darling where the nuance, I’m good and true but just like you I’m still appalling, heed my warning’. I think it sums up exactly what I’m trying to say with the work. That I’m lots of stuff, and more than what ever idea people have of trans people. We all are.
Now the EP is out there - what next?
A bath probably. And then some really cool live shows to see out the year. I’m bringing the full band overseas for the first time to Iceland Airwaves, which we are all super excited for, and then ending the year with a hometown headline show at Crofters Rights, Bristol on 26th November to celebrate the EP release and just wave off 2023 with a boogie. Then next year I’d love to bring my lovely band to more festivals, some more pride’s, see new cities and play this new EP for more people.
