Updated: Jan 24, 2022
Written By Amy James
Welcoming Ollie, Ryan, Julien and Jay who collectively make up the band 'The Great Leslie'. Creating the group back in 2020 they have had a huge amount of success including becoming BBC Introducing's track of the week with their single 'Money' to having a track played on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch. They are a force to be reckoned with. After reading this interview with them you'll be lining up the watch them perform live.
Welcoming 'The Great Leslie' to the blog! Introduce yourselves, what your names are, where you are from and the style of music you make?
Hi, we are The Great Leslie. Ollie, Ryan, Julien and Jay! We’ve all come from different areas in the UK but we’ve all come to hang our hat in London. We like to call our Music Dance Rock, because that’s what we want people to do when they hear it, dance and rock, and we think we achieve that!
How did the start of ‘The Great Leslie’ happen? Did someone suggest the idea? Well, we had a previous project with some of us, but we just wanted to change it up and do something new, so in the middle of the first lockdown we decided to come together (virtually at the time), and start The Great Leslie. What has been your favourite performing moment as a group? Or your favourite moment as a group? I think as we’ve only officially been together for about a year it is hard to say what our favourite moment has been as we just haven’t done that much yet! However, performing is always the highlight of what we do. Writing and recording is great fun, but being in front of an audience is what we’ve loved most so far. We had a great gig back after all the lockdowns to a sold out crowed, headlining Paper Dress Vintage.
What’s a piece of advice someone told you that has stuck with you? ‘Trevers, you could do well. You just need to do some f*****g work’, is probably the best advice I’ve ever received. Are you able to explain the creative process behind making your music? Does it start with an influence such as an event in life? Each time we write a song it is different. Usually I will bring in a bundle of songs for the guys to have a listen to and see what they like. Then we arrange and develop those songs together taking them from one guitar and lyrics to a proper rock banger. In terms of contextual ideas, the lyrics are always true to me and about things that may have happened in my life and/or how I feel about something. Your latest single is ‘You Lost Yourself’ which was a Halloween hit. Is there a story behind this song? Initially I was exploring the idea of losing myself because of various things that have happened in my own life, but then I decided to flip it around and write it from the perspective of some witnessing a change within someone else, which is something I have seen several times. It’s an amalgamation of all those times I’ve seen anyone close to me change but for the worse. When I brought it to the band they were trepidatious about taking it forward at first, but our manager was insistent this was going to be a banger, so I stayed behind after practise and worked on the song with Julien changing up its rhythm which helped bring the others around.
"It’s an amalgamation of all those times I’ve seen anyone close to me change but for the worse" - The Great Leslie on writing You Lost Yourself.
‘Money’ and ‘Out Of My Hands’ were some of your first songs released on Spotify back in 2020, do you feel as if your music has changed since then, if so how? I think our music has developed since then but not changed drastically, as we have now honed in our sound to what we like best. Since those releases we’ve explored other avenues of what we could do as a band and set out a clear spectrum of indie to alternative rock which we have placed ourselves in. Going forward now we define ourselves as dance rock, which allows our songs to be a wide variety of things whilst being coherent. Are you influenced by any other artists/groups? Are you influenced by any songs? As individuals and as a group we have hundreds of different influences. Every artist is influenced by other artists, that’s the nature of the game. You have such a passion for what you do because someone else has inspired you; those inspirations will always be influences. As a band and with our sound I think you could pull any number of artists and see the influences, like Circa Waves, The Killers, Panic! At The Disco, Bowie, Queen, Nothing But Thieves, so so many. Do you feel any social pressures from the industry? Do you feel you need to promote yourself in a certain way at all? I don’t think we do. We just write the best music we can and perform our hearts out. Obviously we’d be foolish to not be aware of what is going on in the industry, but that’s not pressure, that’s just going with the flow and being aware of what is happening. In terms of promoting ourselves, we know that we have to deliver a certain amount of content to keep people involved and entertained, but we enjoy doing that; it helps with the demystification process by which our fans truly become part of what we’re doing and fully connect to us and our music. Do you have a goal of where you would like to head in the future in terms of music? If so, where would that be? We want to be one of the biggest bands in the world, playing the biggest festivals to the biggest audiences. That’s our goal. We’ll see you at the top.
The Great Leslie have a single 'ANNA' due to come out on the 26th November 2021
The Great Leslie Website - https://thegreatleslieband.com/about/
The Great Leslie Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thegreatleslieband/?hl=en
Updated: Jan 24, 2022
Meet these upcoming talented artists & bands. From telling their music through visual art to writing lyrical opposites to popular songs. I spoke to them to talk about their latest music and what their favourite tracks are. They all are ones to watch, so keep an eye out.
Photo credit - @lizzie__dore @kyeramapp @rmstevenson__
Photo/art credit - @collagearts_aslv & @onyxmediastudios
Photo credit - @callumcaseyphotos & @maianderson_ph
WANT TO SUBMIT YOUR MUSIC FOR OUR SPOTIFY PLAYLIST?
Written By Amy James
Updated: Oct 11, 2022
Written By Amy James
Performing at the beloved Bush Hall in Shepherd’s Bush, Eden performed to over 300 people who attended the launch of her brand new single ‘Weightless’. Not to mention this is her debut single so Eden is on cloud nine with the music video coming soon.
The whole evening was in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
On arrival there was a merchandise stand, piled with Eden’s merchandise ‘Weightless’ themed - Hoodies, T-Shirts, Tote Bags, Photo Cards and Posters.
The night started with Josie Proto performing who warmed up the crowd perfectly with her guitar.
Her vibrant vocals invited people to the stage to support her. Josie, who mentions that she is ‘that BTEC Lily Allen gurl’ creates addicting art.
Her latest release is her song ‘Problem Child’ which you can check out below along with more of her music!
Eden Hunter presented to the stage after Josie Proto to kick start her launch show. Performing some unreleased songs of hers such as ‘All My Love’, 'Kings and Queens' and 'Hollow', she really knew how to work the crowd with her superb stage presence.
Everyone was dancing and singing along giving Eden and her band as much love as they possibly could. The feeling of support was genuine throughout the whole hall.
Eden was clearly overwhelmed with the love she received, mentioning her gratitude to everyone often.
Excitement was built up throughout her set list before she left the stage to surprise us with a premiere of the ‘Weightless’ music video.
Surrounding the TV screens by the stage, everyone was transfixed on the heavenly video.
After the music video, Eden returned back to the stage in a brand new outfit, a dream for sure. She performed ‘Weightless’ live for the first time after its release. Clearly the audience had been rehearsing as everyone was singing it right back to her.
Her vocals were outstanding throughout which presented how hard she and everyone involved had worked to perfect the show.
"It was a seamless night with talent projected all over the stage."
Once the initial show had finished. Eden came back to interact with everyone who had come to see her. She was surrounded by congratulating people in which she was extremely appreciative of.
An incredible night, a music magnet to her new single. A huge congratulations and thank you to everyone involved in the production and organisation of the show.
Didn’t enjoy walking home in torrential rain so maybe next time could you change the weather as well… only joking!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/edenhunter_/?hl=en
Josie Proto:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/josieproto/?hl=ur
Website - https://www.josieproto.co.uk
Band Instagrams:
Backing Vocalist - https://www.instagram.com/chxr1se/
Backing Vocalist - https://www.instagram.com/saarakaldma/
'Weightless' Cover Shot By Libby Cooper - https://www.shotbyliberty.com
Concert Photography By Rhiannon Nevada - https://www.rhiannonnevada.com
