Introducing: Lucky Soul
Introducing: Lucky Soul
They sound like Grease, look like reservoir dogs fronted by Alison Goldfrapp, and make etc. go all misty eyed and pine for diners, Cadillacs and heartbreak. Meet Lucky Soul, as described by songwriter and boss man Andrew Laidlaw…
Is it tricky to be a new band starting out?
Yeah, it’s very difficult. We’ve been lucky because we’ve had some people put some money our way, but there are ways and means…it’s easier now, there’s lots of little companies doing things that would have all been done by a big label in the past, like sorting out your radio play or doing your PR. The one thing we can’t do is take out a full page NME ad, so you have to go on word of mouth.
Tell us about the beginning…
It was a bit of a strange one. It was just me and a girl called Lucy at the start, and it was quite an electronic sound, just due to a lack of having other musicians around to play any other instruments! We started and thought ‘let’s have a go at it,’ and moved down to London. Her boyfriend was the bass player, and when we’d been here six months she suddenly announced that there was a little arrival on the way. They decided to move home to Liverpool, and we had a horrible three months of auditions for another singer, where the most inappropriate people would show up.
How did you get hold of Ali (the singer)?
She was looking for a house and came across our ad in the paper, she’d been in bands before but was having a break, and she came along and was just perfect, really. We’re lucky like that.
Where did the sound come from? Was it a planned sound?
I think it came from getting a few more musicians into the band, and everyone getting comfortable in their roles, but I’d always had an idea in my head for an updated version of the old 60s heartbreak songs.
What was the motivation for that?
When I lived in Glasgow I was going to a lot of soul clubs, and that was my first real exposure to soul and heartbroken singers; but the main thing was that I got dumped by this girl and listened to nothing but Dusty Springfield for several weeks after, and that’s when I started writing these songs!
So you needed some heartbreak to get you started?
Yeah, I think you need a bit, don’t you? I think everybody has it in their own way.
Not everyone starts a band rooted in melancholy 60s pop as a result, though…
True, but I think everything I’ve ever done has had a bittersweet feel to it. All my favourite pop songs are really dark when you listen to the words, it’s really odd. Pop’s best when it’s dark, anyway.
What’s it like to have someone else sing your songs for you?
Brilliant, it’s really liberating. You don’t have to feel embarrassed and you can say what you want – I’d feel really stupid singing ‘baby, baby,’ but when you’ve got a girl doing it, it sounds great!
So what are people going to get when they listen to you?
It’s pop music, really melodic, but it has a nice melancholy underbelly. It’s not flash in the pan stuff, I think it’ll stay with people.
Do you have a secret ambition to win the Mercury next year, then, or do you just not care?
I think people who say they don’t care are talking rubbish: everyone wants a bit of recognition. I’m not one of those people who’ll say they’re not bothered if anyone buys it – we need people to buy it, so we can make another one! But I just hope people catch on to it. I think they will.
More? Lucky Soul's website!
WORDS: Russ
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