Lucy Rose | Full Interview

I just really wanted people to hear these new songs live before hearing them on record.

It’s been a quiet couple of years for Lucy Rose. She’d been taking time away from the road to focus on her second album — but now it’s all kicking off again. I caught up with her to talk this, along with her rather special upcoming tour.

What’s the idea behind the shows you’ve got lined up this month?

I guess I just really wanted people to hear these new songs live before hearing them on record. It’s good because my first record was a bit like that; I played so many gigs and made so many friends by letting people hear the songs live first. I want people to familiarise themselves with them in a natural way, not for them to just hear bits on the radio or something. That’s quite important to me.

It’s been a while since your last headline tour, what can we expect from it?

Well I think it’s going to be quite a large set on this one — we’re doing about twenty songs. Some old, some new, a real mixture; but it should be about half-and-half between them. I guess you can expect a lot of new sounds though, as I’m going to be playing piano on a few songs. I think there’ll be a lot of energy behind this new set too. For me, touring is the most amazing part of making music, meeting people and playing to them.

Do these people you meet find themselves into the music?

Definitely, actually. Weirdly enough there’s one song which is solely inspired by somebody I met on the road and a letter she gave me. It sort of explained about her coming to the show and how amazing it was. That made me feel something that I’d never felt before. So yeah, there’s that plus other moments throughout the new album where I’ve been inspired by those I’ve spoken to.

You’re no stranger to Bristol, how does it feel to be playing Thekla?

It feels good to be playing that venue because I think it’s one of the only ones I haven’t played in Bristol! I’ve heard it’s a boat right? I’ll take my lifejacket and I’ll be alright! The Fleece in Bristol was one of my favourite gigs ever actually, I remember it really well. I played it just when my first album came out and the crowd was quite raucous, which was not what I expected. That’s what I’ve grown to expect from Bristol now, a loud raucous crowd — I was loving it.

Are you looking forward to the releasing again too?

Yeah I’m just excited to get started again. A lot of this album got recorded over a year ago, so I’m thrilled to get going once more, to be back on the road and playing new music.

I used an app on an iPad [to write album two]. I wrote songs on planes, in vans… it was a very different experience.

‘Like I Used To’ was a hugely personal album, is that the case this time around?

I guess so, although I think there’s more variety on this one — there’re definitely more upbeat songs on it. But where they’re one hundred percent written by me, from my own feelings and experiences over the last three years, it’s still a very personal album. I was given inspiration to push myself though; I was definitely influenced this time by the fact that I knew people were interested, whereas for the first record I wrote songs thinking no one would hear ever them.

What was it like writing songs on the road?

It was very new. I used an app on an iPad, that I bought for a mere eight pounds, that meant I could write whatever and wherever I wanted, just not with real instruments; fake guitars and stuff. I wrote songs on planes, in vans — that opened up my ability to write without having to have my guitar on me at all times. It was a very different experience this time around, I believed in myself and my own ideas more.

What will the rest of the year hold for you?

I think we’re booking shows for Autumn right now, and the album comes out in the summer, so I think I’m going to head out on a bigger tour after that. It’ll be nice when people know the songs too, when it’s all out in the open and the crowd are singing along.

Lucy Rose plays Thekla on 29th March. Expect her as yet untitled follow-up LP this summer.

Check out ‘Middle Of The Bed’ right here: