Unsigned UK-based electronic duo LectroLips have been firm Clixie favourites ever since we came across their free download ‘What We Came For’ in early February. Since then we’ve seen further new developments from the pair comprising of Leo Tarring and Antony Edwards, with the release of their latest free offering ‘Voyeur‘. What’s more, with more music on the way, it’s certainly an exciting time to be a LectroLips fan.
We’ve been wanting to pitch some of our questions to the pair for a while, and finally got the chance to over the weekend. It’s got to be said it has been a real pleasure, and this is what they had to say for themselves.
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First and foremost, who are LectroLips for readers of ours that may not have heard of or about you? How did the LectroLips project come about?
Ant: We’re Leo and Ant from London, UK. We’ve known each other for about seven years but have only been writing and recording as LectroLips since 2009. I used to write a lot of lyrics and poetry before LectroLips, and Leo has been writing and recording songs, FOREVER – since he was a child, basically. Leo was looking for lyrics and I gave him some of mine which he used for a couple of ballads. Then one particular song, called “Hijacked”, sort of marked the start of us doing computer pop.
Leo: Yeah, I’d been doing ballads and recording with live instruments for years and wanted to try a new sound. Ant was becoming more and more involved during my recording sessions, so we just decided to go for it and set ourselves up as a duo. He dragged me into the 20th century, let alone the 21st!
You’re an unsigned duo which obviously has benefits in not being tied down to contracts left, right and centre! What has made you want to continue independently? Are there any major drawbacks for you personally about being independent?
Ant: You’re right, being unsigned does have it’s benefits. We enjoy the freedom it brings creatively, but we’ve never dismissed the idea of going with a label. It just hasn’t worked out that way for us at the moment. I think record labels open different doors. I guess signed artists have the benefit of working with people who have knowledge and expertise in the music business, as well as money behind them of course! But it’s hard to compare really, as working in the way we do at the moment is all we’ve known up to this point.
Leo: It’s hard to say really, but I guess we’re independent out of necessity at the moment. A few years back if we hadn’t been signed no-one would have ever heard of us. We’re lucky that technology has given us the opportunity to record and release our songs without the need to be signed. We do our own artwork, our own online stuff – everything. And we’re able to say what we do and when.
Ant: Sometimes, we finish mastering a song just a few minutes before we release it. And then ten minutes later someone in the US or Russia or somewhere is listening to it on their iPod! If that’s what the new music business is all about, we’re totally up for it!
Tell us to mind our own, but has there been interest expressed regarding the possibility of signing you to a label?
Leo: Haha! Well, we have had interest, but nothing which has come to any fruition at the moment.
Ant: We’re open to every opportunity. We also very keen to write songs for other artists.
Your electronic traits are highly regarded here at Clixie! Would it be fair to say music you perhaps grew up listening to have inspired LectroLips’ overall sound and style? We know you’re (Ant) a big Madonna fan!
Ant: Oh yes, I’m a huge Madonna fan. I would play her records non-stop when I was younger and I probably drove my parents crazy. She’s definitely been an influence for me. I would also listen to the Top 40 every Sunday and record my favorite songs from the charts. MTV was always on in my house. I’m a huge fan of pop music in general but I don’t limit my taste to any particular genre. Leo is a classically trained pianist so his early influences were very different…
Leo: Ant knows pretty much every pop song ever recorded – he’s like a pop encyclopedia! But I didn’t really get into pop stuff until a bit later and when I did it was more easy listening stuff. I loved the Carpenters from about the age of 15, and then there was ABBA, Queen and Elton John. But now I love pretty much love most music and I collect classic albums from every genre. Recently we’ve been listening to lots of disco stuff as inspiration for our EP, as well keeping an ear on what’s going on right now too.
Ant: I guess it’s fair to say we’ve got quite a few influences which probably come through in our music, although we try to do whatever comes naturally. We were only saying the other day how we were surprised by the slightly more funky element that comes through sometimes, as neither of us set out to create that.
We know this question is going to be quite difficult to answer, as we suspect you’ll feel the same in saying they both give different satisfactions – however, what gives you the most satisfaction? Making your music or experiencing the feedback you get from listeners and fans?
Ant: Music is most definitely what drives us. We make the music that we love ourselves and try not worry too much about what people will think. But I’m not going to lie, it’s a cool feeling when we get good feedback from listeners.
Leo: We just try to have a bit of fun and hope that people get what we’re about. The fact that we’ve picked up some listeners along the way is really exciting. We always appreciate it when people show an interest and support us. It’s these guys that have helped get our music out there by sharing links and blogging about us.
What kind of music are you currently listening to? Are there any other unsigned gems you may perhaps like to share with us?
Ant: We’ve been listening to lots of Donna Summer, Chic and ABBA recently. We love ABBA’s ‘Visitors’ album! We’re also really digging Florrie’s new EP, ‘Experiments’. We love what she’s about. Other recent additions to our iPods are Gaga, Britney, Gloria Estefan, Studio Killers and RuPaul’s latest record. As far as unsigned gems go, Hologram Heart Parade and Chasing Pluto both have a unique style that caught our ears. We’re looking forward to hearing more music from these guys.
We give you a magic wand and ask you to choose who your dream collaboration would be with, who would it be?
Ant: It would be pretty cool to work on a track with Madonna.
Leo: I would’ve really loved the chance to collaborate with Freddie Mercury.
What can we expect in the near future? We know you’ve been working on a new EP titled ‘Disco Brief’, so what’s the current situation with regard to its progress and perhaps a release date?
Leo: Well, we’re hoping to release our EP at some point over the summer, and at the moment it’s looking likely to be around August or September time. We’ve got a number of demos that we’ve been working on and we’re trying to cut it down to about six songs. We want to keep some of the tracks back with the idea of pitching them to other artists. We’re also in the process of designing all the artwork, etc. It would be cool to film a music video to accompany one of the songs but at the moment we’re just concentrating on the music. Our next free download will be a track called ‘Take The House’ which will be available in a few weeks.
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LectroLips plan to release a new free download within the next few weeks called ‘Take The House’ – so keep your eyes peeled for future developments!