Interview with Liam Lawless of Lawless and The Leash, ahead of their gig for ‘One Night of Rawk’, Inverness in December.
To celebrate the many dimensions of ‘Rawk’ we sent some questions to each of the bands on the line-up of ‘One Night of Rawk’. Fresh off the back of supporting Neon Waltz at their sell-out Mad Hatters Gig, Lawless and The Leash represent the newest band on the bill of ‘One Night of Rawk’, building a reputation locally, it was a good time to catch up with them ;
IGigs – Trent Reznor said that “ rock music was never meant to be safe. I think there needs to be an element of intrigue, mystery, subversiveness.” What do you think are the key elements of your music ?
I think the key elements of our band is bringing something different to the table, every song we write is a story and not only to get you to enjoy the song but also to feel what it is truly about. The key elements of our music are being unique, fun, soul, passion and the unconditional love for what we do.
IGigs – As a band, you are only allowed to have one album to listen to for eternity, would it be an easy process to decide, what album would it be and why?
I think that this question is very difficult to answer, being musicians comes with the love for what you do but can also be quite blinding in a situation like this. There’s also the back lash from The Leash to think of when I tell them what I’ve condemned them to, I can’t say however it wouldn’t be worth it just to see their faces.
IGigs – The demands of being in a band are massive, what keeps your band gigging and what are the essential aspects to driving your band forward?
Our love and passion for what we do drives us on, we are all very keen musicians and music is our lives. We love to perform, we love to put on a good show. It gives us the opportunity to spread our message, play our music and for every one person that our sound touches, every fan we gain and any venue we play always makes it worth it. It means the world to us as band but also getting to do it with everyone else, bring everyone together and our love for that will always drive us on.
IGigs – ‘One Night of Rawk’ features five bands with local links, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the local scene?
I think the advantages of the local scene is being able to bring your sound to a wider audience, experience a different sound and build bridges and relationships with the people you meet along the way. There are disadvantages but I believe the pros really do outweigh the cons, the beauty of the local scene being in the Highlands is that it is a larger local scene giving you access to play a wide variety of venues and events that not every other band in other areas of the UK have the ability to do so. It also connects you with a lot of like-minded individuals and bands giving you the ability to put on a good show and have a great night.
IGigs – The experience of a band having a good live performance, stays with you, how do you prepare for your gigs, and what do you use to judge whether you have had a good night or not?
You just have to be confident, love what you do and believe in yourself in doing it. Everyone is out to have a good time and you are there to put on a show that’s what we as a band are all about, we are into it and don’t struggle to get ourselves fired up. It’s what we came here for it’s our purpose and our love you just have to pull that out of yourself. Anyone can do what they set out to do you just have to believe and that is your strength.
IGigs – Given the time of year, we are normally afforded the opportunity to reflect on the year, how would the band view 2015 and what’s next for 2016?
We have had an amazing 2015 and wouldn’t change it for the world. Everything has been going exceptionally well for the band and the momentum frankly has been intoxicating to all of us involved. Once we are on stage we find it hard to pull ourselves off but we love what we do and bringing that love has obviously paid off. The support locally has been fantastic and the reception at all of our gigs has been absolutely fantastic, from everyone involved from the crowd to the event organisers.
We couldn’t have asked for more and are thankful for the amount of progress we have made and the continual climb from larger to larger events that we have been asked to play. It’s a great opportunity and its backs it up why we do it all to start with and that’s why we want to keep this going.
Our plans for 2016 is to record a demo and a single, our last gig is this weekend and we are super excited for it. We will be taken a break for a couple months from then but hope to be back on the music scene by the end of February and get ourselves involved in all the local music festivals and venues and see where we can take it.
Lawless & The Leash will be playing ‘One Night of Rawk’ (Devil’s Queen, Swamp Radio, Seed of Sorrow and The Broken Ravens are also on the bill) The Spectrum Centre, Inverness on Saturday December 12th.
You can track the band down on Facebook @LawlessandtheLeash. After ‘One Night of Rawk’.
You can read an interview with Seed of Sorrow who share billing with Lawless & The Leash at ‘One Night of Rawk’.
