Interview with Luke Leighfield

For his young age, Luke Leighfield already experienced a lot and travelled through a lot of countries. Which one he liked most when he was on tour, who influenced him essentially und how he became a piano player he tells the myFanbase users in our exclusive interview.

Foto:

The interview is © myFanbase 2009. Please do not copy it to other websites or message boards.

1. How would you describe your music in one sentence?

My music is piano-led pop rock, with lots of brass, strings, backing vocals and guitar solos.

2. Was there something like a light bulb moment when you were young, maybe a concert, a certain song or a record that made you dream about a career as a musician?

The reason I started writing songs on the piano is because of an American pop punk band called Something Corporate, whose singer played piano. Through them, I found out about Ben Folds, an American singer songwriter. He's basically my favourite musician and biggest influence, and he's a great pianist.

3. Are there any artists that might have influenced you some time?

I'm influenced by lots of different kinds of music. I like lots of American pop rock and pop punk, as well as cheesy pop like Mariah Carey, and then more mellow stuff like Sigur Ros or Copeland. I also like some hip hop, metal, and pretty much anything apart from reggae. I hope that my music reflects all of my different influences!

4. How do you develop your songs? What part comes first, music or lyrics?

I normally start writing songs with the lyrics, and as I'm writing them I often find that I have an idea for the melody and chords in my head. Most of my best songs are written really quickly, maybe in half an hour of inspiration!

5. What song is most important to you? Why and how did it develop?

I love all my songs! At the moment I like one of my new songs called 60,000 Miles a lot, because it's quite fast and rocky, but it also has a lovely cello motif at the end, and some great brass in the chorus. It's probably the rockiest song I've written and I'm really proud of it.

6. In what aspects did your music change compared to when you started to make music?

When I started writing songs I was really bad, and now I hope I'm a lot better! My writing for the new album has a lot more guitar on it, and I expect it's going to be a bit heavier and rockier. It should surprise some people!

7. What has been the best experience so far, as an artist?

The thing I'm most proud of is playing in so many different countries in the last year. My favourites were probably Germany and Russia. Germans are so lovely and polite, and the shows are always really respectful. I played to really big crowds in Russia, so that was great too.

8. What can you tell us about your current projects?

At the moment I am finishing my studies at university, and writing my third album which I will record in the summer. I can't wait to get some new songs out there.

9. And what are you aspiring to in the future, what do you want to achieve?

In the future I want to keep touring different countries, making new fans, and keep writing new songs and releasing great records.

10. With whom would you like to go on tour?

My dream would be going on tour with Ben Folds. He's incredible.

11. What record would we find in your CD-player right now?

Right now I'm listening to Copeland, but I think there's also Guillemots, Mariah Carey, Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam, and Sam Isaac.

12. What do you think, as artists, about platforms like MySpace?

Without MySpace I couldn't show the world my music, and I wouldn't have been able to play so many gigs. MySpace is vital!

13. myFanbase is a website that is devoted to American television shows. Do you have a favorite show?

I LOVE American television shows. My favourite is definitely "24", but I also like "Prison Break", "House", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Family Guy" and loads more. "24" is just amazing.

Catherine Bühnsack - myFanbase