News > Music News
Interview with Kiran Leonard
02/07/14
Kiran Leonard is 18. He's just done his A levels and is hoping to head off to uni this Autumn. He grew up in the countryside and learnt to play the mandolin aged 5. So far, so normal. However, you can add to this that he also plays 21 other instruments, has released several albums including the much admired Bowler Hat Soup, and is in the final stages of recording his latest. He's toured all over the place, and has played live in session for Radio Six more than once. Marc Riley loves him, and the world is on the cusp of discovering just how incredible this young songwriter is. His music is incredibly dense and complicated but also sweet and simple, kinda like Captain Beefheart meets Frank Zappa meets Harry Nilsson. Absolutely incredible stuff; you really should have a listen..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGzIkiLJUhM. I caught up with him whilst I still could, before the general public hoist him up on their shoulders and carry him away, with tears of joy in their eyes.
You did a session on Radio 6 music last night with Marc Riley. Did it go well?
I think it went well, but often the worst person to judge how a performance went is the person who played it. I know I made mistakes which were inaudible to most people, even those who know the songs, but audible to me. So I think it went well, but what I think doesn’t really matter!
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you start to make music?
It’s a familial thing really. My dad and elder brothers all were involved in music. The first instrument I learned was the mandolin and it’s the only instrument I’m classically trained in. I started playing that when I was 5; my hands were too small to play a guitar and so instead of investing in a half size guitar that would be useless after a few years, I learnt on a smaller instrument from the beginning, the mandolin. I can play it when I’m 5 and when I’m 50 that way. I started writing random, decontextualised songs when I was 9 or 10.
Allegedly there are 22 instruments used on your album Bowler Hat Soup. Do you know how to play them all?
I know how to play 4 main ones, guitar, piano, drums and mandolin and then you can derive a number of further instruments from that. For example, I wouldn’t say I can play banjo like Doc Watson, but I can pick a tune out because I can play guitar. Instruments that you don’t have to blow into or bow I can do! I’d like to learn the violin but I’m left handed, and it’s difficult, as you all have to point the same way in an orchestra. Also, I don’t know that I have the patience for it! I have other people I can call on to play what I can’t play. There are string quartets and oboes and stuff on my new album.
What inspires your lyrics? They remind me of the writing style of the book Ulysses by James Joyce; I can’t work out if they are random stream-of-consciousness or very carefully put together.
Certainly for Bowler Hat Soup there wasn’t a great deal of thought that went into them. I sit down and structure them but I don’t think I’ve ever started a song with the lyrics. I generally create a whole song and then I play it and find syllables that go along with it. Certainly the songs from that album, which I wrote when I was 14 or 15, I didn’t really know anything about the world and it’s difficult to write about anything! Now I write lyrics that a bit more realistic or reflective of things I’ve experienced, but I still don’t feel like I know anything! Sometimes I write songs from a first person perspective, like certain sub plots in films for example, but honestly writing lyrics has never been a fun thing for me, normally it’s the last thing I do, so sometimes they’re quite rushed, silly and meaningless.
Speaking of words, do you have a favourite book?
The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Far Side Gallery by Gary Larson are my favourite top three, I reckon.
What are your musical influences and what are you listening to currently?
Bowler Hat Soup was first released in 2012 and was remixed and remastered last year, but I wrote those songs three or four years ago. At that point it was mostly American artists like Sufjan Stevens and Joanna Newsom, but also The Beach Boys and Sun Ra. At the moment, I’ve been listening to slightly noisier stuff which I’ve always listened to but not written, like Swans, or Deathgrips; I like their full velocity approach to music.
I read that you’ve just done your A levels. How did you manage to fit in revising?
I finished them 2 weeks ago! I finished Bowler Hat Soup before I finished secondary school, and the album I’m currently working on (Grapefruit, out next year) has taken a long time because of studying. I’ve had to put it aside for that reason. I’ve nearly done it now though and it should be out next year.
So you’re planning on heading off to university in September. How do you think moving to a new environment might affect your songwriting?
I grew up in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, I record everything at home because I don’t have any neighbours to tell me to shut up. So presumably I won’t be able to do that when I move to a more urban environment and thus the stuff that I write will have to change to suit my surroundings and what I am able to do. I guess it’ll change the things I write about lyrically as well. It used to be that music scenes in different cities really varied, so that if you went to another place you would discover a whole new sound, but with the development of the Internet that’s no longer the case; my influences are almost entirely Internet derived. So to summarise that question; sort of!
What sort of reaction do you get from your audiences when you play live? Do you notice a difference between being the support act or being a headliner, or playing solo or with your band?
Playing as a headline act is always better than playing as support because the people are there to see you and you get more of a rapturous reception. I kind of enjoy playing live; I didn’t used to, but I’ve got used to it now. With regards to playing with a band or solo, they’re quite similar for me. In order to approach playing as a four piece or on my own, the textures have to be reduced significantly. In both cases it’s about approaching them completely differently and rewriting them. It does have a positive side effect, as it changes the song over time. It allows several different versions of a song to evolve over time; the version that’s on the album, the version I play on my own, and the version we play as a band where we have a chance to find different energies in a song. It keeps it fresh for me and it makes it more interesting for people to watch live.
You’ve played Norwich last year at the Arts Centre as part of the Sound & Vision Festival. Are you excited about coming back here and discovering the other end of the city?
The one thing I really liked about Norwich is that it’s like going back in time, as the vast amount of the shops are independently run. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of what Norwich has to offer.
Who are your support?
Oh! A band of two 14 year old musicians called Let’s Eat Grandma. You HAVE to go and see them as they’re Norwich based, but they are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. They’re far more important to see than I am.
You can see Kiran Leonard on the first night of his upcoming headline tour at Epic Studios on 15th July. Further details at http://www.epicstudiosnorwich.com/events/kiran-leonard/
Kiran Leonard is 18. He's just done his A levels and is hoping to head off to uni this Autumn. He grew up in the countryside and learnt to play the mandolin aged 5. So far, so normal. However, you can add to this that he also plays 21 other instruments, has released several albums including the much admired Bowler Hat Soup, and is in the final stages of recording his latest. He's toured all over the place, and has played live in session for Radio Six more than once. Marc Riley loves him, and the world is on the cusp of discovering just how incredible this young songwriter is. His music is incredibly dense and complicated but also sweet and simple, kinda like Captain Beefheart meets Frank Zappa meets Harry Nilsson. Absolutely incredible stuff; you really should have a listen..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGzIkiLJUhM. I caught up with him whilst I still could, before the general public hoist him up on their shoulders and carry him away, with tears of joy in their eyes.
You did a session on Radio 6 music last night with Marc Riley. Did it go well?
I think it went well, but often the worst person to judge how a performance went is the person who played it. I know I made mistakes which were inaudible to most people, even those who know the songs, but audible to me. So I think it went well, but what I think doesn’t really matter!
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you start to make music?
It’s a familial thing really. My dad and elder brothers all were involved in music. The first instrument I learned was the mandolin and it’s the only instrument I’m classically trained in. I started playing that when I was 5; my hands were too small to play a guitar and so instead of investing in a half size guitar that would be useless after a few years, I learnt on a smaller instrument from the beginning, the mandolin. I can play it when I’m 5 and when I’m 50 that way. I started writing random, decontextualised songs when I was 9 or 10.
Allegedly there are 22 instruments used on your album Bowler Hat Soup. Do you know how to play them all?
I know how to play 4 main ones, guitar, piano, drums and mandolin and then you can derive a number of further instruments from that. For example, I wouldn’t say I can play banjo like Doc Watson, but I can pick a tune out because I can play guitar. Instruments that you don’t have to blow into or bow I can do! I’d like to learn the violin but I’m left handed, and it’s difficult, as you all have to point the same way in an orchestra. Also, I don’t know that I have the patience for it! I have other people I can call on to play what I can’t play. There are string quartets and oboes and stuff on my new album.
What inspires your lyrics? They remind me of the writing style of the book Ulysses by James Joyce; I can’t work out if they are random stream-of-consciousness or very carefully put together.
Certainly for Bowler Hat Soup there wasn’t a great deal of thought that went into them. I sit down and structure them but I don’t think I’ve ever started a song with the lyrics. I generally create a whole song and then I play it and find syllables that go along with it. Certainly the songs from that album, which I wrote when I was 14 or 15, I didn’t really know anything about the world and it’s difficult to write about anything! Now I write lyrics that a bit more realistic or reflective of things I’ve experienced, but I still don’t feel like I know anything! Sometimes I write songs from a first person perspective, like certain sub plots in films for example, but honestly writing lyrics has never been a fun thing for me, normally it’s the last thing I do, so sometimes they’re quite rushed, silly and meaningless.
Speaking of words, do you have a favourite book?
The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Far Side Gallery by Gary Larson are my favourite top three, I reckon.
What are your musical influences and what are you listening to currently?
Bowler Hat Soup was first released in 2012 and was remixed and remastered last year, but I wrote those songs three or four years ago. At that point it was mostly American artists like Sufjan Stevens and Joanna Newsom, but also The Beach Boys and Sun Ra. At the moment, I’ve been listening to slightly noisier stuff which I’ve always listened to but not written, like Swans, or Deathgrips; I like their full velocity approach to music.
I read that you’ve just done your A levels. How did you manage to fit in revising?
I finished them 2 weeks ago! I finished Bowler Hat Soup before I finished secondary school, and the album I’m currently working on (Grapefruit, out next year) has taken a long time because of studying. I’ve had to put it aside for that reason. I’ve nearly done it now though and it should be out next year.
So you’re planning on heading off to university in September. How do you think moving to a new environment might affect your songwriting?
I grew up in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, I record everything at home because I don’t have any neighbours to tell me to shut up. So presumably I won’t be able to do that when I move to a more urban environment and thus the stuff that I write will have to change to suit my surroundings and what I am able to do. I guess it’ll change the things I write about lyrically as well. It used to be that music scenes in different cities really varied, so that if you went to another place you would discover a whole new sound, but with the development of the Internet that’s no longer the case; my influences are almost entirely Internet derived. So to summarise that question; sort of!
What sort of reaction do you get from your audiences when you play live? Do you notice a difference between being the support act or being a headliner, or playing solo or with your band?
Playing as a headline act is always better than playing as support because the people are there to see you and you get more of a rapturous reception. I kind of enjoy playing live; I didn’t used to, but I’ve got used to it now. With regards to playing with a band or solo, they’re quite similar for me. In order to approach playing as a four piece or on my own, the textures have to be reduced significantly. In both cases it’s about approaching them completely differently and rewriting them. It does have a positive side effect, as it changes the song over time. It allows several different versions of a song to evolve over time; the version that’s on the album, the version I play on my own, and the version we play as a band where we have a chance to find different energies in a song. It keeps it fresh for me and it makes it more interesting for people to watch live.
You’ve played Norwich last year at the Arts Centre as part of the Sound & Vision Festival. Are you excited about coming back here and discovering the other end of the city?
The one thing I really liked about Norwich is that it’s like going back in time, as the vast amount of the shops are independently run. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of what Norwich has to offer.
Who are your support?
Oh! A band of two 14 year old musicians called Let’s Eat Grandma. You HAVE to go and see them as they’re Norwich based, but they are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. They’re far more important to see than I am.
You can see Kiran Leonard on the first night of his upcoming headline tour at Epic Studios on 15th July. Further details at http://www.epicstudiosnorwich.com/events/kiran-leonard/