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13 May 2024

Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an unsigned music artist. This week, I caught up with Rotherham artist LPMC to find out more…

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
My first gig was watching Oasis at Maine Road in ’96. I was 16 and was just fascinated watching Noel Gallagher and thought to myself that I’d love to ‘do that’. A week later I had my first guitar lesson. It was an amazing time to be young and into music! Every time I picked up my guitar back then it felt electrifying and 28 years later, it still feels the same when I pick up an instrument and try and make some noise. That instinct will never leave me.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I was caught up in the British rock/indie rock period and that has always been my go to. Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Stereophonics and The Killers have always been mainstays for me in my earlier days. These days though, I happily absorb and appreciate most genres and artists and I’ve discovered an admiration for Bruce Springsteen in recent years. No-one quite paints a story or picture like he does in my opinion and I find myself being inspired a lot from his work when trying to write lyrics.

How would you describe your sound?
It’s definitely of an indie rock descent, but I do try and bring more depth to what I do from other genres. When I start out writing a track, I’m not thinking of writing a song with a specific sound more than something that just feels exciting to me. I think songs end up telling you how they want to be written in the end.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
‘Lonely Boy’ is the first single from what will eventually be the second LPMC album. Its inspiration comes from a bar that is co-owned by Sheffield United player, Ben Osborn, who I work with. The bar opened just over a year ago and I told him I’d write a song for it. I wrote the track, recorded it and we both loved it, so I said I’d write an album for the bar. So, that’s what I’m doing! Lonely Boy will open it and then each of the other tracks will be entitled with a name, which refer to the bar’s clientele in a fictional sense. The tag line of Lonely Boy is ‘This is the place you will be loved when life gets tough’, so each of the other tracks will explore each character’s background and how they find themselves drinking in the bar. It’s an exciting project and Ben and his business partner, Harry liked it that much they had a neon sign made with the lyrics and it’s up on the wall in the bar, which is great!

What’s your local music scene like?
Rotherham has always typically stood in the shadow of the extensive musical heritage of Sheffield, but right now, I think it’s as good as it’s ever been! Venues exist now that are on the touring circuit.

Gorilla Beer Hall in Mexborough is just off the edge of town and is amazing! Also, there’s the Chantry Brewery Bar, where I’ll playing in September, and the Cutlers Arms to name a few. Roadhouse Bar & Bottles used to have live music on every Sunday, and I did some live acoustic shows there too including the filming on my YouTube interview feature before it sadly closed earlier this year. They’re looking to be opening a new site in Dinnington soon, so I’m delighted for them. The festival circuit is healthy too with ‘Wentfest’ in particular, where I’m also playing in June on the new music stage.

In terms of bands, I think the most obvious flagship act for the town are ‘The Reytons’. They’ve done great and the Clifton Park show is an incredible spectacle for the town. Good on them for what they’ve achieved and how they’ve gone about it. Other bands that have turned my head are ‘At The Arcade’ – I Iike their groove, ‘The Konstanzas’ are a young band at the start of their journey and doing their own thing, and although he’s not strictly from Rotherham, ‘Sam Scherdel’ is grafting hard and has some great tracks too.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
I’m now working with ‘Kycker’ and excited for the release of my new single, LONELY BOY, on 10.05.24. This will be the first outing for new material from an upcoming 2nd album which I’ll work through this year and into next.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Let’s go Springsteen! It would be a great insight to witness his studio process.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Years ago, I played an acoustic show at a venue called Junction 7 in Nottingham. I was supporting the singer from Spear of Destiny. I’d been driven down by the guitarist in my old band. When I was due to go on there was about 15 people in the crowd and I’d been drinking since the soundcheck. After a couple of songs, I felt like I was dying on up there on the stage, so I started trying to dance whilst I was playing to try and stir the crowd. As I did it, I stepped forward and fell off the stage and smashed my mouth on the fence in front of the stage. It just went silent. I climbed back on stage a bit concussed and carried on trying to act as if nothing had happened!

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
The new single, ‘Lonely Boy’ is out now!

Upcoming live dates and performances
Saturday 18th May – Gorilla Beer Hall, Mexborough
Saturday 15th June – Wentfest, Rotherham

You can find out more about LPMC on his website or via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, TikTok, X (Twitter) or YouTube.

You can also read my interview with him about his EP “Lonely Boy Bar Pt. 1” here.