Earlier this year I had a conversation with Bristol based singer-songwriter LENN. Her singles “I Know How”, “Cheap Talk” and the current single “Riding Shotgun” have already amassed over 100,000 streams on Spotify alone.
Read our conversation below:
Hey LENN, thanks for taking some time out to talk to us. First of all, where did your name originate from?
My nickname is Lenny, so LENN is like the nickname of my nickname.
Ah okay! You’re based in Bristol at the moment, what’s the music scene like over there?
I moved to Bristol in 2017 and have met some great musicians here. I’ve mostly been a recluse in the studio up until now, but I am hoping to get out a bit more in the coming months.
What artists were you exposed to when you were young? Did they play a part in you pursuing music as a career?
It may sound a bit odd, but I didn’t really know about popular music until I got to secondary school and discovered artists like Rihanna, Chris Brown and Kelly Clarkson. My favourite artist growing up was definitely JoJo and for a brief moment I went through the Belieber phase. I always loved singing along, so I guess in that sense it sparked something in me.
If you could collaborate with one of those artists, who would it be?
Rihanna.
Why?
She’s a QUEEN!
You debuted “I Know How” earlier this year, it’s a great single, a really strong debut for a new artist, what were you doing before?
Thank you so much. Actually nothing! I was living in Brighton for a short time doing a couple of bits and bobs but had no real vision for a project like what I’m doing now. This is the first real music I’ve made…unless you count random little YouTube covers when I was like 12.
I need to find those YouTube covers. Who produced “I Know How”? Do you work with one producer or are there multiple people involved?
I work with a great Bristol based producer called Lex. We write the songs together and I love how well we work. Production wise, he does the heavy lifting but he’s great at listening to my ideas and making them better than they sound in my head.
Sounds good. What inspired you to start this year?
It wasn’t really planned, but things came together for the new year. We started writing in November 2016, which is when we wrote “Cheap Talk”. It was only at the end of 2017 that we had four songs we were pleased with.
You recently released “Cheap Talk” — another strong single, has your ex heard it yet?
*laughs* I have no idea. I don’t know if they would even know it was about them. It would be funny to see their reaction…alas I probably never will.
Talk me through the songwriting process for “Cheap Talk”
It started with a rant. Lex just listened and subtly made notes around what I was saying. After I’d exhausted myself, we had loads of lyric ideas to use for the song. The process works so well, because you end up with raw and honest ingredients, rather than a filtered or exaggerated version of events. Chords and melody followed pretty quickly and we had a rough piano version by the end of the day.
Is there going to be a video for “Cheap Talk” anytime soon?
I’m working on a lyric video for “Cheap Talk” at the moment – hoping to get it out in the next couple of weeks!
One thing I’ve noticed is your strong vocal ability, what’s the secret behind that?
Plenty of sleep and lots of chocolate.
Interesting. Alright, what’s next for LENN?
Got a few more bits lined up for “Cheap Talk” — remixes, acoustic version and the lyric video. Following that, we’ve got the next single ready to go and I’m spending as much time in the studio as possible to replenish the stock.
Have you set yourself any expectations for the rest of the year?
I really really want to start gigging this year and keep making new music. Beyond that, we’ll see what happens!
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