Leeds based musician Lone
Wolf, born Paul Marshall, has spent the last year constructing his third album The Lovers with friends James Kenosha
and Jon Fougler. He received critical acclaim for his first 2 albums and
comparisons to Tom Waits and Nick Cave. The Lovers though
is a strong departure from his last, a brilliant folk record, and we spoke to
him to find out more about the different direction of the album and how his
fans are funding it.
Your new album is being funded through fans pledges,
why did you take that route?
It’s one of those things,
I’ve been doing this for a little while now, this is my third record, and I
always find myself having to sit on my hands a little. I’m always wishing I was
a little bit more involved with what was going on, even though a lot of the
time I would probably rather not be involved, it’s a weird double edged sword
really. I just always really wanted to start my own record label, do it my own
way on my own terms. I’ve always been vocal in speaking directly to the fans on
Twitter and Facebook and email and stuff, I never hide, I always talk directly
to people. I thought this was a really good way of talking directly to the fans
and allowing them to be a part of it as well, so that we could all be in this
together and make it our project. I just thought in this day and age where
everyone is robbing Peter to pay Paul kind of thing, I thought it was nice for
the fans, for them to know exactly where their money was going and exactly what
every penny of that was going towards.
How did you decide what people could pledge for?
We had to do a bit of
research and see what other bands had been offering. From doing a bit of a
sweeping view of what other bands had done it became clearly obvious what kind
of angle I wanted to do and what things I really didn’t want to do. For example
I saw some bands offering things like ‘be our roadie for the day’ for £100 and
I thought that’s a bit cruel on the fans. Being a roadie isn’t really the most
fun job in the world, to have someone lug all your equipment around and then
charge them for the privilege. I was determined that I wanted to do things that
were very fan orientated and I really wanted the fan to feel, that when they
pledge they really do get something personal out of it from me. I wanted more
to talk directly to the fan and therefore show them that I am doing something
specifically for them to thank them for pledging.
You didn’t use any piano, drums or acoustic guitar on
your new record, why not?
When I did a couple of demos
at home for a couple of the new songs, I don’t have access to a drum kit at
home or things like that so I just played my electric guitar and I made one
song by banging the back of a acoustic guitar to make the beat because its just
what was there. Then I had a tambourine and made a rhythm like that, as we went
further along I was going around the house banging on jars with spoons and
scraping walls. I just started doing things and creating a bit of a sound bank
from it of different organic percussive sounds instead of actually using a drum
kit or cymbals or whatever. Then when we went into the studio I decided that I
wanted everything to be kind of organic. I mean I still use instruments, I just
use an electric guitar instead of an acoustic and that was just because I
didn’t want to make another folk album, I wanted to make something a bit more
interesting. I wanted to experiment more and let my brain do it’s thing. I use
a lot of synths and a lot of electric bass and instruments like that. Before
you were used to hearing an acoustic guitar with real drums generally and kind
of down beat kind of folky tunes with strings. I don’t like to go over the same
footprints that I’ve already trodden, I just wanted to try something new and I
feel like it was the best decision that I’ve made.
How was it touring with Wild Beasts in the US?
It was wonderful. It was one
of the best things I’ve ever done. It was kind of frustrating for me because I
was first out of three bands and I had to go solo, just due to monetary
restraints. I wasn’t able to take a band with me so I had to go all by myself
and there were times I had to stay in towns for 5 days or so. I think I was in
LA for 5 days and Wild Beasts were there for one night so I had all my pals
there for one night and then they went off to do a festival I wasn’t playing. I
had to hang around in LA for five days by myself so it was kind of a lonely
tour in that respect but at the same time I got to play to some amazing
audiences who were extremely receptive. I really can’t wait to go back and play
in the States again. Obviously Wild Beasts are amazing and they have become
some of my best friends and so any time I get to spend with those guys is
always going to be good times.
Do you prefer performing solo or with accompaniment?
It goes up and down with
regards to ease and with regards to the live experience. It’s very easy to just
bang your acoustic guitar in its case and go out on the road but I just feel
that as I’ve progressed as a musician my music has progressed with me. It’s got
to a point now where I simply cant go out and tour solo, its got to be with a
band now otherwise it would be a false representation of what the albums like.
I much prefer going out with a band, it’s nice to have some people there on
stage that you can look at every now and then. You get to share the experience
with people rather than kind of sitting there on your own and wondering if you
are actually having a good gig or not. Sometimes you come off stage with a band
and everyone’s got a different opinion of it, it helps to have other brains up
there with me and overall I just think it sounds better.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians in
Leeds?
I think the only advice you
can ever really give is just to keep playing shows, just keep playing gigs. I
think we are in an age now where I don’t think anyone should get too hung up on
whether that guy from the record labels going to be in the audience. I think
pledge music is proving that, even for someone like myself, you just have to
keep believing in what you are doing. Don’t adapt your style to please someone
else, do what it is you want to do because you love what you, don’t think about
what the people might like unless you are specifically trying to be the next
big sugar pop band, if you love what you do then other people will to.
What do you love about Leeds?
Everything really, I’ve got
no plans to leave. One of the things that kept me here was the music scene
because it never stops giving. It’s becoming a wonderful place for one of my
other passions, which is really good food and really good beer. It’s got
amazing restaurants, amazing places to eat and drink, the people, I’ve got a
lovely circle of friends here, I just think it’s a great city.
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