In our latest Band Spotlight, we chat to Lucy of Hull alternative rockers, My Fake Empire.
[like_to_read][/like_to_read]
S] What motivates you outside of music – think specific people, places and movies?
Making sure life is fulfilling. We all have different ways we spend our free time and we all have different music styles we listen to which is brought to the band. Lucy does the songwriting but develops this with Mark and Mike’s ways of playing in mind. We all have families we spend time with.
This is a hard question! Lucy is influenced by 80s stuff and loves 80s films. Likes classical music and film soundtracks. ’24 Hour Party People’ is a great film, and Lucy has a passion for Joy Division and the lyrics of Ian Curtis. Lucy is particularly interested in developing good mental health and uses lyrics as an outlet for this. The Deep is a very relaxing place to be! Even when it’s busy the fish are very calming.
S] What do you think of Hull’s music at the moment?
Hulls music scene is vibrant and there is more to it than many would think. It has varied styles and genres if you know where to look for it. There are good quality promoters and plenty of band nights in all formats that any kind if music style is welcome in this city, and many will listen to all sorts of sounds.
S] What are the big challenges you have as a band?
There are no major challenges other than, when life gets in the way of rehearsing regularly. We gel well together and even though we think a song is not going to work or takes longer than we think to put together, it all works in the end. It can be a challenge to bring a demo to the practice space that had been developed in room with a computer. What sounds right through headphones can be very different when it’s the full live instrument sounds to work with. The songs are written in sections and can be quite disjointed at times and it’s getting the timings right for it to flow and work.
S] What are your aims for this year?
Gig more, promote a new EP we will be recording this winter and look at national airplay and get songs on all sorts of radio stations. To continue writing and rehearsing and fine-tuning the sound we are developing.
Talk us through the inspirations around ‘Potty Mouth’?
‘Potty Mouth’ is about the sound of the music more than it is about the words that are sung, which is unusual for an mfe song. Normally the words are the key to Lucy’s song writing and will influence the time if the music. It is intended to continue the style of My Fake Empire. It has loud and quiet, dark and light, melody and noise. It’s heavier and grainier in sound. The vocals are distorted to hide them somewhat in the rest of the mix. As with all MFE’s songs, it’s influenced by grunge, rock, fuzz, melody and experimentation.
