Lacey

December 2014

After being handpicked by James Blunt to support him at the Capital FM Arena last month, Nottingham’s Lacey are back in action with a show at Rock City this weekend. Bassist Graham Turner explains how it was playing the city’s biggest venue

THE whole day was surreal, from the moment we arrived and began unloading our gear behind the stage.

When James Blunt was soundchecking we had a little peak behind the curtain and saw the empty arena, thinking that it would be filled with 7,000 people later.

They really looked after us. At the soundcheck that we did they made sure were sounding spot-on.

He introduced himself to us, which he didn’t have to do. And he was thanking us for playing. He was an absolute gentleman.

He was given the opportunity when he was starting out (by Elton John), so he’s been there. And I guess he’s just trying to give a bit back, to the up-and-coming guys like us.

There were waters, beers and snacks in the dressing room but... and this shows how ignorant I was about the whole thing... I walked into the green room where there was a cold buffet set out. I sat down with some of that and then a waitress came to my table and asked what I’d like to order! I ordered the beef stroganoff, obviously. People were opening doors for us... it was crazy.

Half an hour before we went on we were really focused. All the banter stopped and we got our professional heads on. This was our biggest show, the biggest night of our lives.

It went as well as we had hoped. There were no hiccups. What surprised us most was the reaction of the crowd. They were really responsive and really involved. They were clapping along, they were cheering.

You can’t really see anyone, apart from the first couple of rows but you could hear them. After you finished a song the noise of the cheers was crazy.

Straight after the set he came up to us and gave us a few compliments. We didn’t know he was watching because we couldn’t see him.

And the guy was flawless for two hours during his show. I’ve not seen anything like it. He’s an incredible musician. He was smaller than I thought but that shows how he carries himself on stage. And yes he’s very posh but I’m not going to hold that against him.

We had a bit of spike on social media after the show, in terms of Twitter followers and Facebook likes. And people were leaving positive comments about the set.

We did 30 minutes at the arena but we’ll be doing an hour at Rock City and showcasing a lot of material from the album. That’s ready to go and we’ll be releasing it early next year.

Lacey play Rock City on Saturday, December 20 with Layby and Cut the Heroics from 7pm to 10pm. Tickets are £6 from 0845 413 4444 or go to alt-tickets.co.uk. For more about Lacey find them on Twitter and Facebook: Lacey OfficialUK. 

Lacey

October 2014

NOTTINGHAM guitar band Lacey will support James Blunt at the Capital FM Arena in November.

The multi-million-selling chart-topper chose the quartet from five local artists shortlisted by EG.

“Lacey seem like a lot fun, full of energy,” says Blunt. “I’m really excited to have them as my support act for Nottingham.”

He asked EG to help him find a support act from Nottingham for the date on November 22, part of his worldwide Moon Landing tour. Over 100 singer-songwriters, bands and rappers applied by sending in a link to a video of them performing.

EG chose the best five to send on to Blunt. As well as Lacey, whose Hometown video was filmed in the city centre and at the Albert Hall, the lost included rapper Ashmore, teenage singer-songwriter Tyler Nugent, soul pop musician Rob Green and quirky band 94 Gunships.

“It’s fantastic – we’re blown away,” says Lacey’s drummer David Pearson.

“Hopefully it’ll be a game-changer for us.”

Lacey, which also features Graham Turner, Josh Lewin and Pete Maksymiw, has been together for three years and picked up a strong enough following to pay for a debut album, which is soon to be released.

“The three others went to uni here and I lived with their housemate,” says David.

“We played in a five-a-side football team together and we were awful so we had to start a band instead.”

They toured the UK earlier this year.

“We were playing to 500-capacity rooms mostly, which is pretty good, but this one is absolutely huge.

“We’re confident we will be able to win over the 10,000 crowd. We put on an entertaining show.”

All band members live in the city centre.

Says David: “I actually live next door to the Arena so it’ll be a short stumble home for me.”

Blunt’s rise to fame was helped by Elton John, who invited him to support him on tour in 2002.

“One night I was playing to 40 people and then next I was playing to 40,000,” says the 40-year-old.

“It was a fantastic opportunity and I want to be able to do that for someone else.”


Tickets are £42-£88 from the venue. Call 0843 373 3000 or go to capitalfmarena.com. For more about Lacey search LaceyOfficialUK on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Watch their Hometown video at /entertainment. 

Lawson: Joel Peat

March 2013

HIS grandmother will be there, in Rock City, along with the rest of his family, to see him in action. As long as they can find her somewhere to sit.
“She has this broad Glaswegian accent, I’ll finish a song and I’ll hear her shouting “JOEEEEL! It’s so off-putting,” he laughs.
“But she’ll be there. We’ll get her some ear plugs but she’ll love it.”
The show, on Wednesday, is part of guitar-pop band Lawson’s sold out UK tour.
And for their guitarist Joel Peat, it’ll be a yet another milestone.
“I grew up seeing bands at Rock City,” says the 22-year-old from Ravenshead.
“Funeral For A Friend, Fall Out Boy, Reel Big Fish, All American Rejects... it was all rock stuff because I was well into my pop punk when I was a teenager.
“I also saw Ted Nugent there. That was a bit random because he had a bow and arrow on stage. It was petrifying.”
He adds: “And we’ve played Nottingham quite a few times. We’ve played Rock City’s Basement, Stealth and the Rescue Rooms but I have never stood on that stage.
“And the first time that I do will be for a sold out show. I can’t wait.”
Joel joined Lawson, whose debut album Chapman Square reached No. 4 last year, in 2010.
Before that he was in bands in Ravenshead and Mansfield, where he moved aged 16.
After taking A-levels at Joseph Whittaker School, he moved to Guildford to study at The Academy of Contemporary Music, which he compares to the Jack Black film School of Rock.
“You played the guitar every day and learned about the music business. It was such a good environment for learning how to play in a band.”
It’s where he met Ryan Fletcher, Lawson’s bassist and the pair formed their first band together.
For three years he worked in various odd jobs, from shops to restaurants, while writing and rehearsing with the band at night.
They toured the UK in a van, including their first show in Nottingham at Rock City, as part of the Dot to Dot festival.
The break came through boy band The Wanted, whose manager saw their video, a cover of Bruno Mars’ Grenade, on YouTube.
Lawson’s frontman Andy Brown had been in a band with Max from The Wanted which helped.
They were offered the support slot on The Wanted’s UK tour, after which they were immediately signed to Polydor.
“We joined The Wanted again when they did the Arena tour last year, which opened in Nottingham. I remember during the afternoon standing on stage looking out at this empty arena that I’d seen so many gigs at. It was one of those moments...”
He’s had plenty more since, including a promotional jaunt in North America.
“It was eye-opening and over whelming,” says Joel of the ten-day visit earlier this year.
“We were initially going to put just one show on in New York, to see what it was like over there.
“We had no preconceptions about how we’d be received because we weren’t being played on the radio, hadn’t released anything there and there was no promotion.
“But we were getting a lot of messages on Twitter asking us go over.”
He adds: “But then the New York gig sold out.”
It was at the Bowery Ballroom, which he’d dreamed of playing since he was 15.
“I’d seen a video of John Mayer, who is my idol, playing there and I remember thinking ‘that venue is wicked, I’d love to play there one day’. And we ended up selling it out.”
A date was added in Los Angeles, which also sold out.
“It was funny because the crowd knew all the words to our songs and yet we had no music on sale there.
“We said to them ‘how did you get the album?’ and they all looked embarrassed,” he laughs, knowing the fans must have illegally downloaded their album.
“But if they’re liking the music and they want to come and see us because of that then I don’t care,” he adds.
“The fans all talk to each other all over the world and then you see them come to gigs and make friends. That’s quite amazing. We were totally overwhelmed by it all.”
After Los Angeles, they flew for a third gig in Toronto.
“That was phenomenal, as well. And we had dinner on the CN Tower, which was quite funny because Andy is petrified of heights. Watching him standing on the glass floor was hilarious.”
Along with the gigs Lawson appeared on network TV, including MTV, E! and Access Hollywood.
“We met Taylor Swift while we were there and she said she was a huge fan of the band. We’re huge fans of country music so it was a real Twilight Zone experience.”
Drifting back in to Notts dialect he adds: “I thought ’owd up, I’m gonna have to pinch meself here.
“She was saying that she’d seen all our videos on YouTube, that she loved Standing In The Dark and that should be our first single in the States.”
They recently signed to Mercury Records in the US and their first single will be released in the summer.
As soon as they returned to the UK, Lawson hit the road for their sell-out tour and so there’s been little time to return to Notts.
In April the band will be on a promotional tour of South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
“The album was reaching No. 3 on iTunes in places like Singapore and Malaysia.
“After that we’ll either fly to LA and do some more promo or come back home but I just want to keep at it.”
His last visit home was at Christmas.
“It was wicked. I love coming back,” he says.
“Every Christmas Eve we go to a pub in Ravenshead and all of my friends were there. It was a good laugh.”
For New Year he was in California, where his girlfriend lives.
Is she a model, an actress, a pop star?
“No, she’s not anything like that,” he laughs.
They met over a year ago in Los Angeles when Lawson were recording Chapman Square. He reckons the Notts accent helped.
“It’s the only reason I pulled her,” he laughs.
“No, I’m kidding. It’s funny because in the States a lot of people thought I was Australian, because it’s not a traditional London accent.”
Mum is a music teacher. Dad was a professional footballer, who played for Sheffield United but now works for Notts Police. And he has a younger sister who recently moved away from home to go to university.
“I try to take her to as many things as I can,” says Joel.
“She got to meet The Wanted and Jessie J, which she was buzzing about.
“They’re all really proud and want to be involved.”
Home is now just outside London.
He says: “We’re pretty flat out and I don’t get to go home much, which is a shame, but it’s a small price to pay for doing a job you love.”

Lawson’s show at Rock City on Wednesday is sold out.

Captain Dangerous

June 2012

Tell us about the album. It’s fun-packed, uplifting, early Blur-ish in parts, jovial Pogues in others... is that fair?

I think there’s a fair bit of early Blur and shades of the Pogues casting their shadow over the album but also bits of classical music thrown in for good measure. Harmony-wise I think it recalls the Beach Boys. We just wanted to make a good dynamic pop record with ambitious arrangements, and interesting lyrics.

You’ve called it The Empire Never Ended and your last single was Forgive Us We’re British. Hardly swollen with national pride are you?

The title is as much about celebrating Britain as it is about slamming its shameful foreign policies. It’s impossible for me not to get annoyed by our government’s tendency to invade other countries illegally. In that respect nothing has really changed from the time of the British Empire. But that’s not to say I don’t love it here. It’s a pretty awesome place to live and the album celebrates that too. 

You’ve been around a while. Why has the album taken so long?

We kept losing our drummers, which slowed everything down. Also, we wanted to make sure every song that went on the album was decent and like it was from the same body of work. I’m glad we took our time with it.

You funded it by busking?

We released a single a couple of years ago and instead of a conventional tour we did a busking tour of the UK. What surprised us was the amount of cash we made. It’s been our main source of income ever since. It’s gruelling but I’m proud of what we achieved. It’s pretty much as DIY as you can get and it’s also a great way to promote your music.

You launched the album at the Rescue Rooms with an 18-piece orchestra. How did it go and any more plans for shows with them?

It was a proper all or nothing show with absolutely no room for error due to playing along with a conductor. I was terrified but it was one of those nights that we’ll always remember. It was triumphant. As for playing with them again, we’d love to, if logistics and funds allow it.

Some of your songs have been played on TV?

Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You has been on TV loads over the last year. That’s mainly down to our publisher. It’s been on a Grey’s Anatomy advert, an ITV football advert, Hollyoaks and Fresh Meat. It’s an odd feeling to be watching telly and your song pops up. It’s also a decent reference point for family members. My gran no longer thinks I’m a loser for being in a band.

Heather and Tommy is about Heather Locklear and Tommy Lee. Why?

I’d just re-read Motley Crue’s The Dirt and started thinking about what their marriage may have been like. There’s something really endearing about Tommy Lee. I’d like to be his mate. I’ve not sent them a copy of the song but I might. Although I don’t want her husband coming after me with the rest of Bon Jovi.

Where and when is the album available?

July 4 on iTunes and Spotify. Physical copies will be available at shows and at www.imnotfromlondon.com.