In Conversation With The Lounge Society
When they returned to the Streatham studio of Speedy Wunderground don Dan Carey, The Lounge Society set about crafting a debut album built entirely from the ashes of youthful desire; with a contemptuous attitude towards the ruling elite, combined with a raging fire in their collective Calder-Valley bellies, the boyhood friends are about to chart their own sonic journey. 'Tired of Liberty' isn't the final chapter in a story that began before the pandemic started; it's the prologue for what's about to come for the humble, dream-hunting Hebden Bridge four-piece. Just days before they started their most extensive tour schedule to date at Sheffield's Float Along Festival, we sat down with TLS frontman-of-the-hour Cam Davey.
To go back to the beginning - how did you all meet, get into music and form the band?
It will have had to be Year 10 in high school, doing Music GCSE, we've all grown up in Hebden Bridge. So we kind of knew each other, but it wasn't until we did Music GCSE that I think we were kind of pushed into it. Anytime we had a lunch break, we would just go to some music room and start rehearsing. We just started with covers, but I think it was just like, completely natural that we started writing our own stuff. And we just had shared interests, we also helped each other widen our musical tastes.
Your first single was released in March 2020. So quite a while back now, right at the beginning of the pandemic. So what has changed for you, professionally and personally in that time?
It was funny when that came out because we had gigged a little bit, but we weren't really seasoned at all. Then we released that single and it was lockdown. We also released the EP, and it was still lockdown. We seemed to get some traction without playing any gigs, so it was kind of the opposite of how a band starts. I think it has meant that it's all that more important; we've just been waiting to put all our time and effort into doing all the things you can do as the band. So I think since that it's just pushed us into it doing it full time, every waking moment. Which is the best job.
Image: Alex Evans
Obviously, your debut album is out now. What does it mean for that to finally be out into the world and on vinyl, we've heard you're all big crate diggers...
Maybe it's the nostalgia, but vinyl has always been something we love. It's also kind of crazy that vinyl has had a resurgence, although it's sort of underground, with the Post-Punk scene. Like, I try and buy any band’s vinyl, just for the sake of helping because it's one of the best ways of helping a band out financially. It's a piece of memorabilia as well, I've got one on my wall. It's something we put maybe four or five years into, because some of the songs were that old and some of them are new. It's like a piece of art that you've been working on for years. It's brilliant.
““We’re tired of how liberty is manipulated or used as a weapon; the album is about the different times and places in which we are able to find liberty on a personal level, but also, how we can see that it’s found on a more political sense””
Talking about the title, I'm interested in where 'Tired of Liberty' came from…
Well, we sort of wanted something that on initially hearing sounded nihilistic, or maybe sounded a little bit like there was a loss of hope. But for us, we're tired of how liberty is manipulated or used as a weapon; the album is about the different times and places in which we are able to find liberty on a personal level, but also, how we can see that it's found on a more political sense. We tried to look at everything through the lens of where we live in a little Northern countryside town. We're looking at liberty on any scale, and seeing how we can become not tired of it, as currently, the world seems to be.
You've always been outwardly political. How important is it to not shy away from difficult topics within your lyrics? Is there anything that you consider off-limits when you write?
No, not at all. I think actually more that it's not even up to us to be political and even when we have more personal songs, we feel they are still political, and that anything in your life has to be. You don't have to be blunt, you can be subtle, it works both ways, but it's not worth worrying about or constricting yourself. I think that's in our music and lyricism, anything goes really. Yeah.
““Dan [Carey] has been the person to sort of connect us to that crazy world of London, and be more of a friend to us, as well as a creative outlet. So working through the EP, we’ve now got to the point where our relationship where we feel comfortable with anything””
You've worked with Dan Carey on the album, which is something that I feel like I'm saying quite a lot in interviews at the moment. What's it like working with him?
It's brilliant. I'm really happy that we had the single [Generation Game] as a way to work up to the album because we were, I think 15 and 16 when we did the first single; it was my first time in London, and we just went down and recorded, it was like an alien experience. Since then, Dan has been the person to sort of connect us to that crazy world of London, and be more of a friend to us, as well as a creative outlet. So working through the EP, we've now got to the point where our relationship feels comfortable with anything, and he felt comfortable suggesting stuff and vice versa. For example, in 'No Driver', that vocal in the intro was recorded at like 2 am, after we went to an Italian place opposite the studio. Dan knows the guy who owns it, like some kind of Mafia boss and we got really wasted on tequila. Then Dan made us go back into the studio to do the vocals because I wasn't happy with it. He just got me to go full chest and push my voice. I never usually do that but since then, it's opened me up to how I can sing. So it's those moments, that are what Dan is great at.
How would you say you all work together as a unit? What's the usual creative process like, is it democratic?
It's completely democratic. We all contribute to lyrics, and we all contribute to the music. I don't think it would work any other way with us. I think one reason could be actually that we all have a little bit too much ego in the best way possible. Every unique idea for each person is vitally important and you just see how much you can push that idea. Then with a certain amount of resistance, you realise if it's necessary or not. So the whole process of writing a song is like a jam, but with all these little parts that get pushed in and pushed out. So it feels great because then the song is really ironed out and there are no weak bits.
Image: Alex Evans
You mentioned earlier that you're all from Hebden Bridge, which has seamlessly become a melting pot for creativity and exciting new bands in the last few years. Why do you think that might be?
I think the main reason has to be the venues. It's all from the fact that independent venues can pull through especially after the pandemic, they're just so important to the creation of bands; The Golden Lion and The Trades Club were our local venues and when we were young they would help us out as much as possible, but also it felt like a safe space to go and hang out that wasn't in the park in the rain drinking two-ies from the corner shop.
““Recording is separate and fun, but all for different reasons. Songs can take different shapes. When you do it live, you just sort of go with whatever, whatever seems to prick the audience there””
You’re about to head out on tour. How excited are you to get out on the road, and how important to you are live performances?
Massively important. I think we do see ourselves as a live band. Recording is separate and fun, but all for different reasons. Songs can take different shapes. When you do it live, you just sort of go with whatever, whatever seems to prick the audience there. Also, we just want to sustain ourselves as well. So as much as we are doing it for ourselves, we want to keep doing it while we can. So I mean, massively excited for the tour. I think we're doing the UK and then doing Europe, so it's gonna be quite a lot, but I don't want it any other way.
You played alongside Fontaine's D.C., Wet Leg and The Strokes in July. How was that? On paper, that lineup is just absolutely mega.
It was absolutely nuts, Fontaine's D.C. and the strokes were like the two bands that we would just cover when we were in high school; they'd just released 'Dogrel'. Things seem to be opening up in UK guitar music at the time we were starting. So, to get to the point of playing alongside them, I mean, we didn't get to see The Strokes backstage, as you can imagine, but we got to chat with Wet Leg and Fontaine's and they're all just so lovely. It's really nice to just be around that and feel like a rock star. Just for a day.
The Lounge Society's debut album 'Tired of Liberty' is out now on Speedy Wunderground. Listen to it here!
Main Image: Alex Evans
