I think the first time I ever saw Leo perform was at the Octagon Records open mic.
My first thoughts were, ‘this guy’s pretty cool, and he sure can play that guitar’. The next time I saw him was at the Sidney and Matilda, where he did an understated yet incredibly powerful acoustic set. My thoughts here were mainly along the line of, ‘you’ve overstepped the line on those vodka cokes, Lucy’ mixed in with ‘wow, this guy reminds me of José González and the tone on that guitar is mind-blowing’. Ever since that day, he continues to amaze. Now signed with the Uni of Sheffield’s record label, a subsidiary of Hudson Records, Leo is gearing up to release his first EP on Spotify, titled “The Shades EP”. I had the chance to chat with him about this upcoming release.
The first time I ever got to hear the EP was in the middle of the night in a dark room, stressed out of my mind about things I can’t control. I desperately wanted something to take my mind off everything, and I decided to listen to ‘Shades’, the opening track. Almost instantly, I was put at ease. The best way I can describe this track is like staring into a warm-toned set of fairy lights. It feels more like a duet between Leo’s soft and comforting vocals, and the gentle acoustic fingerpicking. The lyrics, minimalist but evocative, seem to perfectly describe those indescribable feelings. It is the perfect song for a late night where you feel like everything is going wrong. It finds you there, in the dark, and embeds light into you. I was taken aback by the amount of pure soul and heart in this opening track alone, but this is consistent across the whole.
When talking with Leo about the EP, I asked which track he was proudest of.
“I think the song that I am most proud of might be ‘Shades’; it was basically the turning point in my life for me where everything sort of fell into place, and I realised the project I wanted to create (which is what The Shades EP is part of). I am also just proud of the sound I was able to achieve with ‘Shades’, especially with the sampling of my own vocals as it ended up sounding really cool, and it adds to the texture of the whole track”, he replied.
I also wanted to know a little more about his songwriting process, so I then asked him to explain it to me.
“For me, songwriting always starts with the guitar, because I feel like that’s what I’m good at. I think my lyricism can be very blunt and not too impressive at times”, he begins.
This last sentence has been fact checked by me and found to be false.
“I used to find it near impossible to come up with a melody, so I would come
up with something on my guitar, record it, and then leave it for months until I forgot about it, at which point I would listen back and start workshopping ideas for a whole song. The Song ‘Lover’s Hilltop’, for example, took about three months until I was happy with it as a song – being happy with it as a recording is a whole other story though, hah. Towards the end of the project, though, I really got into a great sort of space where I was able to come up with the guitar parts and have a melody and subject ready to go. The whole project is focused on different relationships- both real ones and ones that I created, and I think that helped me a lot with lyrics, focusing on one aspect of life and showing it in a bunch of different forms.”
I then wanted to ask about what inspired Leo to become a musician.
“I think my parents really inspired me. While neither of them are musicians, they are both so passionate about music and I guess that really rubbed off on me when
I was growing up. They also really motivated me to keep at it. In terms of releasing music, I think that was just the next natural step. I have always enjoyed playing music live and being able to affect people in that way, but releasing music really helps to find more people who connect with what you make and have to say. If I can release this EP and have one stranger really connect with my music, I think that would make me feel super accomplished in what I have done- because music is all about feeling, at the end of the day.”
Leading on from this, I asked what Leo intended to achieve with this EP.
“I just kind of want to share what I can do with people, and make them feel something through that. Having music on Spotify will also be a useful fact when playing two truths and a lie! I guess reaching people who might enjoy my music, but not be able to find me through live performances is the main goal-and if people do find me through the latter, then they can always come back to the songs they like.”
I then asked about his musical heroes- Leo listed a couple of familiar names such as Bon Iver and J Mascis who inspired this EP, and names such as Frank Ocean. Naima Bock, Dijon and mk.gee as broader influences. He went on to elaborate that Woodworth pushed him to join a school-oriented folk collective, which he stayed in until age 18, and suggested that he began a duo with his friend Orladh, which was also successful. Leo described Woodworth as ‘a musical god’, stating that he has ‘played a part in every single musical venture that exists in the northwest of England’.
The final question I had was about the title of the EP, ‘The Shades’.
“So I have made an entire album and, when reflecting on it, I just thought the song ‘Shades’, for many reasons including being the song I’m proudest of, was so important that it had to be the focal point. This is probably a big spoiler, but ‘Shades’ does even have a part two in the album (but not the EP) because I think I just kept coming back to it as a motif. It sets up the album really nicely. I do find it quite funny though, because out of all the song, it’s probably the one with the least coherent lyrics. For me to feel that it’s so important to the project as a whole is based on the feelings I have connected to it as a song- not the feelings contained in the lyrics, or anything like that.”
I can say, honestly, that this is a very special EP and one that each person reading this needs to give a listen. It doesn’t have a set release date presently but should be out some time this summer. We at Forge have firmly cemented ourself as Shades day-one superfans.
You can find Leo on Instagram at ‘@leowoco’ to keep up with his other projects.
