6 minute read
Lewis Capaldi
On The Move: Hi Lewis! Thanks for having us. Can you tell us more about your evolution as an artist ?
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Lewis Capaldi: My brother was always in bands growing up, so I just kind of copied him. It wasn’t admiration, more like a sibling thing. Whatever your brother do, you want to do it too. If he’s going to play the guitar, I’m going to play the guitar as well. He is 6 years older than me and because of that, we started playing kind of the same thing, because I was copying him. That kind of gave me this sexier start because he was at that age, at 18, where people starts joining bands and playing gigs when I was only 12 (laughs). So in the end, when he started playing gigs, I was like « ok I wanna start playing gigs as well », when he started playing songs, I was like « ok cool, let’s do that ». So I’ve always just wrote and sang at gigs because I felt that, if you want to be a musician, that’s just what you do. I don’t think there were other ways to do it rather than doing that. So yeah, I just kicked it off in Glasgow from 12 to 18, and I was playing anywhere they’d let me. Unfortunately there are not many bars that’d let a 12 year-old play in, so we kind of just sneaked in. I used to hide in the bathroom and then come out when it was my set, plugged in and played. Once you’re allowed on stage, you’re usually good, but afterwards they’d kick me out.
On The Move: It was a struggle to get in then.
Lewis Capaldi: It was tough but we eventually made it through. When I turned 18, I met my managers and they were like « We want you to take a year off of gigging, just to write songs.». At this point, doing gigs was what I was doing everyday of my life. So I was like, « ok, cool! »
On The Move: So you’ve always wanted to be in music?
Lewis Capaldi: Yes, of course. But it wasn’t about making music for money. If I could make enough money to get by and do something, then I am happy. I wrote « Bruises » on my 20th birthday and then we released it in March following up. And here we are now!
On The Move: And here you are, playing a headlining tour in America, in Los Angeles!
Lewis Capaldi: It’s mad. It’s one of those things I’ve always dreamed of. It’s cool but to be fair, I never thought I’d be playing a gig here (laughs). I always thought that if I could tour the UK and make enough money, that’d be great.
On The Move : There are more and more new artists from the UK and Ireland, for example Dermot Kennedy or Tom Walker, who are starting to make it big here in America!
Lewis Capaldi : Yes, exactly. I think it’s good to see people from the UK and Ireland do well over here, especially because it is a tough market and there’s a lot of competition and talented people, so the fact that people from the UK and Ireland are getting recognition here is amazing!
On The Move: Let’s talk about “Bloom” your debut EP which talks about love, heartbreaks and missing someone that you love. Is this inspired by personal experiences or did you try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes to write the lyrics?
Lewis Capaldi: It was taken from my own experiences for sure. The only one that is a bit fictional is “Mercy”. Mercy is about the moment where a guy is told by his girlfriend that she wants to break up with him and he just explains everything that is happening in his head at that moment. That’s the only one that was kind of fictionalized.
On The Move: What kind of music inspires your songwriting?
Lewis Capaldi: This is a good question. I listen to a lot of music that inspires me. For example if I listen to Kendrick Lamar, it inspires me to want to write because his lyrics are so f**king lit. People like that, like Paolo Nutini that I was listening growing up or The Beatles that I love. Kings Of Leon for example. The band is a huge inspiration of mine. If I’m writing a song and I’m struggling with the lyrics I am wondering if I can imagine people like Kings Of Leon singing on it. If I can’t, it means that I still need to work on the lyrics and the song.
On The Move: How did you make the featuring with Jessie Reyez happen “Rush” ?
Lewis Capaldi: I was just a huge fan of Jessie. Well, I still am. Me and Malay, a guy I worked with, we finished the song, or a certain version of the song, and I talked to my manager and I was kinda like “Ok, maybe, we can reach out to Jessie’s people” because I was such a big fan but I didn’t know what to expect. I thought she would be like “No!” but actually, she answered “Hell yes, let’s do it!” I was over the moon (laughs) because she is brilliant!
On The Move: We actually met Jessie a couple of months ago and she said to us: “My way to heal my wounds is actually to put it into my music”. What do you think about that?
Lewis Capaldi: For me, I feel like I write songs after going through that. I suppose everyone is different. You could tell that she does what she says on her music. For me, if for example if I write about heartbreaks, I don’t write while I’m heartbroken, I write four months after. I think there’s an aspect in music that can help you to get over things.
On The Move: You have a new song out called “Tough”. What can you tell us about it?
Lewis Capaldi: That’s an upbeat song. It’s a bit different from what has come before I think but I’m excited and I hope people like it. That’s a song I wrote with an amazing guy called Jonathan Quarmby. I think it’s a song that sounds quite happy but the lyrics are quite sad and that’s the way forward from it. Making songs about heartbreaks and also making songs that are upbeat but about heartbreaks (laughs) to balance it all.
On The Move: You recorded your EP in London, New York and Los Angeles. Does it inspire you to work in different cities in the world?
Lewis Capaldi: I think because I spent so much time writing and recording in London before the EP came out, by the end of it, I did feel a bit uninspired by it all, I just felt used to everything. I love writing in LA because it’s like, you wake up and it’s sunny and you’re like “I wanna do something today!” As opposed as in Scotland, when you wake up and it’s pouring rain and you just want to stay in bed. It’s just good to take different aspects from wherever you go and just let that in, it helps you to enrich your writing.
On The Move: Artists always say to us that they find more creativity, more freedom here in America. Do you feel like that?
Lewis Capaldi: I think it’s true. People are striving to try different things and work with different people and that’s how those amazing collaborations come about, I think. I think for me, when I come to America, and LA in particular, it’s so good. Everyone is so f**king talented. They’re amazing. They make you wanna stay more because you are always surrounded by those amazing people. It inspires me.
On The Move: You’ve opened for many established artists and now you are headlining your own tour. How do you feel about it?
Lewis Capaldi: I feel good man, yeah, yeah but I feel more comfortable being the support. It’s like, growing up, doing those gigs in Glasgow, I’m used to be the artist that helps to get the party started you know, I’m not used to people coming for me.
On The Move: But now, people are coming for you!
Lewis Capaldi: Yeah, it’s mad! (laughs) For example when I opened for Sam Smith, I was not used to that size of room! I’m used to be in those pubs where no one really cares who you are. That’s amazing, I like it, I like that feeling of having to win these people over. That’s where I come from.
On The Move: Did you notice a difference between the American audience and the European one?
Lewis Capaldi: They’re similar. I think the American audience is more rooting for you when you come on stage. So we opened for the band Milky Chance and I feel like when I was walking on stage to those shows, people would cheer for me as I walked in because they were like: “We want this guy to do well”. They are willing to discover who you are and I like that.
Interview by Pam Charbit with Lénaelle Fontaine |Photos: All Rights Reserved
