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Congratulations on the new album ‘Midnight’! How was it been received so far?
Thanks so much! it’s been a journey getting this one recorded and ready but I’ve loved every step of it and I cannot wait for people to hear it. The songs that we’ve released so far have been received with open arms so I’m itching for people to hear the full record!
What were your inspirations for the new album? And what sets this record apart from your previous releases?
It’s a lot more mature than my previous releases, definitely. That’s not knocking my previous releases at all but I’ve just grown up a bit and I think that my songwriting and musicianship has grown up with me! The inspiration behind this record is a relationship, the before and the after, the highs and the lows, etc. It’s an extremely personal record to me but I hope that people can find home in it too.
We read you had over 90 songs written for your first album ‘The Morning’, were you in a similar situation with the new album? Did any of the previously discarded 90 tracks make the cut this time around?
A few of them did, yes! I wrote a load of new ones for this album though, I was just in a space where songs were flowing and so I let them! I already have a few lined up for the next album though. It’s a great thing, being able to fall back on a bank of songs for discovering old gems and inspiration for new music!
As someone who in the earlier part of their career rose to prominence through YouTube, do you think it’s how upcoming artists will make a name for themselves in the future?
I think it’s a great platform, it certainly helped me build an audience in the early days! I was very lucky though, I was on YouTube in the early days, when there weren’t that many musicians using it and I’d get a lot of traffic because of that. Nowadays, it’s much more saturated with musical content so it’d be a lot harder to poke through the masses! Don’t let that discourage you though! Good music will always rise to the top!
You’ve just been over in Australia playing some shows, how was that? How does the audience differ to here in the UK?
It was amazing, thanks! Such a great market out there and the crowd reacted so well to the songs which is so exciting for me! Yeah, they are a bit different to the crowds here, the Aussies love music so you get a whole new level of appreciation at the gigs there, they’re not scared to show exactly how they feel either!
What have you been listening to on your travels, any recommendations for anyone reading this?
I’ve had a load of new bands/artists fill my ears in my travels recently, so yes of course! That new Sampha album has been on repeat for me, it’s beautiful! I recently discovered D.D Dumbo as well, his album is like somebody took Sting out of The Police and raised him on indie music and Jeff Buckley, it’s amazing. Another album I’ve been listening to on repeat has been the Trophy Eyes album, it’s slightly heavier than my previous suggestions but it’s so beautiful, ‘Chlorine’ in particular really dragged me in.
What can we expect to see from Lewis Watson for the rest of 2017?
A load of touring, a load of song releases and then a load of writing for this third album (hopefully!)
What format do you prefer to listen to your music in, vinyl, cd, streaming etc. How important is hi-res music to you and what do you think of streaming services and their effect on the music industry?
I’m always listening to vinyl when I’m home, I raided my dad’s collection so I’ve got a load of classics as well as my slightly newer collection. So when I’m home, it’ll definitely be vinyl. However, when I’m out and about, I only ever stream music. It’s just so convenient and that’s a big deal when I’m in the van or on/off of planes, definitely.
Lewis Watson’s new album ‘Midnight’ comes out on the 24th Mar
