Leodis members Louie Suttle-Marshall and Archie Hardwick join Tiernan Phipps to discuss the frustrations of a band in lockdown and what’s next for a band making waves…
Leodis have had one hell of a year. A year that consisted of performing at sold out shows alongside the band Skinny Living, their debut song surpassing 50,000 streams on Spotify and, most recently, performing an exclusive live set at the house of Steve Chrisanthou, the grammy-nominated songwriter who has worked with Corinne Bailey-Rae to produce her hugely successful self-titled album featuring hit single ‘Put your Records On.
Although my interview with them couldn’t be conducted face-to-face for obvious reasons I don’t have to repeat, jokes were still flying – albeit digitally. When asked how and when the band formed, drummer Louie Suttle-Marshall said: “We all met up in college… me and Archie were put together first year but were separated because we didn’t behave very well.”
It’s interesting hearing the band speak of their early days, being reprimanded at music college, as only a few years later the band would be opening one of the UK’s most successful festivals: Reading and Leeds Festival. When asked what was their favourite gig they had done to date, there was little disagreement that this one topped the rest.
“Reading and Leeds Festival by far. Me and Louie shared a room in a Premier Inn down in Reading and that day we woke up and said if 40 people showed up it would be successful seeing as though it’s the other side of the country, but there ended up being about 400 people there”, said front-man Archie Hardwick. “Though every time we tell that story, we add on 100 more people”, he adds sarcastically, his comment met by laughter from everyone else on the call.
If you have seen Leodis live, there is absolutely no doubt that the boys have a natural gift for showmanship, whether it’s by ordering the crowd to get low in typical rock fashion, or by cracking jokes between songs – often hilariously at the expense of other members of the band. But what sets them apart is the fact that this talk is backed up by a genuine rock sound – energetic vocals backed by lead guitarist Ammaron Thompson’s electric guitar solos (I mean that in both forms of the word electric). The band have worked hard to ensure that this is what they are known for – and boy do their fans know it.
“The plan now is really just to keep trying to release new stuff and build the social media up – its interesting because in this time of lockdown we’ve had loads of interaction, more than ever really”
Archie Hardwick, Leodis.
Their new song ‘Me, Myself & I’, the band’s latest anthem to add to a rich, growing discography has reached 6,000 streams on Spotify in under a month.
“With ‘Me, Myself & I’, we know it isn’t going to do as well as ‘Cocaine Kelly’ but we want to attract a much larger audience because we’ve got a lot of fans who like slow songs but at the end of the day we’re a rock band, and rock lovers form the majority of our fan base,” says Louie.
When asked about future plans, the elephant in the room was addressed.
“Live at Leeds was the big thing we were banking on, but it’s been pushed back to November because of the virus, so fingers crossed that still goes ahead. We were looking to book in some headline shows too but the venues will be full now because of postponed shows, so the plan now is really just to keep trying to release new stuff and build the social media up. It’s interesting because in this time of lockdown we’ve had loads of interaction, more than ever really”, said Archie.
When asked about dream venues the two would love to play, the answers, though both very telling of the band’s auspicious plans, were very different.
“Rounday Park in Leeds is like 80,000 people in the big open air. My dad went to his first concert there to see [Bruce] Springsteen. I can just imagine it on a red hot day in summer. Especially as it’s where we’re from as well. That’s the dream.” a sense of home pride creeping into Archie’s voice.
Indeed, the platform that has hosted the likes of Springsteen to Sheeran would be a colossal venue to play, and on home turf, it would sure be a night to remember.
“Interestingly, I’m looking further afield. I’m gonna have to go Madison Square Garden. America’s finest,” Louie chimes. One thing is clear – the Leodis boys have no plans on stopping soon, and worldwide recognition is the goal.
Although live shows and live recordings are postponed, that isn’t going to stop Leodis from making music and making sure we have tunes to get us through lockdown. The name ‘Me, Myself & I’ is fitting during this unprecedented time, but that’s no reason to isolate yourself from good music. It’s rare for a band as young and fresh as Leodis to be so sure in their sound. Classic rock’n’roll but still able to slow it down and switch it up, evidenced by ‘Cocaine Kelly.’ A young band with such an established sound will surely continue to rise.
By Tiernan Phipps
Feature Image Credit: Declan Creffield