Interview: Le Son

For most of us that go to university, those three years end up being the best years of our lives. I was lucky enough to attend one of the most creative universities in the country, Goldsmiths University of London, where I studied for a degree in Popular Music (yes it is a real thing, no we didn’t play covers all day). It was there that I met Emily and Liam, two of the most innovative musicians on our course, and two people I very much admire for their work ethic and perseverance.  Having recently landed a sync deal with THE Oprah Winfrey with their new single ‘Without A Sound‘ as electronic duo Le Son, the future looks really bright for these two. It’s always so lovely to hear that people you know (and perhaps don’t see as often as you should) are having success in a field that makes them happy. It should also give all of us that formed our craft on the course a little more hope for the future. I spoke to Emily and Liam following the release of their brand new video:

KM: Can you tell our readers about how you formed the band? 

L: We were on the same course at Goldsmiths University – Popular Music. We were randomly assigned to do an assessment together to remix a track, and ended up completely going off on a tangent and wrote a track together and loved what we came up with. So it all went on from there! Almost been working together three years now.

KM: I remember that assignment well! Why do you think you work so well together?

E: We are both from completely different musical backgrounds and brought up in completely different situations, so our differences bring us together to make something quite unique and exciting. We are also great mates- so that helps!

KM: Your first single ‘Without A Sound’ has done exceptionally well for such a new artist, gaining a place in Oprah Winfrey’s new drama, ‘Queen Sugar’. How did that relationship come about?

L: It was all quite unexpected and a little random, but one of the producers of the program found us on Soundcloud! Our track ‘Without A Sound’ has been a favourite of ours so we are over the moon. It’s been such a great experience having our track feature on a show this big.

KM: A little birdy told me the track was played over a ‘love scene’ (stop giggling at the back there) – how do you feel about that?

E: Well, we were aware that the track was to be featured in a romantic setting; we were both a bit anxious to see what it would be like. But we think it works really well and its nice to have our track associated with such a passionate and iconic scene of the series. It’s also nice to see a different medium interpret our track in a different way to what we feel the track is about.

KM: There’s such a sultry feel to your music – your sound is suggestive of late nights, city skylines, and for me, couldn’t be from anywhere but London. Where do you find inspiration?

L: The nice part about LE SON is that we are both from two completely different places. Em is from a small village in Wales, surrounded by countryside and I’m London born and bred. So these two backgrounds almost clash, we like to think that’s where our sound is from.

KM: Something that really stands out about your music is that the sound world is so thoughtfully crafted- do you start out with a particular vision of how you want each song to sound?

E: Liam usually starts with a loop or a small idea and then we bounce ideas off each other from there onwards, introducing the vocal melodies and rest of the track. The sound is always first. What the track is about, lyrics and melodies usually stem from how that sound makes us feel.

KM: Liam, you have a background in jazz piano – how does that manifest in your work?

L: Some of my biggest musical influences and inspiration comes from jazz, so some of that seeps into the production style and the way I approach writing.

KM: It must be slightly unnerving to go from relative anonymity to attaining a sync deal with an US drama. How has that affected you as artists, and as individuals?

E: It was such a huge surprise for us in that it has shocked a bit of realness into our music-making. We’ve been writing and working together for so long now that its really given us a push and a huge confidence boost in our sound. We’re really excited for whatever is around the corner, but we definitely have a more professional and business-like attitude as well as a bit of a spring in our step!

KM: Is it too early to start looking forward to an EP?

L: Not at all. We’ve been working on a bigger release for quite some time now. Hopefully we’ll be able to share what we have with everyone soon.

E: The future looks really exciting. We’ve got so much hidden up our sleeves! We can’t wait to share all that we have coming up… Keep your eyes open!

KM: Trust us, we will.

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