Review Fix Exclusive: Lorraine Leckie Talks ‘Mars Bar Baby’ And More

May 22, 2020 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 8

Review Fox chats with singer/songwriter who discusses her creative process, origin in music and new single, Mars Bar Baby and more.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Loraine Leckie: I got involved in music because friends suggested that I turn my poems into songs. I quit my career as a make-up artist and moved into a studio apartment on Orchard St in NYC and spent 3 years learning to write songs and play guitar, piano, and harmonica. At the age of 40, I started performing and making records.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Leckie: I work every day from 1 – 3 pm and hopefully, the muse will pay a visit. Sometimes the songs come from poems or I write the words and music together. I also carry the songs around and work in the studio up in my head. Every Friday night, I run a songwriter collective called The Greenpoint Songwriters Exchange and work out my songs with the group. We meet and help each other with no royalties involved. Artists helping artists! 

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Leckie: I am inspired by the artists that I love. Poets, painters, songwriters, and bands are all influences. I am inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, the French symbolists Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Arthur Rimbaud. My favorite American poet is Frank Stanford. As far as songwriters go, PJ Harvey, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, and Neil Young. I love The Black Keys and Brian Jonestown Massacre. I am a big film noir fan and my favorite film is Charles Laughton’s classic Night Of the Hunter (1955) and I also love the french new wave, especially the director Claude Chabrol. Check out Le Boucher (1970)! Nature and animals are the biggest big stars in my music!

Review Fix: What does music mean to you?

Leckie: Music is and always has been my best friend in the whole world. Music is my favorite cocktail and you don’t get a hangover in the morning!

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Leckie: My sound is Americana-tinged psychedelic rock with supernatural entities. 

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Leckie: Live shows are raw and dangerous because you are right in the moment and crazy stuff can and often does happen and I live for that.  

In the studio, things are controlled and I am always reaching for that wild live sound.  I record live in the studio with my demons and often keep everything including the vocal tracks.  I am lucky because my guitarist Hugh Pool has his own recording studio which is Excello Recording in Greenpoint Brooklyn. It is a home away from home for our band.

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?

Leckie: My latest single Mars Bar Baby was inspired by one of the Queens of NYC nightlife the notorious Ms. Pebbles Russell. Her favorite bar in the Lower East Side was The Mars Bar which was the biggest dive I have ever been in and beloved by all. When it closed she was so upset that I decided to write her a song to keep it alive. The Mars Bar is now a bank machine.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2020?

Leckie: My goals for 2020 are to keep making music, stay healthy, and help others to do the same. 

Review Fix: What’s next?

Leckie: What’s next depends on what happens with the world. I have a single (Mars Bar Baby) coming out May 15th followed by a full-length studio album (Razor Wing Butterly) on June 26th. I hope to have a CD release party as soon as it is safe in NYC and it will be so great to see my demons again. I also have fall tour dates booked in Europe but will only go to play if its the right thing to do. like the most in life. As long as I can sit down and write songs I will be alright because that’s what I love to do most in life.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13861 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

8 Comments

  2. Lorraine is an amazing person and artist. Always excited to read about her passion for music!

  4. Soulful music from a true New Yorker. Lorraine is always very positive and a dedicated artist. Her music can surprisingly rock, and the ballads are soulful.

  6. Favorite cocktail no hangover, that’s poetry Right there friends and Lorraine doesn’t mess around with her music!

  8. Lorraine and the demons have been playing together for a long time and it shows live. The rhythm section is tight and the guitarist is first rate. Lorraine’s lyrics, based on both her own poetry and those of her poetic mentors, are unique and basically create their own niche. Lorraine the artist/ person is bubbly and sweet and very extroverted. You wouldn’t know tis from her lyrics necessarily which tend to be darker and introspective.ive seen her band perform at least a dozen times and they never disappoint . Lorraine also hosts the Greenpoint writers workshop weekly which brings a group of aspiring lyric and music writers together to feed off each other’s knowledge and energy .mars bar baby’ refers to a bar but also is a paen to a livelier more interesting time when the lower east side And alphabet city Were the center of musical energy and creativity that is sadly but a distant memory

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