Review Fix chats with guitarist and singer Leon Marshall, who discusses his origin in music and new single, “Going Nowhere.â€
Review Fix: How did the project start?
Leon Marshall: I started playing guitar from a young age (not that you can tell from my skill level today!) and I started gigging at local open mic nights and folk clubs when I was about 16. I stopped playing for a few years to study Art and Sculpture and then picked the guitar back up a few years later and haven’t put it down again! I’ve been regularly writing and gigging since!
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Marshall: I’ll often come up with a lyric when I’m out and about and I’ll hang onto it until I get back to my home studio, and then I build on it from there. It’s usually a lyric that comes first. Recently when flicking through my song book I realised that it was nearly full of choruses with no verses, and verses with no hook, so I’ve adopted a new rule now that I have to always finish a song if I start it, even if it ends up rubbish, I can always fine tune it later, but I always finish it.
Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?
Marshall: At the moment my standout song is probably ‘Chainsmoking’ and my creative process was a bit different with that one, I wrote it on the way home from a gig in Edinburgh. I’d been booked to play for a proposal at the top of Arthur’s Seat, I made the 4 hour drive to Edinburgh, climbed to the top (which as a heavy smoker was a struggle in itself!) hid behind a rock waiting for ‘the signal’, played the song, he popped the question, she said yes and I drove the 4 hours back home. I was exhausted and chainsmoking in an attempt to stay alert, I came up with the first line of the chorus and the rest fell into place. I sang the whole song over and over so I wouldn’t forget it until I got home and could write it down.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?
Marshall: My goal at the moment is to keep writing, better my writing, and hopefully get back out gigging in front of big crowds again!
Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?
Marshall: When I’ve finished a song, I give it a couple of days to see if the hook is still stuck in my head and if my other half is still wondering around the house singing it to herself, if not I’ll move on and try again…I want people to remember the hook.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Marshall: After just releasing my latest single “Going Nowhere,â€I’ve just finished getting a few more songs done in the studio, so I’m really looking forward to sharing those with everyone!
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