File under "interesting and accessible"
Aussie singer-songwriter Alex Lloyd makes heavenly music
Alex Lloyd has nowhere to hang his hat. For the last three years he has written, produced and toured his way through Los Angeles, London and his native Australia. This has forced him to become closely acquainted with an abnormally large number of different hotel rooms.
But transience often leads to creativity, as Lloyd explains from his latest hotel room in Toronto, where he is promoting his sophomore release Watching Angels Mend. "As a writer anyway," he says in his soft-spoken Aussie accent. "I’m going to suck up different sorts of atmospheres."
Lloyd did have a home at one time. Born of creative parents (a journalist father and a painter mother), music was always present in the house while he was growing up.
"Dad had an acoustic guitar laying around the house so we used to have Sunday night Beatles sing-along nights. I guess from there I picked up the guitar myself and started to learn how to play."
At 13, he was already playing regular gigs in the pubs around Sydney and making a name for himself in the local blues scene. By 17 he was writing his own songs, but personal satisfaction didn’t come until a few years later.
"Not until I was about 22, when I started writing my first album Black the Sun, did I really feel I had found something that was my own."
Initially an independent endeavour, Black the Sun was picked up by EMI Australia halfway through the project. Recorded in Australia and then remixed in Santa Monica, California, Lloyd took his time fine-tuning the album, enlisting the help of friends and generally doing it his own way.
After spending time back in Australia promoting the album, London started calling and Lloyd replied by recording his follow-up, Watching Angels Mend, at the famous Townhouse Studios, where the likes of Phil Collins, Elton John and Culture Club have recorded.
"Music-wise, for me, there’s just so much history there," says Lloyd, almost in awe. "So many great bands, bands that I love, have come from there. So I guess to go and be a part of that for a while was a really good thing."
A solo artist in the purest sense of the word, Lloyd keeps a touring band in the U.K. and one in Australia, creating the music on his albums purely through collaborations. After connecting with producer Magnus Fiennes (Pulp, Morcheeba) for Angels, a multitude of talent came on board, including Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt, Portishead drummer Clive Deamer and Black Grape percussionist Ged Lynch, to name a few.
"People that you meet, you think – oh, that would be cool," says Lloyd. "Magnus was good, he knew a lot of people. Just being in Townhouse Studios and recording, it gave that vibe. There were so many people hanging around and if they like what you’re doing, they want to get involved." The end result is a lush studio record with a beautifully layered sound – pure pop at its best.
The album is heavy with introspection, but Lloyd is tight-lipped about dissecting his words. "I try to keep it pretty cryptic," he says slyly. "I kind of figure you could tell what something’s about, but I like to leave it open to people’s imagination and interpretation. I never really explain exactly what my songs are about because once you listen to it or buy it or whatever – that’s the gift that you get. You get to make your own interpretation of something."
Although an avid music lover, with his taste running from Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to Bowie, The Beatles and Radiohead, Lloyd credits his songwriting influences to a broader group.
"Just people," he says. "I’m a big people-watcher and that’s the basis of the title of the album – Watching Angels Mend. It’s about watching people trying to get together and be happy or sad or whatever. I wouldn’t say I was directly influenced by anyone. You kind of take it all in and you get what you get from it."
Classifying his music as "interesting and accessible," Lloyd could easily be describing himself. His music speaks volumes about who he is and what he loves. With a future that includes a little recording, a lot of touring, upcoming nuptials and hopefully an abode to call his own, all seems well.
"Somedays, I just want to sit on the beach and not think about it," he says almost a little wearily. "I do love what I do, though, and I’ve always believed in pursuing what you love." |
