Getting to Know… Leo Spauls | Interview 🎤

For our 206^th Q&A in our Getting to Know… series on The Musical Hype, we chat it up with Swedish musician Leo Spauls.

“I

usually write on the piano, so the music is rather piano-driven.” Sigh, that’s a man after my own heart! 🎙️ Leo Spauls highlights our 206^th interview on The Musical Hype.  While he’s the main attraction, he also speaks about various bands and musicians that have backed him.  Notably, he speaks about David Bowie’s pianist, 🎙️ Mike Garson, playing for him throughout the interview.  As always, Mr. Spauls fills us in about his craft, his past as an actor in theater, and his current and future career endeavors. So, without further ado, get pumped for 🎤 Getting to Know… Leo Spauls: Interview No. 206!

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Starting things off, for those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes you distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?  

🎤 I usually write on the piano, so the music is rather piano-driven. When we go on stage, we go on as a rock band, with drums and guitars, but the piano is always there underneath. 🎙️ Mike Garson (David Bowie’s pianist) played on the last album, giving it a very distinct sound. The new songs are more electronic, so they need to be translated to a live situation. We haven’t tried that yet, but as soon as we get the band back together after the pandemic, we will start working on that.

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Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your band form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?  

🎤 I formed The UK band in January 2020 in London. It’s 🎙️ Elina Tikkanen on backing vocals, 🎙️ Andy Basiola on guitar, 🎙️ Paolo Succo on bass, 🎙️ Lewis Moody on keyboards, 🎙️ Dan Breaden on drums and myself on lead vocals. We did a few rehearsals, had some gigs booked, but then came the pandemic. So since then, we have been focusing on songwriting. We enjoy playing live and are hoping to do a UK tour within a year or two. I always wanted to have a London based band and play clubs and venues in the UK, so finally, it’s become true. 

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Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?  

🎤 I released my first album in 2016 and it was in Swedish. At that point, I had no plans whatsoever in trying to build an audience outside Sweden. But since then, I’ve had a German band, done some gigs in Berlin, and now we are focusing on the UK market with the London band. So, it’s quite a journey. Not to mention having worked with Mike Garson, which is like a dream come true. Having done so many different things in life, working in theatre, writing screenplays, acting, and directing I am still trying to find my own voice as a singer and musician, but I’m getting there.   

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Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?  

🎤 I try to listen to an album a day, and I tune in to BBC6 every night. If you listen to such a quantity of music, the songs sometimes keep ringing in my sleep. However, I rarely try to imitate other artists and seldom play covers, so what level they influence me is probably easier for others to tell. Nevertheless, an artist I have been listening to is St. Lenox. I have never met him, but I follow him on social media. I particularly like his piano playing. He uses many chord changes, which is a bit old fashioned these days, but I like it.  

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Ah, the fun stuff. What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance? Feel free to be creative.  

🎤 This one goes back to when I was working in a theatre in Stockholm. We had a play where the audience was allowed to throw vegetables on the stage if they didn’t like what they were seeing. Although the play itself was rather provoking, no one dared to do it. Until one night, we had handed out leeks to the audience, and suddenly someone threw one and hit a couple of wine glasses on stage. They went into a million pieces, and then we were at full war. People started throwing leeks at the actors, and the actors threw them back. People were screaming and some got hurt and left. It was the most bizarre experience I’ve ever had on stage. And we never dared to try it again.

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Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?  

🎤 Most artists tend to think that their latest album is the best one yet written. Having said that, I like the single 🎵 “Show Me Your Love” released earlier this summer. It has a story to it that is very personal. In five years, I think it will still be one of my best songs. I’m also very fond of 🎵 “History”. It was written in the late ’90s but recorded only a few years ago, featuring Mike Garson on piano. It’s great fun to play live and works very well on stage. We used to play that song in bars and clubs back in the ’90s, so it’s a song that has been with me for many years. And it brings back many memories. 

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Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits? 

🎤 Being Swedish I sometimes get the question if I can fillet a Salmon. And yes, I can. My mother has a place on an island outside Stockholm and you can go out on a boat and put fishing nets there. These days most fish are gone, though, due to pollution and climate changes. Also, it’s not recommended to eat Baltic Sea fish more than twice a year or something like that, since it has such high levels of toxicity. It’s rather sad, but unfortunately true.

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Closing thing out, what are you currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

🎤 We are releasing three singles on the Animal Farm label this year. The two first singles, 🎵 “Show Me Your Love” and 🎵 “Mehringdamm”, are out and available on all streaming platforms. And the third one, 🎵 “Moon Sign” is released on September 10, during London Pride 🏳️‍🌈. I’m hoping to record something new with Mike soon again. I wrote a song based on Marcel Proust’s 📚 In Search of Lost Time for the anniversary this year. However, Mike thought the vocals needed some more work, so we decided to pause that project. That was probably wise. 

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

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Getting to Know… Leo Spauls: Interview No. 206 🎤 [📷: Leo Spauls, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype]

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