INTERVIEW: Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Last Monday night, I had the pleasure of chatting to 21-year-old Benjamin Francis Leftwich before his intimate acoustic gig Upstairs @ Dolan's. From his debut album to his experience of working with Ian Grimble, and his love of The Boss to his dislike of reality TV programmes, here's what soft-spoken and talented young singer-songwriter had to say to me.

Elaine: Benjamin, your debut album, Last Smoke Before a Snowstorm, was released earlier this month. Are please with the reception it's gotten so far?

Benjamin: Yeah, really pleased. It's kind of unexpected but I'm just pleased that people are into it and the shows are getting busier, which is the main thing for me because I really like playing live. So yeah, really pleased.

E: And when it comes to your album being reviewed or discussed, do you tend to read things about yourself?

B: Yeah! I do but I think I need to stop doing that. I don't know, it's kind of... I think the nature of releasing an acoustic album and labelling myself as a singer-songwriter is that people are really going to listen to it and soetimes it's like people will really try to find faults with it. I've never personally said my music is good or original; I just do what and I do. People are liking it, which is great. It's kind of weird when you get people saying that it all sounds the same. But it's an acoustic album and that's what I like doing and that's what I've recorded, so I try to ignore those things. Yeah so, I don't read all of it but I see some of it. It's nice when people say nice things and when people say bad things then that's just the way it goes.

E: You released two EPs before this album- A Million Miles Out and Pictures- but this is your first full-length album. How long have the songs on the album been floating about?

B: I started writing for the EPs and the album when I was 17, so all the tracks across the EPs and album are anything up to four years old.

E: You're not sick of playing any of them yet though...

B: Haha...not really. We kind of had a lot of songs to choose from so I chose the ones I still felt connected to so I could perform them. I still love playing them.

E: Brilliant. It's quite common these days to stick singer-songwriters into particular genres...

B: Yeah, it is.

E: I read somewhere that you don't consider your music to be folk...

B: Yeah, not at all.

E: If you could personally sum up your sound, how would you label it?

B: I'd say singer-songwriter, acoustic guitar-based, and that's all I'd say.

E: You worked with Ian Grimble [Manic Street Preachers, Mumford and Sons, Seasick Steve] on both the EPs and the new album. How was that?

B: It was great. Ian's a really creative but careful producer. He gets the vibe and likes to do things naturally. It was great and he had some really good ideas, especially sonically. I really like bits ofsoundscaped stuff, you know, noises on the album and stuff just to embellish bits and he was really good at that. And he helped me get back into the songs, you know, as I said some of the songs are really old. He had great ideas so it was a very collaborative, positive process.

E: And would you like to work with him again?

B: Yeah definitely; if he'll have me!

E: You were involved in a project called Lights before focusing on solo material. Did you choose to go down the solo route or did they disband?

B: No I chose to go. Acoustic guitar ismy main instrument and I'll always like playing it. I just wanted to stick with what I know.

E: So you prefer going it alone?

B: Yeah definitely.

E: I don't really like asking people who their influences are because I think they then seem to be constantly lumped with or compared with who they meantion...

B: Yeah okay.

E: So instead, I'll ask you who do you like to listen to, and what albums did you listen to growing up that made you realise music was what you wanted to do?

B: There are so many different things I listened to growing up. I guess I've always really been into the song. I've never really minded whether it comes from a metal album, a punk album or a pop album; if it's a good song I'll be into it. But I guess my favourite people to listen to would be Bruce Springsteen, Ryan Adams and Tom Petty. I love The Beatles and Dylan, and new stuff I like Arcade Fire, The National, I like Fleet Foxes. Loads of stuff!

E: All great songwriters...

B: Yeah, exactly.

E: I saw Ryan Adams recently actually. He was doing a few gigs as part of his stripped-back acoustic tour.

B: Oh really? I heard about that. What kind of stuff did he play?

E: Well he played a lot of his softer, more mellow tracks, like 'Oh My Sweet Carolina' and 'Call Me On Your Way Back Home', but also acoustic takes on 'New York, New York' and 'Let It Ride', which were amazing.

B: Oh wow...

E: He's a genius.

B: I agree.

E: This is your second time in Ireland, right?

B: No, it's my third. On the last headline tour I did I came over and played Dublin and Belfast, and the second time I came over and played with a band called Noah and the Whale...

E: I love them.

B: And now I'm here again. This feels like my first proper stay in Ireland.

E: Are you enjoying the shows so far?

B: Yeah, I really am. The Irish audiences are always really nice and into it and rowdy in a good way! Yeah, I really like playing here. We played Galway last night and that was lovely. It's a really pretty city so that was nice.

E: Now that you've mentioned them; what were Noah and the Whale like to tour with?

B: Yeah, good. The shows were great and we got to play in some really cool venues. I got to play the Thekla in Bristol, which is sort of an old, hollowed-out ship; that was really cool. It's sort of different doing a support tour as opposed to my own shows, but it was really nice.

E: You're only 21, which is kind of hard to believe! How does it feel to be at this stage, headling another tour and doing what you love at such a young age?

B: It's cool. I love playing music and that's all I want to do, but it's kind of scary sometimes in like a funny way when... I don't know...I guess as soon as you start getting played on the radio and as soon as you start getting a name, weird things start happening, but I'm doing what I enjoy so...

E: You did a few house gigs recently, didn't you?

B: Yeah, I did.

E: Was that your idea? How did they go?

B: It was my idea, yeah. Me and the guy that manages me just decided to do it after the album came out; it's just sort of fun. We just ran a competition and picked a couple of people, went to their houses and just played a short set in their living room for them and their friends and then hung out a bit. It was funny but really nice. And nothing weird happened, so you know!

E: Ben, I'm a big fan of the album, as are many of my friends and my Editor on the other blog I write for, fourforty4...

B: Thank you very much.

E: Can you tell me a little about the inspiration behind your lyrics?

B: I guess from anywhere, really. Anything that happens that really makes me think; makes me think enough to put it into a song. It can be very different things. Obviously a lot of the songs were written when I was still a teenager growing up, so there's definitely a teenage vibe on some of this album. There probably won't be in the future, now that I'm that bit older. But yeah, it's sort of normal, growing up, teenage guy things really. And also, I read a lot so I try put some stories into songs and then reference different things. So yeah, when I write a song it just sort of comes, if that makes sense? There's no sort of- what's the easiest way I can put it- there's no magic tricks or anything...

E: No set rules...

B: Yeah exactly. No formula or anything like that.

E: What kind of books do you like to read?

B: Well, my favourite book is called Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I really like stories. I really like another book called Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. I'm not really into reading history books, or anything like that, but I just love good stories and things that make me think a little bit. There's a book called Atonement that I really liked. It's a bit serious but it's great.

E: Great! I have a bit of a dodgy question for you now; did you know one of your songs, 'See You Soon', was featured in that really shite reality TV programme Made in Chelsea?

B: Haha! I did... Oh God... I had just come back from Glastonbury and was staying at my friend's house in Bristol and someone text me and said, "You're on Made in Chelsea", and I was like, "Ugh..." I called my manager and was like, "Ugh...no!"

E: Do they need permission to do that?

B: It would be nice if they asked for permission, you know, but obviously they're not going to because they know I would have said no. That's one of the really crazy things abou the music industry, for me. To break in, obviously I signed a publishing deal for the rights to my songs, which is an important thing to do so I could live, and I could tour and stuff like that. But yeah, it makes me so mad that people can do stuff like that without you even knowing about it.

E: well, I guess one thing is that it does seem to be a popular show...

B: It is and it's cool that my music is getting out there, but at the same time that's probably the last thing I would ever choose to watch...

E: Haha...you're not alone there, I'm sure. If you could hop on a tour bus for the summer with any band or singer-songwriter, who would it be?

B: That's a really good question. Am...Bruce Springsteen- just to be able to hang with him! I'd probably get booed off stage or something but, yeah, just to be able to hang with him. I am a big, big fan of his...

E: He's pretty cool, and great live.

B: Yeah and I think he really cares and he's into music for all the right reasons. And he's just an amazing, amazing songwriter.

E: So if you had to stranded on a desert island and could bring just one album, would it be one of The Boss'?

B: Yeah, it's be Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska. A great acoustic album. I love how that album sounds. Again, it's an example of an album with just acoustic guitar and a bit of harmonica, but it's the songs, the songwriting; it's just fucking mindblowing. 'Atlantic City' off that record is just one of my favourite songs of all time.

E: What's the ultimate goal here, Ben? What would be an ultimate career high for you?

B: I think just... There's no particular thing, I don't think. Just when people write to me and say, "This song really says something to me" or "I like what you're doing"; those things mean more to me than any kind of commertial success or anything like that. One thing, I guess, that was really cool was getting to play at Union Chapel in London last year for a Mencap charity event. That was pretty cool to play and then seeing it on TV as well. And Glastonbury was pretty special as well.

E: That's really all I have for you, Ben! Thanks so much for meeting me...

B: No, thank you for coming in and speaking with me and doing this...

E: No problem at all; my pleasure!

For a full setlist from Benjamin's Dolan's gig, see here. For a review of the album, by fourforty4 editor Steven O'Rourke, see here. And finally, for more on Benajmin Francis Leftwich, visit his official website here.

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