10 Questions with Lycio

If you could share one thing with an audience before they first tuned into your music, what would you say?

The general vibe of the music might be a little confusing at first, and you might leave wondering wtf you just listened to, but honestly, just stick around and trust the process… and also, Charlie programs all of the synth sounds, which is pretty cool.

What’s a non-music thing, a book, a place, a random job, a conversation you overheard, that actually changed how you create music?

I think in the early days, all of us working in hospitality jobs gave us a drive to push the music and try to take it somewhere!

Also, we’ve unfortunately encountered some incredibly unpleasant people during our time in music, and I think that this has shaped some of our attitude and vibe, both in and out of the music.

Give us a song origin story. Where did the idea come from, and did you know straight away that it was something, or did it take a while to reveal itself?

We have a song called ‘Liquid Gold,’ which I’d say has a pretty odd backstory. Charlie and Alex created this funky beat; I think they named it something like groovy idea, and asked if I could write something to it. I probably wrote the lyrics when I was like 19/20 about a much older gentleman I was infatuated with – very problematic in hindsight. But Alex and Charlie liked what I came up with, but felt there were too many ideas crammed in and also felt it was too long and lacked some variation.

And rather than take on the feedback or work out a compromise, I kind of fixated on how the song had become my baby. It was really tough to understand at the time, especially for the guys. It led to a huge fight, and we were genuinely on the brink of breaking up. In hindsight, since being diagnosed with autism, I understand myself a lot better and how I can fixate on things I’m passionate about. But after parking the song for a good 2-3 years for the sake of peace, we finally managed to finish it and put it out on our latest EP.

Pick a song that you’ve released (or is to be released!) that could only have been written at that exact moment in your lives. What was going on, and is there any part of you that wishes you could still be in that moment?

There’s actually a song called ‘Feel’ that’ll be on our upcoming album. I’m not even gonna skirt around it; it’s extremely dark and extremely raw. A lot of the songs I’ve written with Lycio kind of talk about how much I suffer with my mind and how low I can get, but this one… this one I was feeling so broken. But I love it so, so much, because I really feel that it’s important to be as vulnerable as you can be in art. It really is the best way to connect to people through music, and the words pretty much describe feeling stuck, being at a breaking point, and being desperate.

‘Saharan King’ is one of the first songs I wrote with Lycio about an ex. I never really write about my romantic interests these days, well, at least not so directly. No one gets a whole song about them now, more just a few lines, with the rest being my imagination. Take ‘Liquid Gold’ for example; there is absolutely NO way in hell I’d be that complimentary about a man to that extent now. Because you just don’t know how it’s going to end and how much you’re going to hate them down the line. I’ve literally seen clips of artists trying not to gag when singing about their asshole exes; I’m not trying to find myself in that predicament.

Tell us about a gig that went somewhere unexpected: a night where the room, the crowd, or just something in the air made it feel like more than a show. What happened?

Hmm two come to mind. First, The Dark Horse. We’ve played twice; first in 2017 and again in 2019. The second time, we kind of took the energy that we’d started to discover in our first-ever headline show at The Vic in 2017, and ran with it! I think we really found that ‘happy medium’ level of “conviction & energy” that was needed for a show. That, plus a whole bunch of people came down and the night was just super busy; it felt effortless. The stars aligned, and it was one of those nights that just goes off. There’s loads of that gig up on our YouTube.

Also, how could we forget our first ever show with Uncover at The Marrs Bar? That show went off just as much as any show ever has – and there are loads of videos of that up on YouTube too!

What’s going on in the world right now, nothing to do with music, that’s quietly making its way into what you’re working on?

Hmm… the Climate Crisis / Climate Collapse.

Which artist, alive, dead, from any era, would you most want to play your music to?

MØ. She is a badass.

Forget the big moments. If your music was the soundtrack to one small, ordinary moment in someone’s day, what would that moment look like?

Probably a sexy moment! … Or a warm beverage!

What’s next for you? Tell us what you’re working on and if you have anything exciting in the pipeline.

We are on the brink of releasing the fifth and final instalment of our EP ‘Inbetween’ – keep your eyes peeled!

Also, after we play our new album in full on 25th September, we need to crack on and work out how the hell we will record that record!

Any final words to leave us with? This is your chance to plug anything, or bring something else to the table that you’d like covered!

Peace and Love…. and don’t use AI to create music or art.