Dec 21, 20224 min read

NAS 10 Questions with Left on Read

This time, we get to know Left on Read, AKA Steve - singer/keys/rhythm guitar, Adam - drums, and Jack - lead guitar. They are an alt-indie rock band from Limerick, Ireland with influences including Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Muse, and The Killers, to name a few.

The track "Duet" is featured in the New Artist Spotlight Family of Playlists.

Link To New Artist Spotlight Playlists:

https://www.newartistspotlight.org/playlists

1. Tell us a little about where you are from and what you are currently doing.

We’re from Limerick, a small city in Ireland. We’ve been writing and recording tunes together for the last couple of years and we’ve released 3 since July so far. We’ve got a busy schedule ahead with gigs coming up and we’re back in the studio in January to finish our 12-track debut album.

2. What inspired you to start playing and making music?

Individually; our love for it. As a band, we’ve all just been such good friends for years and used to throw together the odd set around the pubs in Limerick. We always loved playing together and whenever we jammed together we just came out with some really interesting stuff. It just made sense to set up something concrete.

𝟯. Who are your biggest influences?

We like to listen to a lot of music and lots of different music at that. Steve was always a bit dramatic and drawn to stadium rock. Adam likes to hit the kit hard so pulls from rock and metal whereas jack has the best back catalog of 70s music of anyone out there, pretty standard for a 19-year-old! In the end, our styles kinda melted together into a kind of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Muse, Killers mish-mash but we love to experiment so we can’t promise to stick to the one thing.

4. What are your goals in the music industry?

Well firstly to make a living off playing music. If you can make a living doing what you love you’ll never work a day in your life and all that. Beyond that, there’s no limit. We want to be the first band to play on the moon, because why not? Most importantly really we want people to connect with our music. We put a lot of ourselves into every song we write and we hope that resonates with people who listen to it.

5. Tell us about your creative process when you make new music.

We kind of like to leave songs fairly open until it comes to recording them. We start with a hook and just mess around with all of the different things we can do with it. Once you have a structure and a basic melody you can start to build it from there. We communicate really well and we’re not afraid of hurting each other's feelings so the open and honest conversation in the studio helps us get the songs where they need to be. And voice notes! Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing you can always pop your phone out and hum an idea into it. ‘Pick Yourself Up’ was hummed out in the car on the way back from a bad day's work, and ‘Duet’ was in the toilet of a pub! Inspiration can hit anywhere, at any time!

6. What is your all-time favorite song?

This is an impossible question so we couldn’t even make an attempt at it! It’s all about what you need at that moment. You’re not gonna listen to Rage Against the Machine when you’re grieving or James Blunt to psych yourself up! All music has its place.

7. What is the best advice you have either given or received in terms of music?

“Enjoy the process”. It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing on milestones but there’s a long road to be had and you’ve got to enjoy every step of it.

“Enjoy the process”

8. Proudest accomplishment?

We recently won the Dolores O’Riordan Music Bursary Award and are honestly still processing it. One is handed out yearly in Limerick and there are so many great bands and musicians here, it’s hard to believe we were picked. The award is handed out in memory of Dolores from the Cranberries, a legend not just here but the world over so even being mentioned in the same sentence is a huge honor.

9. Just for fun! What's been your most embarrassing moment so far?

When we played our first gig it was the first time we’d all played with in-ears. The venue was full but we couldn’t hear the crowd at all, and we couldn’t see them with the stage lights either. So yeah, we kinda thought they hated us. Popping those in-ears out at the end put our worries at ease though so good thing we didn’t wrap it up early. Went down great!

𝟭0. Tell us about your lowest and highest points in music so far.

Well, we started as a band in February 2020 and a couple of weeks later Covid shut the whole country down. We didn’t even get to meet for the first few months. Ireland had very strict lockdown measures so there was no real opportunity for us to do anything for a long time, and to be honest it affected our mindsets pretty badly too. There was a huge sense of hopelessness that was hard to work through. That whole first year was a write-off for sure. We got to writing and recording some songs in April/May 2021 and that’s when it really felt like we were getting somewhere. We applied for a grant based on those first 4 songs and got it so we got to make another 4. Since we released our first song in July this year though it’s been nothing but highs. We won the Dolores O’Riordan Music Award and have been able to start gigging since lockdown restrictions are gone. It’s great to make music but you do need validation every now and then, every musician has some sort of ego that needs feeding! It’s been great these past few months and we’re so excited for the future but we’re not taking a second of this for granted!