He is also a versatile and accomplished multi-instrumentalist. Drawing inspiration from Tori Amos, Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell, their music is very beat-ific, but with a strong sense of melody and arrangement. She now releases the emotionally fine-tuned single “Everything Gone”, which follows the gentle and poetic “Running”—and appears on her debut EP “Shooting With Lives”, which will be released on July 1, 2022. .
We caught up with Lewis to learn more…
Hi Lewis – would you describe yourself as a singer songwriter or a musician (or both?!)?
I would definitely describe myself as both. I think I look at songwriting as my storyteller side, and arrangement and harmony as my composer side. – I would sing along to instrumental solos on other people’s tracks as much as I would sing along to the songs myself.
Who were your musical influences growing and who are your favorite artists right now?
Growing up it was a lot of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake. Plus my parents’ records – Steely Span, Joan Armtrading – they made it into the mix. The first time I heard Missing By Everything but the Girl remix on some random mix, it was a portal moment for me, it opened some doors inside me.
Right now I’m really enjoying listening to Sohan, and I can never get enough of a wash.
You have traveled extensively and lived all over the world. What did you learn from these experiences? How did they inform your music?
Living in a warmer climate means a lot more time outside – more connection with nature. And also a more gentle movement to life. Growing up in London, it’s never too easy to slow down. Living in different places, I really learned what it was like to go slow – literally! So yes, connecting with nature and slowing down are two ways that enable my creative ideas to surface, feel.
You Have a New Single Out ‘Everything Gone’ — Tell Us More About It
I saw a homeless man on the streets in London and there was something about him that caught my attention. I thought he had a story to tell, there was a look in his eyes. So I wondered what his story could be. That’s where it started, and once I was arranging and building it, I found in my mind a parallel with the history of the American Deep South – oppression, poverty, exploitation – railroad construction. So the song has a gospel-influenced opening, and a kind of blues harmony to it. There is a steam-pump sound, referencing the industrial age. Ultimately this is not a comment on any one person, but the idea that we are all fallible, that we are all capable of losing what we hold dear – life can be so uncertain.
We hear you have an EP coming soon “Shooting With Lives” – written mostly on your London Narrowbot? Tell us more about it!
When I was writing this EP I wasn’t really thinking about Endgame – the release side of things. I was writing only for myself. If I had been focusing on the release aspect, I would have been more precious about recording – recording in a soundless recording studio. But the way I recorded on the boat, it captured all the extraneous sounds—birds on the water, the rumble of engines from boats, it’s all there in the lower ebbs. It’s also a retrospective project in some ways – I’m such a fan of ’80s synth and drum sounds, so I was searching for it the whole time.
Where can we find you online?
Spotify I Instagram I Facebook I YouTube
