:(, Andrew WK, Olafur Arnalds, Athlete (first record), Sara Bareilles, Ben Folds/Five, Blakfish, Blessed By A Broken Heart, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Carlton, Coldplay, Copeland, Failsafe, Kirk Franklin, Fun, Har Mar Superstar, Jonny Holley, Dave House, Vanessa Hudgens, Sam Isaac, Jacks Mannequin, Jimmy Eat World, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Kid Cosmic, Ben Kweller, Kyte, Mates Of State, Motion City Soundtrack, New Found Glory, Jenny Owen Youngs, Paramore, Katy Perry, Queen, Relient K, Reubens Accomplice, The Rocket Summer, RX Bandits, Say Anything (first record), Set Your Goals, Sigur Ros, Something Corporate, The Starting Line, Sufjan Stevens, Take That, Taking Back Sunday (first record), Tellison, Weezer, Kanye West.
LL spotify playlist:
Spotify is this great programme made by Swedish people that lets you listen to basically all the music in the world for free. This playlist contains music that I really love, and that I think you'll love too. I'm going to update it every day with new songs that I'm listening to so that you can enjoy them too and benefit from my great taste. Click here to add my playlist to your Spotify account.
LL on last.fm
Here's my last.fm chart so you can see what I've been listening to on my computer:
Sounds Like
"I really like the new song, it's another massive pop hit. You're terribly good at those." Marsha Shandur, Xfm
"Nicht schlecht für einen Studenten!" Matthias Scherer, Musikexpress.de
"You're awesome." Tony Gambino,Blessed By A Broken Heart
"(Latitude Festival 2008 review) - Luke Leighfield basically owned the crowd. He played brilliantly, then in one of his last songs, managed to get the three-days-hungover, lethargic and lounging-on-the-ground crowd to all stand up and do big stadium clapping. It was awesome. He writes brilliant songs and is enormous fun live." Marsha Shandur, Xfm
"Luke Leighfield is just getting better and better. His tunes have a way of sticking fast in your head, and it's a real joy to watch him at a gig where everyone's singing along, so you have an almost community feel about the gig, but in the way that you very much feel part of that gang, regardless of whether or not you've seen him before (I know from my first experience, and from others having related that to me)." Marsha Shandur, Xfm
"Luke Leighfield mournfully tinkles the ivories like Tony Hancock playing Elton John tunes. This is what happens when romantics step out into the big wide world. They become disenchanted and disillusioned with nearly bloody everything. The Fly thinks that Luke has got enough wit and hope to survive, but just keep an eye on him for us, will you?" Andy Roberts, The Fly
"A breath of fresh air in this world of gloomy winters and moody blues." Huw Stephens, Radio 1
"He plays the naive student and he does it with pride. He plays the drunken fool but with a knowing smile. He plays the ironic joker with a meaningful edge. All these parts collect together in a mesh of improvisation and ‘in’ jokes to form Luke Leighfield’s unique set which left the residents of Southampton’s Hamptons Bar open mouthed." Vicky McIntosh, Audio Addict Magazine.
"The hottest rocker this side of the Atlantic." Fred Mascherino, ex-Taking Back Sunday
"I like it." Paul Daniels, celebrity magician
"Chris De Burgh." John Kennedy, Xfm
"Luke Leighfield is just super. He is one of these acts that's still fairly underground, but the people who love him, LOVE him. My bet is he will either go stellarly massive, or even if for some reason he doesn't, will still be selling out massive venues in twenty years as the devoted following will have grown to that size. He kind of has that effect on you; the first time you like it a bit, then suddenly, you find yourself singing songs days later, having only heard them once. He's great live too, a band of about forty people and everyone smiling widely." Marsha Shandur, Xfm
"Luke is one of the finest young up and coming pop troubadours in the UK and should be celebrated so." Tom Carstairs, Zombie Attack
"With songs as strong as this it shouldn't be long until Leighfield himself is drowning in critical acclaim." Rhian Daly, Neon Buzz
"The worst thing I have ever heard...Luke Leighfield remains the single most convincing reason to date why people like Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Chris T-T and Scouting For Girls should be bound and gagged, sat in front of a mirror and made to watch as the oxygen slowly emigrates from their lungs." Kev Kharas, Drowned in Sound
"Luke Leighfield is a refreshingly honest and talented young man. As a homegrown talent we should all keep our eye on him, as with determination like this he could quite frankly go anywhere." James Davison, Die Shellsuit Die
"Near-perfect summery pop." Mitch Bain, Rock Midgets
"It is something that every artist or band aspires to: to write that one song; that rousing, lighters-in-the air anthem that serves both as a fan favourite and a musical manifesto of sorts. Metallica did it with 'Hit the lights' and Bruce Springsteen accomplished this feat with 'Thunder Road', but a 20-year old student from Upton-upon-Severn has casually churned out two whole albums full of those songs." Matthias Scherer, Noize Makes Enemies
"Urban troubador." Sharon O'Connell, Time Out
"There’s a whole ferocious depth of truthfulness here that comes from taking the time to figure things out, pushing to make songs that are both articulate and coherent. It’s almost surprising to hear material where ther are no dead ends or laziness, there’s a clear determination to get the job done right and the quality is outstanding." Pete, Lincoln Bands
"Leighfield looks and sounds like the kind of clean-cut gentleman that Christian girls want to take home to mum and dad...His positivity is delicately handled and crafted into refreshing melodies." Mike Haydock, Rock Sound Magazine
"A beautiful swan." Huw Stephens, Radio 1
"A male Lily Allen." Tracey Lowe, Big Cheese Magazine
"A nine-year-old piano genius." Colin Murray, Radio 1
"The turd of his leaden base material is by no means redeemed by the cleansing wipe of equally leaden extraneous instrumentation. It's all ineffective, self-referential suspensions and held strings over basslines dreamt up in the cotton fields of the Great Depression." Daniel Ross, Drowned in Sound
"Leighfield plays songs with a more acoustic bent than his attire and Jimmy Eat World/New Found Glory-inspired lyrics would suggest." Mischa Pearlman, Kerrang!
"Fan The Flames is a fantastic, engaging album that can lift you out of any mood...a British Ben Folds to be proud of...an album full of honest, uplifting, wonderful music." Phillip May, Rock Louder
"The production, songwriting and performance on Fan The Flames is a marvel for an artist who had no label backing to assist recording. With a label behind him and time spent further honing his songwriting, Leighfield could be a force to be reckoned with." Lewis Morton, Subba Cultcha
"Young, talented and rather frustratingly good-looking." Simon Diplock, New Noise
"A brutally honest record written by a guy on the road yearning for not only love but also an audience for his music in a world obsessed with genre tagging and swamped with nu-rave mediocrity. Imagine a kid born in a skip becoming Prime Minister; if someone handed you Fan the Flames and told you it was a record recorded by a supergroup in Abbey Road you might well believe ‘em." Simon Mattinson, SiZe
"Awesome." Roy Stride, Scouting For Girls
"Perfect piano pop." Paul Savage, Punktastic
"A different type of English eccentricity...an album which single handedly revives what has been lost under the modern march of the talent-absent new rave moguls who believe that a monotonous beat with a few selected words can be 'genius'...pop music at its best." Daniel Jones, Room Thirteen
"There is no unit shifting “I’m a Cockney, I’m a Cockney” drivel present in Leighfield's work, just pop for pop’s sake, simple and effective...he puts his heart and soul into making as lush a piece of music as the constraints of pop will allow." Stephen Milnes, The Music Magazine
"Good effort." Colin Stuart, Student Direct
"A male Kate Nash." Gaz Hughes, Rock Midgets
"Kate Nash." JA, Music-Dash
"A little bit flamboyant and all undoubtedly brilliant." Nick Mann, A Short Fanzine About Rocking
"Shameless." Becky Willis, Wessex Scene
"It hugs my 28-year-old ears like a small dog humping a leg. Outstanding! 10/10." John Wright, Johnfold Magazine
1. By My Side
2. Have You Got Heart?
3. Every Day
4. I Won't Look Back
5. If You So Much As Smile
6. 60,000 Miles
7. King and Queen
8. When You've Reached Your Limit
9. On To Something
10. Lullaby
This is my brand new third album! It was recorded with UK super producer Peter Miles in Devon over twelve days in August and September 2009. Sultry piano ballads and ball-bustin' rock numbers? Heaps of guitar solos and unnecessary tapping? The sound of an orchestra wrestling with a rock band? The best thing you've ever heard? Mostly, yes.
GREATEST HITS (BEST OF LUKE LEIGHFIELD 2006-2008) March 18th 2009
1. 60,000 Miles
2. Have You Got Heart?
3. Fan The Flames
4. If I Try
5. If You Haven't Got Anything To Say
6. Simple Things
7. Hope
8. Don't Break Your Back
9. I Got Soul
10. Time To Go
11. We Can't Escape The Facts
12. I Never Say What I Mean
13. The Rain Will Come Again
14. I Built A Fortress
15. Mountain To Climb
16. Coming Of Age
17. Annie Hall
18. I'm So Confused By Christmas
This CD is a compilation of my favourite songs from my first two albums, plus some new songs, old songs, and b-sides. It's being released exclusively in Japan through Rallye Records in March 2009. Kyousei!
1. 60,000 Miles
2. Have You Got Heart?
This two-track CD features two brand new full band songs, my rockiest yet (!), and is released as a precursor to the third album, due out in 2009. The tracks were produced by me, recorded by Dan Halliday, and mixed by Jason Wilcock (Fightstar / You Me At Six). The amazing cover photo was taken by Steve Broadbank, and the whole package was designed by Dave House. There is a blog about the recording process here.
IF YOU HAVEN’T GOT ANYTHING TO SAY 7” SINGLE June 16th 2008
1. If You Haven’t Got Anything To Say
2. Coming Of Age (exclusive demo)
This is my debut single, a co-release between my friends at Banquet Records and my own label Got Got Need Records. It is available on limited edition 7” vinyl (500 copies) and download. The B-side is an exclusive unreleased demo.
1. Fan The Flames
2. If I Try
3. If You Haven't Got Anything To Say
4. Simple Things
5. Hope
6. Home
7. Don't Break Your Back
8. Scared
9. I Got Soul
10. It Goes On
11. Time To Go
This is my second album, released on my own label Got Got Need Records, which I recorded at my drummer Dan Halliday's house in spring / summer 2007. The album has loads of incredibly talented musicians on it, including cameos from Sam Isaac and members of Tellison. It's basically a record of air-punching pop gold hits, with massive brass, soaring strings, guitar solos, epic drum fills and funk bass. And some piano. You can read a blog about the recording process here and a blog with lots of reviews of the record (good ones and bad ones!) here. £1 from each sale of the CD goes to a great charity called Tearfund.
SAM ISAAC / LUKE LEIGHFIELD SPLIT 10" SINGLE April 24th 2007
A. Sticker, Star and Tape (Sam)
AA. I Miss Those Summers (Sam covers Luke)
B. The Rain Will Come Again (Luke)
BB. Annie Hall (Luke covers Sam)
This is a limited edition, hand-numbered, 10" vinyl single (500 copies) that was released in April 2007 on Sam Duckworth (Get Cape Wear Cape Fly)'s record label Mannequin Republic. It features Sam and I performing exclusive covers of each others' songs. Almost sold out!
SOLD OUT
SAM ISAAC / LUKE LEIGHFIELD SPLIT 3" CD SINGLE January 1st 2007
1. Sticker, Star and Tape (Sam)
2. The Rain Will Come Again (Luke)
3. I Miss Those Summers (Sam covers Luke)
4. Annie Hall (Luke covers Sam)
This is a limited edition, hand-numbered, 3” CD single (200 copies) that Sam and I sold exclusively on tour between January and March 2007. It is very much sold out!
1. Nothing Has Changed
2. We Can't Escape The Facts
3. I Never Say What I Mean
4. The Rain Will Come Again
5. I'm Singing The Same Song
6. I Built A Fortress
7. The Same Mistakes
8. Mountain To Climb
9. I Miss Those Summers
10. Too Little, Too Late
11. I'm Begging You
12. It Never Lasts
This is my first album, which was also recorded at my drummer Dan Halliday's house in Malvern. It's a slightly less polished effort than Fan The Flames but still features all the signature LL moves. The original self-released version is now sold out, but the album has been re-pressed on Got Got Need Records.
I’M SO CONFUSED BY CHRISTMAS CD SINGLE November 1st 2006
1. I’m So Confused By Christmas
2. We Can’t Escape The Facts (demo)
This is my self-released Christmas single, hopefully the first of many. 612 copies were sold in order to raise money for Tearfund. You can still download it for free from my last.fm page.
I'm Luke Leighfield. I'm 22. I divide my time between four locations: my parents' house in Upton upon Severn, my friends' houses in Southampton, my drummer Tom's grandparents' garage in Callow End (band practice), and my car, Aslan, tearing it up on roads all over the world. I'm a full-time pop star, but also a part-time pallbearer.
In 2009 I started off in Russia playing some New Year's gigs. In March 2009, Rallye Records released a Luke Leighfield - Greatest Hits CD in Japan! After that I had a bit of a rest from gigs whilst I wrote my dissertation, then once I finished university I did a ten-date tour of Germany in June. When I got back I started practising with my new line-up, and played a few more small festivals. I graduated from the University of Southampton in July with a BA (hons) 2:1 in English and Music! Since graduating I have been finishing writing my third album, due for release in autumn 2009.
In 2008 I played 151 gigs, had my songs used on the soundtrack to a new BBC 3 comedy called Coming Of Age, released my debut single which entered the UK indie singles chart at number 5, played at Latitude Festival and The Great Escape Festival in the UK, completed a summer tour in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Russia, an autumn tour in Spain, had my songs played on Radio 1, Xfm and BBC 6 Music, recorded an Xfm live session for John Kennedy, and played a bit of piano and synth for Sam Isaac. I finished the year by releasing my Summer Demo 2008, and then playing some shows in Germany, before becoming the first UK 'indie' artist to complete a tour of China, and on New Year's Eve I played a house show in the snowy Russian countryside.
In 2007 I played 183 gigs, released my second album Fan The Flames, met Prince Charles, released a limited edition split 10" single with Sam Isaac on Mannequin Republic, and played piano and synth for Sam Isaac. I finished the year by recording a Radio 1 live session for Huw Stephens on New Year's Eve. This gruelling gig schedule included a stint from January to mid March where I played 42 dates in a row!
In 2006 I played 66 gigs, released my debut album Garde Ta Foy, Garde Ta Foy, sold 612 copies of my charity Christmas single I'm So Confused By Christmas to raise £1000 for Tearfund, played violin for Get Cape Wear Cape Fly for five months, and released three demos.
In 2005 I played 16 gigs and released two demos.
I did other things between 1987 and 2005 though. I started learning classical piano at the age of four, and violin when I was eight. I did both of those up to Grade 8. I did Grade 2 recorder, but recorder is awful. I played violin in Worcester Youth Orchestra in my teens, then in the Southampton University Symphony Orchestra until I stopped it to play rock music instead. I also sang in a gospel choir called Jazzmanix whilst I was at university. Before doing my own music, I was in a succession of bad bands (Flatulent Mindy and the Badgers, neitherbignorclever, ALOMO). In addition to these things, I've also played piano or violin for the following bands: (chronologically) The Eldora Parade, Jay Jay Pistolet, Farewell Finito, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Sam Isaac, SH Davidson. I went to the University of Southampton to study English and Music from 2005-2009, except for 2006-2007 when I played with Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and released my first album, and basically started doing all the touring that I'm doing now.
I've shared stages with the likes of Angus and Julia Stone, Frank Turner, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Jenny Owen Youngs, Johnny Borrell (Razorlight), Jose Vanders, Joshua Radin, Kate Nash, Luke Pickett, Lights and Sounds, Sam Isaac, Scouting For Girls, Tellison, Walter Schreifels, William Fitzsimmons and many more.
THINGS TO BUY
Contrary to popular belief musicians are not all rich, coke-snorting divas. Buying a t-shirt or CD pays for me to eat, drive to band practice and buy box sets of Prison Break and 24. Thanks in advance! (I ship worldwide).
Tote bag = £4. Buy here.
Bear wrestling t-shirt = £7. Buy here.
VIDEOS
i hope so much your gig in münster will start on time, luke...! otherwise i'll have to leave earlier to go to work and that would be really sad. still, you could come visit me, then. ;) i'm working as cashier in a new club down by the station. hehe.
Cool :) oh god it must have been years and years ago when I first started out... think it was one of the early times that I played at the railway... I used to be in Orchestra with Si so that's how I know him! I see you're playing the Zanzibar in Liverpool on dec 13th? I live about 2 mins away so I'll come down and catch your set. Cool tour you've got there! Bet you've seen some pretty awesome places! xx
