Lucille prepare to pay their dues with debut single Nothing Comes for Free as Inverness rockers line up launch gig at Mad Hatters with Chancers and Danny Mortimer
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The concept of ‘new year, new me’ is being taken to a whole new level by city rockers Lucille, who are seeing in 2020 with a brand new single. Kyle Walker caught up with the band’s frontman Marc Davidson to talk about new single Nothing Comes for Free, the launch on Friday at Mad Hatters, Inverness, and what else has been happening in Lucille Land...
Q Hi Marc, thanks for answering these! How are you doing today? Whereabouts are you reading these from?
A Hello, and firstly thanks for hosting us, We are good and currently all huddled around my phone in our rehearsal space trying to pry on the questions you’ve so kindly asked of us.
Q Lovely to see you’ve got your debut single set for release this Friday! Talk me through the sound and composition of Nothing Comes for Free? How did it come together for you guys? And what is the song about?
A Nothing Comes for Free marks a more mature, grown up sound and approach to songwriting, this particular song was the first song we collectively wrote where previously our songs were written by myself on an acoustic then shaped and completed as a band in the rehearsal space. The song structure and musical aspects came together fairly quickly over a few rehearsals but I, admittedly, struggling with writer's block found writing lyrics particularly difficult but I wanted the song context to be powerful and meaningful. I like to think the lyrics are subjective to the individual but after landing with opening line “Don’t cry for wolf when your down with me” the lyrics fell to the page with ease and a picture was painted of a broken relationship which I think is really brought to life in the chorus with the lines “ You build me up to knock me down, You knock me down to build me back up again”. When it came to recording the single with Iain Maclauglin from IMOUT Studios he really helped me appreciate the power of this line and the importance in the vocal delivery which helps portray the emotion and essence of “Nothing comes for Free”
Q Looking back at your previous material (both with Lucille and in previous bands such as Neon Knights), what marks Nothing Comes for Free out as the latest step in your songwriting journey? What do you think it is about the song that makes it an ideal debut single for Lucille?
A For sure Nothing Comes for Free is a step forward in our musical ability and showcases all of our best traits, the song is something we are all very proud of and hopefully our audience shares the same level of admiration for it. The song has a huge chorus and an interesting middle section focusing on the musical relationship and teamwork of our rhythm section, as well as encouraging fans to shout out at the top of their lungs “Nothing comes for Free”. All in all “Nothing Comes for Free” is the very best of Lucille.
Q You’re launching it at Mad Hatters on Friday night with “next best thing on the scene” Chancers and your longtime pal Danny Mortimer. This single launch is a big moment for Lucille, so what is it about these artists in particular that made them perfect to join you for the big day?
A Danny Mortimer is very much a pal of ours and we have done countless gigs together and I’m sure that we will continue to do so in the future. We first met Danny several years ago performing in the Bandstand Bar in Nairn when he was apart of Christie Row and from our initial meeting Danny was very welcoming, friendly and in some ways different to a lot of the folk we had encountered and worked with in the local scene, not to say local musicians aren’t friendly but he had a genuine interest in us and our music. Chancers aren’t just like family, they are family. Jake Bolt is my uncle and although he hates to hear it, Jake is the very reason I picked up a guitar and continue to play guitar. I remember watching Jake aged 13/14 performing Dazed and Confused by Led Zeppelin at Charleston Academy and at one stage he pulled out a violin bow for one of the most insane guitar solos I have ever seen, even now. Besides that Chancers are excellent with some fantastic vocal harmonies and we are very honoured to have them playing alongside us January 31st.
Q How have things been in Lucille land in the 18-plus months since we last spoke? What’s changed for the band since the summer of 2018? What challenges or triumphs have you faced since then?
A Things have changed for sure! Our rocking amigo Jack left the band to return to University and be closer to his family in Wales, he was replaced by the fantastic Duncan, who is also the drummer for City Limits and brother to our bassist Gordon. Lewis got married and had his first child Lilly-Jean this year, who is absolutely beautiful and a pure delight. From a musical aspect we were very clear in the last year that we had to change our approach and stepped back from gigging to spend more time in the rehearsal space working out old songs, writing new songs and really try to home in on what we wanted Lucille to sound like, and I believe we have succeeded. Our challenges and triumphs are very much the same in wanting to challenge ourselves to get better and have a more complete sound and our triumph has very much in doing so. Our highlight of the last 18 months was our performance at last years Jocktoberfest, we had a great responsive crowd and were able to debut some of our newer material so we hope for more of the same in the year to come.
Q Things continue to go at a fair old pace for you guys - what is the ambition for the band? Where would be your dream gig to play this year?
A Collectively we are aiming to perform at this year’s Belladrum Festival, we hope the single will help put us onto the right track for more festival appearances and open the door to some top gigs this year. The dream gig for sure would be landing the support slot of the recently-announced Stereophonics show at Bught Park later this year as we definitely draw some influence from their presence and energy. Either way we will no doubt be stood front row singing our hearts out.
Q A single launch already, and it’s only the start of 2020! What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
A We will continue working on new material and have already discussed the possibility of recording a follow up single later this year, hopefully some festival appearances land in the diary too however as long as we can keep the forward momentum going I’m sure we will have a great year.
Lucille launch debut single Nothing Comes for Free at Mad Hatters, Inverness on Friday. Support comes from Chancers and Danny Mortimer. Doors open at 9.30pm and entry is free. Search Lucille on Facebook.
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