‘Wasting Time’ is a lyrically uncluttered and instrumentally slick first single to come from the five-piece, all of who are music performance students at Solent University.
From the rhythmic fall of the first few chords, The Lusias make it clear that they know exactly what kind of group they are going to be. The clarity of lead singer, Caitlin’s vocals, in harmony with those of bass player, Will, are a nod to the XX; a source of inspiration that the band all agree on.
When speaking to the band, they asked a special mention to be given to the producer of the track, Joe Burgess, a fellow Solent student. Guitarist, Henry, said “the track ended up better than we could have imagined it, so many ideas came from the recording process. Joe was able to make suggestions that made what we thought originally was a great song, into something even better”.
During the summer of last year, The Lusias embarked on their first tour, through the towns and cities of mid-Wales, performing at venues such as Clyro Court. Once back in Southampton they set to work on recording and releasing their first single together, whilst maintaining a strong presence in smaller, local venues.
Rock a Little were lucky enough to sit down with Will and Henry and ask a few pressing questions.
How did you pick your band name?
Will (Bass): We all used to live in the same block of halls in Southampton in our first year of university, Lucia Foster. We tried to base it off this, eventually changing the spelling slightly because quite a few people were actually saying it wrong.
Where do you usually gather your songwriting inspiration from?
Henry (Guitar): We all listen to a lot of different genres, blues, funk, hip hop, reggae. From that, there’s so much inspiration from all of these different backgrounds.
Will: A lot of our lyrical inspiration comes from everyday life really, just mundane things that most people can relate too.
And how do you decide which songs you want to cover?
Henry: We look for songs with males and female vocals, but really it comes down to playing songs we like and enjoy listening to. If you enjoy listening to it, you’ll probably enjoy playing it.
Will: Most importantly we pick covers based on if they fit our style. It’s great to get hold of lesser-known songs and stick our own twist on them too.
When you started the band what or who inspired you most?
Will: We liked bands like Wolf Alice and the XX and wanted to create something down that ambient indie rock route so we kind of merged the two and liked what happened.
How did you find touring together as a band for the first time?
Henry: The tour was great! It was a brand-new area for a lot of us and it was nice spending that time getting to know each other as a band and getting to experience playing our music to new people.
Will: Touring with the guys was such an experience, I loved that we were able to go to all of these places together and show our music to the lovely people of Wales.
Was there a standout moment?
Henry: Playing outside down by the canal during our Waterfront Sessions gig. The sun was shining and everyone was smiling from start to finish, it was a great set.
Will: One of the places we stayed during our trip was a little cottage on a farm with a hot tub outside, that was a great little luxury to come back too at the end of the night.
How does it feel to have recorded and released your first track together?
Will: It’s exciting! It’s nice for people to hear what we’ve been working on and it’s the first step into writing more and booking more gigs and spreading the word.
Are you working on any projects currently?
Henry: We are spending a lot of time writing at the moment, exploring different styles that could suit us as a band. Ideally, we are keeping everything quiet, hopefully, people will be pleasantly surprised when they get to hear our new material.
Finally, what are your bandmates worst habits?
Henry: It wasn’t so much a bad habit but Will and James eating tinned steak was one of the worst experiences of my life, I could not get the smell out of my nose for the whole tour!
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