{"id":32363,"date":"2017-06-15T07:33:25","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T21:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=32363"},"modified":"2017-06-15T07:33:38","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T21:33:38","slug":"luke-yeoward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2017\/06\/luke-yeoward\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Yeoward"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\u201cI didn\u2019t have anything to lose and wasn\u2019t holding a gun to anybody\u2019s head, so I thought fuck man I\u2019ll give it a crack and it\u2019ll be a cool experience at the very least and at the most come back with a cool record that people want to listen to and that I\u2019m really proud of and a cool story for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Bio: Luke Yeoward is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer based in Melbourne, Australia. Luke fell in love with music from a young age and taught himself to play the acoustic guitar handed down to him by his mother. His journey began as a street performer at just 10 years old and his musical river flowed through his teens and twenties, carving its way through several different projects, genres and countries. After a successful career as the frontman of much loved rock act King Cannons followed by a long break from music entirely, 2017 sees Luke Yeoward back in full swing as an independent artist. Luke launched his solo career with a successful crowdfunding campaign that enabled him to create his debut album Ghosts over a month in the USA and the first single of the same name has been welcomed with open arms amongst the local music community.<\/p>\n

At home we gave our old mate, Luke a call to have a great in depth chat with him about his new solo album \u2018Ghosts\u2019, creating it, his return to music, playing live, his other musical endeavours, and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

So you’ve just released ‘Ghosts’, why was now the right time for a solo album?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t really know the answer to that, probably because I\u2019d never done one before and I\u2019d been in a lot of bands doing a very similar thing for most of my life but the way I started playing was on the street by myself which you might know or might not know. I was on tour with The Living End with The 131\u2019s and I like being in a band and stuff, it\u2019s all good but you know you\u2019re reminded about all the intricacies of being in a band and stuff and I was just like I\u2019ve gotta really do something now because I\u2019ve got kids and I\u2019ve got all these responsibilities and I\u2019ve gotta figure out a template that\u2019s going to work around my lifestyle and that\u2019s when I had that idea, I was just like I\u2019d already been doing some solo shows around the place just doing some little residencies and stuff like that and I was like fuck, I\u2019d never thought about making a record before and was thinking how can I make a record and give myself a kick up the ass and a creative boost and all that sort of stuff and yeah that\u2019s when I had the idea to put together the campaign and sort of see what people\u2019s reactions was. I didn\u2019t have anything to lose and wasn\u2019t holding a gun to anybody\u2019s head, so I thought fuck man I\u2019ll give it a crack and it\u2019ll be a cool experience at the very least and at the most come back with a cool record that people want to listen to and that I\u2019m really proud of and a cool story for the kids.<\/p>\n

Putting it together did you go in with a different mindset or ideas from any other project you\u2019d been a part of before?<\/strong>
\nYes and no, it\u2019s a funny one, I think I went in with a completely blank slate and I didn\u2019t have any preconceived ideas of what I wanted to do, I honestly had no ideas at all of how it was going to turn out and\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know it was going to be the way that it was. That\u2019s kind of my general approach to working with people in general is to see what happens when you\u2019re bouncing energy off another person and where you land is where you land and that\u2019s what you\u2019re meant to go with. Otherwise it comes out really thought out and really contrived and you\u2019re trying to force things out that really aren\u2019t meant to me there so it\u2019s just sort of luck of the draw it\u2019s like fishing you just enjoy the time on the boat I guess *laughs*. No I didn\u2019t haven\u2019t have any preconceived ideas about it at all so the way it turned out is the way it turned out you know?<\/p>\n

Is it harder in some ways writing songs for a solo album than in a band scenario?<\/strong>
\nYes it is because you don\u2019t have as many people to bounce ideas off and you have to be able to have faith in the way you constructed something I guess, so it does have its sort of challenges like that. That said you kind of feel it out as soon as you start recording you feel out what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not and you can kind of gauge what\u2019s happening in the room and over time and doing a lot of that stuff you get an ear for it I think or I felt that way anyway. So in that respect it was different in terms of being in a band where everybody\u2019s got their ideas or opinions or that sort of stuff even if it was like my song I was bringing to the table people would have something to say about it, so it was actually really nice to just be able to lay the shit down pretty much how I wanted it. It was fucking really quite liberating.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ghosts\u2019 is of course the title to the record but what does it represent to you personally?<\/strong>
\nWell it\u2019s the title track to the record and that song was just as much a sort of self-affirmation and kick up the ass for me and like a moment of sort of realisation I guess as well as it is I guess a call to arms as other people. It\u2019s kind of a saying that it only takes one small moment of inspiration or one small thing to change to basically change your trajectory and for you to feel like you can do something again and that you can have something to say or that you can have some changes or you can feel excited to contribute and all those sorts of things. So that\u2019s what the lyrics in that song is \u201cJust a second of sound can kick up the ground we don\u2019t have to be these ghosts stuck here\u201d like you don\u2019t have to be some fuckin\u2019 nobody doing nothing, you can still do stuff no matter where you\u2019re at or whatever and that\u2019s kind of what that tune\u2019s about so I thought it was a fitting title for the album you know.<\/p>\n

What did going over to The States allow you to do when making this record that you couldn\u2019t have done here?<\/strong>
\nI was living in Reservoir at the time and working as a furniture removalist and we had our daughter she was about a year and a half old and it was not a lot of money I guess on one sort of income and not a lot of spare silent time *laughs* to go away and to be honest I wasn\u2019t really feeling very inspired in my environment you know like it\u2019s a lot of hard work and then I was home and had to give my attention to my family and if I was to do what I wanted to do here I don\u2019t know if I would\u2019ve got the same level of inspiration to be able to execute it in such a short time frame and I kind of felt like I ran out of things to say in my current environment, I was looking around and thinking I need a change of energy and a change of environment because I know that\u2019s how I work creatively. If I can put myself into some situation where I might feel differently it might prompt me to express that, and in terms if I did it here I still would\u2019ve had to have taken a month off work, I still would\u2019ve had to play for a studio or buy some audio recording equipment to do it you know what I mean? So it was like actually going to be cheaper for me to go over to The States and wing it with other people than it was for me to take time off here and take time off or hire a studio and buy a bunch of gear and do it that way, and I don\u2019t think I would\u2019ve got the same result as what I did because I worked with some incredible people that are on the other side of the world that don\u2019t exist here so I wouldn\u2019t have had those writing opportunities either.<\/p>\n

So is that the plan from now on, maybe how you\u2019d make your next one just head overseas and do it?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know, I\u2019d say everything is a case by case basis, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s one way to do it but since I got back from The States I\u2019ve just got really, really inspired about audio engineering even more so than I was before, and especially an old style of audio engineering like how we made the record and so I\u2019ve just been working my ass off trying to teach myself and collect little pieces of gear along the way and try and sort of teach myself how to do everything. If I\u2019m going to make something and I\u2019m an artist I want to be able to fuckin\u2019 fully understand how to fuckin\u2019 do that shit and do it all myself but I don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to make the next record I haven\u2019t quite got around to that yet but maybe it\u2019s here, maybe it\u2019s overseas I\u2019m not sure. I think about a lot of the records I listen to are old school stuff and I like the way it sounds and sometimes using old mics or unorthodox techniques or recording in environments you wouldn\u2019t usually record in with some sort of makeshift gear has a certain charm to it and I like the sound of things when they just sound a little more gritty and just sound like people trying harder as opposed to sounding squeaky and shiny. It\u2019s taken a long time to really understand what I really like and what I want to hear from a record and how I want to execute that, and there\u2019s only one way to learn that and that\u2019s by constantly doing it. I look back at King Cannons stuff and I listen to that now and at the time I thought fuck this sounds fuckin\u2019 remarkable I love this, this is great, and now I can think about that with the more intellect I\u2019ve gained and the more experience and think fuck imagine if we had\u2019ve done this and this and this and it\u2019s really exciting, I love playing with is and just the process of fucking around with music and sounds *laughs* and having something to show at the end of it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Seeing you live is where you truly shine, so what is it that you enjoy the most about being up on stage?<\/strong>
\nWell you know you have your good nights and your bad nights, I\u2019ve had some nights where I\u2019ve felt really uncomfortable believe it or not and some people don\u2019t believe me and I thought what the fuck am I doing up here? I actually felt more and more disgruntled with the whole thing I mean towards the end of King Cannons and I tried to start some other projects and they\u2019ve gone the same way, now I can just kind of get up there and just enjoy making music. I like it when everything clicks and you have the transfer between what you\u2019re doing and the audience reciprocating and everything sounds good, that\u2019s a cool thing and an in the moment thing and totally different to making a record, that\u2019s like in the moment shit, that\u2019s real and when that happens that\u2019s a really special feeling and that\u2019s a relationship between you and your audience at the moment and I think that\u2019s what I love about it anyway.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s top of your list of things you want to do but haven\u2019t yet had the chance to?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d like to be on the road and do some substantial shows around the world, I\u2019d love to work with other artists too like producing other artists and just keep on recording people and recording me and just doing that sort of thing and just keep writing good songs, that\u2019s all I really want to do and let it build up. I\u2019d love for when my kids are a bit older they could come and I could play on some cool stages and they could hang out, that\u2019s kind of why I\u2019m doing it I\u2019d like to give them an insight into that cool world really *laughs* that would be so fuckin\u2019 rad growing up with like I\u2019ve just been hanging out with Dad at a gig and it\u2019s awesome and the people are clapping and the guitars are loud and everything\u2019s awesome *laughs* you know what I mean. I just want to get back to that and that would make me happy.<\/p>\n

As well as a solo artist you\u2019re also out there rockin\u2019 in The 131\u2019s, what\u2019s happening in that world?<\/strong>
\nThe 131\u2019s started as something and we weren\u2019t even thinking about playing or anything, it was just kind of like let\u2019s write some punk songs, make a fuckin\u2019 racket, jump around like a bunch of idiots and more for catharsis than anything, and so since I started with this album I said to the guys, look, The 131\u2019s is gonna have to take a backseat as I\u2019ve gotta do this at the moment and they understand I\u2019m not a one trick pony completely, so I just had to duck and weave between creative projects and that\u2019s just how it is, I don\u2019t want to be stuck on one thing. So we\u2019ll get back to doing some stuff soon but for now its focusing on what I\u2019m doing at the moment.<\/p>\n

Just as an aside, what happened with The Spirit?<\/strong>
\nHow\u2019s this, we did two shows, we did a Melbourne show and a Sydney show and after that Sydney show, like I quit King Cannons to try and do something else thinking it was going to help but I was thinking it was going to help the way I thought, it was the kind of music I was making, might have been the people I was surrounding myself with so I thought I\u2019m going to try something different I\u2019m going to try and do this rootsy pop kind of thing which is the furthest removed from anything I\u2019ve ever done before really, but I wanted to do it and I spent ages I put the band together and wrote all these songs and rehearsed the shit out of them and played these shows and fuckin\u2019 recording and videos and I was really into it, but then like I was out on the road and getting up on stage and I just had to be truthful with myself and I just had a moment and thought I\u2019m not even into this, I\u2019m just so fuckin\u2019 over this and I can\u2019t do anything about it, I think was sort of suffering a little bit mentally you know like I might have been slightly depressed but I don\u2019t know what my deal was but I definitely was not my old self, and so I just said to them and Sarah and I were in so much debt from the hangover from King Cannons and stuff and I was just like I didn\u2019t know what to do, we toyed with the idea of moving back to New Zealand and then Sarah got pregnant and stuff and I thought you know what, fuck music, sorry guys I can\u2019t do this anymore, we put everything into it but I can\u2019t do this anymore. So it was a short lived project, we did some recording, we played a couple of shows but I\u2019m done. We never made a big public announcement about that or anything, it was just like let\u2019s just let it slide sometimes you do stuff and we made and put out a single and played some shows, it\u2019s not a bad thing to do but I guess like everybody wants longevity in a project and I guess it was just a short lived thing that wasn\u2019t meant to be for me, but I wouldn\u2019t have been able to come back and have the perspective and the right approach to music again if I hadn\u2019t made that call. From anybody\u2019s point of view anything that I did was absolute career fuckin\u2019 suicide really, like quit my successful bad, start another project and have it do nothing, get off the radar for like fuckin\u2019 two years and don\u2019t do anything, and then for me to be able to get back up and be like ok, I\u2019m gonna have a crack at this again is some people won\u2019t even bother listening to me now *laughs* but I don\u2019t care, I do it because I love it and if people come around to it that\u2019s cool, there\u2019s a lot of things that have happened in that time period that have sort of given me a greater perspective on music I guess. Everything that I do musically is so feeling based and I don\u2019t really think of it in terms of like a fuckin; chess game or anything like that, it\u2019s like I really fuckin\u2019 feel like doing this and then I do it *laughs*. That\u2019s all there is to it and that\u2019s how I like to live my life, so whatever.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look ahead to the future, finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2017 Luke Yeoward wants to\u2026<\/strong>
\nI want to be making some tracks in The United States I reckon, I want to be doing something over there, I think I need to spend some more time over there, I\u2019ve met some great friends and some fuckin\u2019 good connections to do stuff over there and I feel like I should keep spending more time there, that\u2019s what I want to do. I made really strong friendships over there and I really miss those people and I just want to hang out with them some more and make some more music and stuff.<\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Melbourne, Australia<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.lukeyeoward.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Ghosts \u2013 (Out Now \u2013 Footstomp Music)<\/p>\n

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