Lisbon are an up and coming alternative pop band hailing from Whitley Bay. They released a debut EP, Life Is Good in June 2014 and have since expanded their audience by receiving airplay on stations such as XFM and BBC Radio 1. Additionally they have made their mark on the festival circuit by playing Kendall Calling and Y Not Festival. On Saturday, before their intense headlining slot at Close Up Festival in Winchester, singer Matthew Vardy spoke to The Indiependent about headlining the festival and the band’s current influences.
The Indiependent: So if you could introduce yourself?
I’m Matthew; I’m from the band Lisbon, very nice to meet you.
The Indiependent: You too. Have you been to Winchester before?
No, this is the first time. It was very nice driving in, the countryside was very nice further down, it has this foreign look so it was like France and all that.
The Indiependent: It’s got a really beautiful countryside.
Yeah, we came in; I think there was a church in the middle of the town?
The Indiependent: The Cathedral?
Yeah that’s it.
The Indiependent: It looks lovely.
Beautiful.
The Indiependent: So how are you feeling about headlining the festival?
Very excited as always. To play any festival is nice, but to headline one down this end of the country is very nice for us. I mean apart from London we don’t get down South as much as we’d like to, so to come down and play the top of the bill is just really nice.
The Indiependent: How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard your music before?
The best way of putting it is, our new EP has just come out, it’s called Life is Good and I think that’s a reflection of the music. We wanted everyone to sort of know that our music reflects the way that life is good; it’s about doing what you enjoy. It’s fun, it’s alternative pop music if you want to put a genre on it, but it’s all about enjoying yourself and having a decent night.
The Indiependent: What’s your approach to songwriting and who are your inspirations both musically and lyrically?
Our approach varies. It often starts with home production, we write at Joe’s house, our guitarist. It will either come from a melody I have or an electronic-based track that he has and we sort of come together and it happens quite fast. After that, we’ll go to the studio and get a decent mix of it.
I think in terms of influences, it varies. I mean we listen to a lot of pop music. There’s a writer called Max Martin who even writes stuff for Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.
The Indiependent: And Britney Spears as well.
Yeah exactly, he writes fantastic pop songs. But there’s bands like Foals, bands like Little Comets, Lionel Ritchie back in the heyday, just that fun exciting music. And I think there’s electronic acts such as Snake Hips and FKJ who we take a lot of influence on the electronic side of production. But I think lyrically, I get really influenced by popular culture, like what’s going on around me. Half of the EP that’s just been released is based around my own experience and the band’s experience in trying to do something with our career and trying to get out there, and the other half; we’ve got a song called ‘Khaleesi’ which is about Game of Thrones. We’ve also got a song called ‘Liberty City’ as well which is about New York (and) the effect that culture has on everything, things like How I Met Your Mother, things like Grand Theft Auto. It has a lot of youthful tendencies, but at the same time it also reflects a bit of a struggle in this business to get somewhere. But I’m sure that can relate to anyone trying to do something with their life, trying to search for something, trying to get happiness at the end of it.
The Indiependent: With the festival season being in full swing, who would be on your dream line up and why?
I’d have to go for some classics, get Michael Jackson headlining on the night would be pretty brilliant, Lionel Ritchie, then I’d finish on Bob Marley to get everyone nice and relaxed for the journey home on Monday. I definitely would go for some absolute killer artists like that.
The Indiependent: What’s your favourite record of all time and why?
That’s a tough one! I’ve got a few, like Forever (Emma, Forever Ago) by Bon Iver, that’s one of my favourites, that’s a beautiful record, and the first Little Comets record will have a little place in our hearts. Total Life Forever by Foals.
The Indiependent: Love that album.
It’s a great album. Honestly, I think Currents by Tame Impala has just came out and I haven’t stopped listening to it for like two months, so it’s got the potential for being one of those albums for me.
The Indiependent: I haven’t actually heard it, what’s it like?
It’s just an absolute journey. Obviously Kevin Parker has just got better and better with time. Now he’s just had a good think about making a body of work. It’s not like the past two albums, well they’ve both been brilliant but this one transports you to another world, it’s absolutely mesmerizing.
The Indiependent: Yeah, yeah. My final question is who have you been listening to at the minute?
Besides Tame Impala, I’ve just been on holiday listening to Bombay Bicycle Club’s recent album, Everything Everything, I’ve been playing their record a lot, (My Love Is Cool by) Wolf Alice, that’s a good record as well.
The Indiependent: I love ‘My Love is Cool’ it’s just mesmerizing.
It’s absolutely brilliant. So what we’ve been trying to do is listen to records, it helps pass the time rather than listen to the odd song. If you listen to a strong body of work, it helps the time pass better. So I think we’ve been investing ourselves in albums quite recently instead of singles.
The Indiependent: That’s all my questions. Thanks for taking the time out to do the interview.
No worries, thanks for having us. It was nice meeting you mate.
Words by Ermis Madikopoulos