Luke Leighfield

Music:

Member Since: 3/28/2005
Band Website: lukeleighfield.com
Band Members: Luke Leighfield - vocals / piano / violinJune / July '08:Joe Kelly - bass
Dan Halliday - drumsAugust / September '08:Mike Foster - bass / backing vocals
Dan McDougall - drums / backing vocalsThe LL big band also featuring:Becca Lieu - saxophone / flute
Daz Jones - electric guitar
Hywel Pothecary - bass
Joel Braham - trumpet
Jon Spanyol - trombone
Steve Bishop - trumpetOther contributors:Andy Mort - drums
Barney Philpott - trombone
Burt Hill - cello
Jess Bray - violin
Katie Hawcutt - saxophone
Mikey Glenister - cornet
Peter Phillips - backing vocals
Sam Isaac - acoustic guitar / backing vocals
Seb Philpott - trumpet
Simon Bray - drums
Stephen Davidson - backing vocals
Behind the scenes:Little City PR - press
twoducksdisco - flyer / merch design
thr33 designs - merch design
Johnfold Graphic Design - pretty average graphic design
Nicholas Bentley - videos
Dave Shearn - photos
James Looker - photos
Dan Halliday - recordings
Matt Randall - uber tech
Shirty Something - t-shirt printing
Awesome Badges - badges
Influences: I love The Rocket Summer , Ben Folds, Mates Of State, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Carlton, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Relient K and Weezer, as well as all my friends who make wicked music (check them out in my top friends). If you want to know more about what I'm into check out my other myspace .I have also played piano / violin / singing with Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam , Sam Isaac , SH Davidson , Careful With That Axe Eugene , Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly , The Eldora Parade , Farewell Finito! , Jay Jay Pistolet and ALOMO .
Sounds Like: "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"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

Discography:
IF YOU HAVEN’T GOT ANYTHING TO SAY 7” SINGLE

BUY NOW FOR £2 FROM BANQUET RECORDSDOWNLOAD NOW FOR £2 FROM BANQUET DIGITALIF 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.
FAN THE FLAMES

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FAN THE FLAMES
December 3rd 2007

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

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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!
SAM ISAAC / LUKE LEIGHFIELD SPLIT 3" CD SINGLE

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!
GARDE TA FOY, GARDE TA FOY

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GARDE TA FOY, GARDE TA FOY
December 4th 2006

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.
I’M SO CONFUSED BY CHRISTMAS CD SINGLE

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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.
Record Label: Got Got Need Records
Type of Label: Indie