Lawson: Touring, touching songs and dating disasters

MANILA, Philippines - On April 8, after its press conference in Manila, we had the opportunity to interview the band Lawson in person. Members Andy Brown, Joel Peat, Adam Pitts and Ryan Fletcher were a friendly, good-natured bunch, who were quite open to talking about their experiences. In fact, we were surprised with how much they had to say. They playfully joked around with each other and at times, it was a bit difficult to make out what was said in the recording over the overlapping laughter and jibes! As fans of Lawson, we were glad to find out that they were so much fun to interview, and there was never a dull moment. They were very agreeable, and when we had a picture with them, they all scooted over and squeezed us into the couch so that we could sit beside them.

First of all, how do you feel about your Gold certification here in the Philippines?

Ryan: It’s a dream come true like, we only recently got given our Gold award in the UK. So to come over here and have the album go Gold before we even arrived is a dream come true.

Joel: Very overwhelming.

Ryan: It means so much to us, yeah, when we found out, we couldn’t believe it.

Since this is your first time and first tour in Asia, what has surprised you the most about it?

Joel: It’s just the scale of how much people loved the music and the band here. We never expected any of that. We sort of got on a plane and it was like, just find out how it goes and you know, we’ll put on some shows, see if anyone comes down. We had no idea that things like the album would be going to become Gold and all these people would be turning up to see us, that was never part of the plan so we’re delighted and overwhelmed, and quite surprised as well.

Because Andy is the singer-songwriter of the band, this question is for Adam, Joel, or Ryan: What song on Chapman Square personally struck you the most and why?

Ryan: I think, personally, the one that really gets me and when we’re on tour in the UK, when we do it live… there’s this point us three would go offstage and watch Andy perform and I was there and I used to watch from beside the stage and it’s The Girl I Knew. And I used to stand beside the stage like this time last month and watch him performing the song to thousands of people, and I was like “Oh god!” every single night trying not to cry. And it was that one for me — the one that really connected.

Adam: For me, I think it was Standing In The Dark, ’cause the first time I heard that acoustic and stuff like that, I just fell in love with it, and couldn’t wait to start working on it, and that’s always been the one for me.

Joel: Gone, for me. The opening line of Gone, a girl said that to me. That she wants to live her life, and she wants to take some time away from the relationship. And every time I hear that lyric I think, “Yeah, I know where I was when I got that, when I was in that situation.” And yeah, I think that rings home with me a lot.

As a band or in making music, has there ever been anyone who had put you down? And if so, how did you get past it?

Joel: Oh, so much.

Adam: So many, we had three and a half years of that before we eventually got signed. We’d get all excited, we went for about three or four different management companies. They’d try and make us something we weren’t, so we’d leave them, and we’d speak to a label, and they’d say, “We’ll sign you if you wanna be like this, but if you don’t, then we don’t like your music now.” So, we went through so much of that. And we did some kind of very indie festivals in the UK, with quite hardcore bands. And we’d go onstage and people would be like, who’s this, people playing pop-rock, when you’d hear like metal and indie and stuff. So we got put down a lot like that, but we stuck to our roots and carried on making the music we wanted to make and eventually, we got a break and we got signed.

Joel: I still think we get it though. I think some people, even back home will look and be like, “No, we don’t want to run this and they won’t want that.” Even now, as the band we are now, we get things like that. So, I think we’re very lucky to have three other guys. Whatever happens, we get each other through. And you know, we believe in it, and there’s loads of fans out there that believe in it, so yeah, it’s all good.

Your album is about love and heartbreak, etc. So, what’s the worst mistake you made in dating?

Lawson with the authors Hannah (leftmost) and Louise after their interview

Andy: I once invited a girl round to my house who I’d met while I was drunk in a club. And I thought she was really good-looking at the time, but I had had a lot to drink. And I showed the lads, I was like, “I’m going to invite this girl round on Friday night,” and she was really hot. They were like, “Are you sure you wanna do that?” I was like “yeah, definitely!” Anyway, she turned up at the house. I was like, “Ah, no, she was not like how I remembered her to be like at all.” She was not good-looking in any way, she wasn’t a nice girl… So that was the biggest mistake I’ve made. And I had to fake a family emergency at about 30 minutes later.

Ryan: And he had to borrow my car to take her to the station. Not even all the way home, to the station. He’s a bad man.

Andy: So that was the biggest mistake I ever made. I have to say, if you ever meet someone in a bar, in a club, make sure you are 100 percent certain that that person is who you think they are.

Ryan: I once went to pick a girl up that I’d met, who I’ve known for a while. I thought okay, we’ll go on a date, so we did. Picked her up from the station, and then she got in my car, and then I went over to give her a hug, and I kinda caught her off guard, and then she looked at my hand, then I panicked and locked the door. And that just made it even more awkward and scary for her all round, and then I just sped away. So I just picked a girl up, locked my door and sped off, and it was like, “Oh my god, I look like a bad man.”

Joel: Smooth, guys.

Ryan: It didn’t really work out.

Adam: I was actually that girl. And that’s how I ended up in the band. You never let me go.

Andy: Shaved her head, and she’s the drummer in the band.

Adam: This is me. My real name is Catherine.

If you could go back in the past, what message would you tell yourselves?

Ryan: Don’t pick that girl up and lock the door! I’d say calmly drive on.

Joel: What would you say?

Ryan: I’d say, “Do everything as you would do it anyway, ‘cause you’re gonna have an amazing time in the band.” That’s what I’d say.

Joel: That’s literally it.

Ryan: I don’t want to change anything. I’d just say, “Stay the same, it’s gonna be awesome. You’ll be okay.”

Joel: We’ve turned out a pretty good — a good life. So, “just keep on the right track. Do what you’re doing. You’ve got it, Joel.”

Andy: Yeah, I’d agree. But maybe I’d tell myself, “There’s gonna be a great song in a couple of years called Moves Like Jagger, so I should write it now!” And I’d get in there first and write it! That’s the only thing I’d change. I’d keep everything else the same.