Lisbee Stainton
Lisbee Stainton had a terrific 2012 with the release of some great singles as well as touring with Seth Lakeman.
And she looks to follow that success up this year as she is about to embark on a headline UK tour and she is already working on her new album.
We caught up with her to chat about the tour, being on the road with Seth Lakeman and what we can expect from this new album.
- You are about to set off on your twenty date headline tour so what can fans with a ticket expect from the show?
We are going to be playing tracks from both of my previous albums Girl On An Unmade Bed and Go and it is going to be lots of fun. We have got far too many songs to play so we are going to be trying to fit as many as possible into the time allotted (laughs).
I am currently writing a new album so there will be some brand new stuff in there as well. And we are also going to be getting people involved so there may be some singing to be done in the audience (laughs).
- How excited are you about getting back out on the road with your own show?
Really excited, it is not often that I get to headline a show never mind a tour. I can’t wait it is going to be really good fun.
- The last time that we spoke you were about to release single Sidekick so what have you been up to between then and now?
I have done a fair amount of touring; I have been on tour with Seth Lakeman as part of his band. I am going to be doing a lot more of that this year which is great fun.
It also means that I get to play the banjo and that is always good news (laughs). Other than that I have mainly been writing the new album.
- You have touched on my next question really you toured with Seth Lakeman last year so how was that experience? As you have mentioned you played in his band so how did that come about?
I was supporting him last May in Germany and he has sent me an email before the tour started - I had never met him before but I had been a big fan of his stuff since I was seventeen - so he sent me this email asking if I would be up for singing harmonies on a couple of songs on the tour.
And I was like ‘yeah, great’ and so I learnt the things that he sent over. We got on tour and it just worked really really well and we had an amazing time.
At the end of the tour he came up and asked if I would be interested in playing and singing on a tour later that year - he did a big theatre tour in October.
He said ‘what else can you play apart from the guitar?’ And I was like ‘I can play the ukulele and the flute.’ He said ‘can you play the banjo?’ To which I said ‘no, but I can learn’. So I learnt to play the banjo and went off on tour with him in October and it was really good fun.
- You really did seem to be a hit with the Lakeman fan base so did you enjoy your time out on the road?
Oh it was amazing. It was also a really different experience for me as I am so use to fronting a band it was actually a really lovely and different experience to be part of someone else’s. So yes it was really good fun.
- Obviously Seth Lakeman is a hugely experienced live musician so what was it like being able to spend some time with him?
He is just one of the loveliest guys ever. He is the most fun headline act that I have ever supported. He is really down to earth and a really nice guy and he really knows what he is doing - he really knows how to work an audience and get them on their feet.
On a professional level it is really useful and fascinating to see how he does it and take away some tips (laughs).
- I was reading that you were also doing some writing with him for your forthcoming album so how has that been going?
We basically went in the studio together back in December and one of the songs that we came up with is definitely going on the new album - there could possibly be another one going on there to. He is really fun to write with as well, he is just a really talented guy.
- How do you find the process of writing with other people?
To be honest it is a fairly new experience for me as it is not something that I do often. I did it a fair amount while I was studying at university but professionally I haven’t really done it that often. This album has a couple of co-writes on it and it is the first time that I have done it on an album.
I have had loads of fun with it as I have been able to write with some really fun and talented people. So it has been nice to get that extra perspective on your own music.
- This will be your first album since Go in 2011 so what can we expect from it? Have you given some thought as to the path you are going to take with the sound?
It is something that I have been discussing with my producer and we have actually already begun to lay some simple parts down.
It is very much about the songs and very much based around storytelling - not in a very folky way as I cannot claim to be a really folk artist but I can claim to be a storyteller.
So it is very much about getting the most out of each song and getting the story across lyrically as well as musically. It is going to be a bit more organic and a bit more earthy than Go was.
- This will be your third solo album so how do you feel that you have progressed musically over these three records?
The way I look at it is through experience and musicality and so with Girl On An Unmade Bed I was nineteen/twenty when I was writing and recording it. Although I had been playing and writing music for years I was still very new to everything (laughs) and that was a huge learning curve.
Then when I made Go I had the opportunity to work with a producer who was a very good friend of mine - Mikko Gordon is actually going to produce most of the new album.
It was very much driven by myself and him and it felt very internal and a completely different experience to Girl On An Unmade Bed. What we came out with felt very different as well.
With this one it feels, hopefully, that we have taken a step up in terms of maturity in song writing. I guess every time I do an album I try to level it up more because I wouldn’t ever want to think that I was riding along on the same level.
- Since releasing Go you have done a lot of touring and plenty of performances so how does that help when you come to write and record a new album?
For me there is nothing more valuable than playing a new song live because you get an immediate audience reaction from it - especially in it’s simplest for. So I spend a lot of my time when I am supporting acts playing solo because it is the easiest way to do it.
When you are playing a song with just you and your guitar it is really baring it to the bone as you are not putting and bells on it and the audience gets to hear it how it was written. It is the best possible way to show a song.
If you get a good reaction you can take it away and think ‘yeah, I think this is a good one’. But it is hard because different audiences like different things and so you have to try it a few times - that is why I am trying out some new songs on this tour to see how people respond to them.
- The last 18 months do seem to have been a bit of a whirlwind for you with tours and successful records so how would you sum it up?
It has been great fun (laughs). For me it all part of working towards creating a solid career and so I am always plugging away hoping that this year will be bigger than the previous one. So I think that it has been good and solid process and I just really love what I do.
- You have an ever growing fan base so for any of those fans reading this interview do you have a message for them?
Thank you very much for supporting me and please do keep on listening to what I do and enjoying it.
- Finally what's next for you as we go into the summer and through to the end of 2013?
I think it is going to be a very exciting year as I will be doing a lot of touring. I will be doing a lot of touring with Seth and I will also be doing a few festivals with him. I have also managed to get a few little solo slots off the back of that as well.
And then I have got my own tour in November - it will be an eleven date tour in some theatres - so that is going to be really good fun. It will basically be a tour for the new album.
- Are you planning to get out into Europe as well this year?
I hope so. Germany is one of my favourite places to play so if I can get out there especially I would be very happy (laughs).