What is your name?My name’s Adam Lanceley
How old are you?
I’m 34yrs years old
What is the genre?
My style of music has been reviewed as ‘intriguing’ & and ‘genre – bending’ but I would pin down the genre as alternative/alternative rock with a retro – West Coast flavour.
Give us a bio about you?
When I was younger, my interests lay firmly on the sports side & in fact I didn’t really have a lot of time for anything musical. I had ambitions to pursue a career in this field & was a talented athlete who loved competing when it came to sport. A serious car crash, though, shattered these goals – doctors at the time thought there was little chance of me surviving – which left me in a coma & unable to walk or talk for some time after this. After a long & difficult rehabilitation period which astounded people around me, going as far as to rejoin mainstream education without having to repeat a year, it became obvious to me that I wasn’t going to fulfil my sporting ambitions, which was hard to accept. I started to get involved more with acting, which was something I’d always enjoyed but hadn’t really pursued at all. It was around this time that I started to realise how inspirational music could be & develop my own, very eclectic taste in music – there weren’t a lot of other 15 year olds at my school who were into The Beach Boys or Elvis Presley! When I was younger, my interests lay firmly on the sports side & in fact I didn’t really have a lot of time for anything musical. I had ambitions to pursue a career in this field & was a talented athlete who loved competing when it came to sport. A serious car crash, though, shattered these goals – doctors at the time thought there was little chance of me surviving – which left me in a coma & unable to walk or talk for some time after this. After a long & difficult rehabilitation period which astounded people around me, going as far as to rejoin mainstream education without having to repeat a year, it became obvious to me that I wasn’t going to fulfil my sporting ambitions, which was hard to accept. I started to get involved more with acting, which was something I’d always enjoyed but hadn’t really pursued at all. It was around this time that I started to realise how inspirational music could be & develop my own, very eclectic taste in music – there weren’t a lot of other 15 year olds at my school who were into The Beach Boys or Elvis Presley!
After studying drama for my GCSEs, I managed to get offered a place at The BRIT School – which I realise was quite stupid to turn down! I did, however manage to find a place at East 15 Acting School – 1 of the centres of excellence for drama – a couple of years after this & didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. This was not a great move though. The method of teaching at Drama School is fairly brutal & due to my personal circumstances, I was too fragile to deal with it. By this time though, I’d been suffering with severe depression for a couple of years & was starting to question why I was being a character in a script exploring issues that weren’t really relevant to me rather than communicating my own feelings & emotions which I was struggling to handle.
After leaving Acting School, it was through a part time job that I got persuaded by a colleague to take up the guitar which regretably I realised I was nothing special at! I did find that all these issues churning around inside me I could now write down & find a tune for – I suppose this was when I first realistically considered a career in the music industry. Before this I was always thinking ‘God, I wish I could do that…’ I suppose this was pretty cool! I was also lucky enough to have a friend from the college I went to instead of The BRIT School who was a sound engineer & instrumentalist. Maybe everything does happen for a reason?
Tell us more about ‘ The Dream Of Yesterday’?
‘The Dream of Yesterday’ is a song that is basically about how easy & straight forward life was going to be when I was a little boy. I like to be fairly experimental with my instrumentation & ‘old skool’ production style which might be why I’ve been described as ‘genre – bending’ & ‘intriguing’! ‘The Dream of Yesterday’ is just another chapter of my desire to blend different influences, styles & instruments, so why not check it out & see for yourself!
Are you signed?
I am not signed, but
Will we see an album?
The album ‘The Dream of Yesterday’ is is available to free stream or download from most online stores ( iTunes, spotify, etc) & is called ‘Postcards from Then…’Feel free to give it a listen!
Will you be heading out on tour?
I would love to have plans to be heading out on tour, but for quite a while I have been suffering from an undiagnoseable energy sapping condition which leaves me constantly fatigued. Once this is sorted though, I’ll hit the road!
I love doing what I do with music ( although it is hard work!) & find that you are much less restricted than in acting. Not to say there aren’t roles I could really get my teeth into, but I think you have more of a license to do what you want creating music. If an opportunity came up to play a character that I felt really suited me, then I would, but I think I’ll always have things I want to use music to help me express.
To outline the severity of my injuries from my car crash, I was one of only 150 children in the country to be awarded a ‘McDonalds’ Child of Achievement Award’ such was the staggering rate of progress I was showing early in my recovery. This was presented by the late HRH Princess Diana. As you can imagine, this was a momentous achievement & day but as my recovery took so long & it was fairly early in the process, I don’t think I was in the position at the time to grasp the scale of it.
I believe in raising money for any worthwhile cause & The Brain & Spine Foundation is especially important to me because without advances in neurological treatment that were made prior to my injuries, where would I be? I think people after me should continue to benefit. I intend to release an EP in the future with the proceeds going to this charity
Do you play instruments, if so which ones?
I would consider myself more a singer songwriter/producer. I do play the guitar, but think my strength lies in the lyrics I write, my delivery of them as a vocalist & my ideas production wise, which I’m told give give the music a style that is entirely my own.
Who are you influences?
My biggest influence have to be ‘The Beach Boys’. I love the way they experimented with vocal arrangements, harmonisation & mixed it with 12 bar blues & pop music. I think the way Brian Wilson was constantly trying to find ways of importing new, diverse instruments into their music was inspirational. I have also found acts such as REM & The Verve very influential.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Where do I see myself in 5 years? That’s a tough question! Perhaps I’d rather not think about it! I’ll just try to see where life takes me & hope it suits me!
If you could collaborate with one UK Artist or band who would it be?
My favourite British artist to collaborate with I think might be David Bowie. He was a creative genius with a lot of ideas & I just think it would have been interesting if we had been locked in a room & told to come up with a new song. Wonder what it would’ve sounded like!
If you could collaborate with one USA Artist or band who would it be?
If you asked the same question about a U.S. band or artist, it would either be The Beach Boys – to keep the West Coast vibe going – or Don Henley from The Eagles. I sometimes record with a sound engineer who did the rigging & sound last time they played The Royal Albert Hall, who spent a bit of time with him. He said what an intense character he was – that might be interesting!
Where is your dream venue or festival to perform at in UK?
My dream festival in the UK to play at would have to be The Isle of Wight Festival.
What was the song or band that most influenced you to go in to music?
It’s not really any one song that made me get into music, it’s more a build up of sounds from an era that’s passed that helped spark a passion & give me direction.
If you could have your music played on a TV Show, which would it be?
If I could have my music played on a TV show, I think it would be Top of The Pops way back when, & maybe my music could be alongside The Stones, The Beach Boys & other music from the era that was part of what got me into & shaped the music I make today.
What do you do in your spare times?
In my spare time, aside from working on new ideas for my music, I have an unhealthy obsession with exercise! Not great if you’re constantly fatigued – I feel exhausted before the gym, so you can guess how I feel for a while afterwards!
What advice would you give to others in the music industry?
The advice I’d give to other people getting into the music industry is: it ain’t easy & it’s better to be lucky than good, so if you don’t love it, maybe you should do something else!
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
A quote I would always stick by is: if you don’t try, you’ll never know.
Do you have any social media accounts so Fans can keep up to date?
Social media outlets: @adamlanceley (twitter), Facebook ( Adam Lanceley)