Q&A: Lloyd's House

Photo: Oli Erskine

Glasgow based alt-pop aficionado’s, Lloyd's House are your new favourite band. Dropping their latest EP only five months ago, the five-piece are set to have their biggest year yet in 2024. The Masochist was recorded and produced by Chris McCrory at Greendoor Studios in Glasgow, with mastering handled by Phillip Shaw Bova, and fully embeds big pop elements to the band’s indie rock songwriting, finding the sweet spot between 90s Kerrang TV and Kylie Minogue, while nodding to sonic visionaries such as Perfume Genius and Spirit of the Beehive.

Hi Lloyd, Sean, Aaron, Eilidh, and Reece! Tell us how you started Lloyd's House!

Lloyd’s House was definitely a lockdown project that grew arms and legs. I was playing bass in a couple other bands at the time and I had a huge backlog of songs and ideas I’d written with nowhere for them to go so I decided to start recording them in my bedroom. Eventually I put a single out and then the first EP on Corkscrew Records. As restrictions were lifted I kind of realised I needed to put a band together to play these songs as the first EP did way better than I ever expected to, so I’m super grateful for that. Over time it just became more collaborative and less of a solo-project, which I feel like is encouraging some pretty insane and well-crafted songs. Couldn’t be happier with where we are now in terms of the band and how much we’ve been experimenting with things.

Your latest EP 'The Masochist' is full of interesting music influences, could you talk us through any musical/social influences that helped shape the record?

Sean: I wasn’t actually scheduled to record on the EP, it was only last minute that they got me in to record the drums. So I can’t necessarily say I brought any specific influences other than the music I grew up playing. Chris Mcrory who produced the EP was a massive help directing me in what kind of grooves I should be playing for the project! 

Aaron: I guess I’ve never really had any bass influences, starting off as a guitar player I’ve always leaned towards riffy bass lines and funky video game boss track moments.

Reece: We wanted the EP to have the whimsy of a medieval tavern jig while simultaneously having the catchiness of a modern pop epic, hence the meeting of organic sounds and clean pop production.

Eilidh: Piano.

Lloyd: I’m a huge pop guy, and to be honest with you I can’t really remember specifically what I was listening to at the time. But I’ve always been a huge fan of Declan McKenna’s music, and I feel like there’s a lot of that ‘ear candy’ sort of aesthetic on the EP. I also listen to Beck probably on a daily basis so there’s got to be some of his influence in there, especially from Modern Guilt, I love that record to bits. I think writing these songs and recording them felt like two completely different eras for me at least. At the time of writing them I definitely felt like I was going through a bit of a learning curve personally, trying to understand my place in Glasgow and the world a bit better, that’s why a lot of the themes on the EP are kind of based on the realm of the absurdity of life, but acknowledging that it’s a beautiful thing to not know things, if that makes any sense whatsoever. 

What was your favourite band-related highlight of 2023? Favourite show to play, any "pinch me" moments?

Sean: The first show I played with Lloyd’s House was really fun. We were playing the Stag and Dagger festival at like 1am. We expected it to be totally dead being that late but it kinda turned out to be the after-party of the whole festival and the crowd was amazing. Totally didn’t expect it. 

Aaron: Early on in joining the band Lloyd had mentioned that Phillip Jon Taylor had reached out to him expressing interest in the music which was already wild enough but then he wanted to release the EP through his label and tour with PAWS. Having been a big fan for a long time it was genuinely unbelievable that we got to work with them!

Reece: I pinch myself everyday I get to work with my beautiful friends!

Lloyd: Definitely playing a few shows with PAWS. I’ve been listening to them for years and years, and I can speak for the rest of the band in saying we admire their work a lot. So getting to play with them was super fun, they’re real nice folk. Phil helped us out big time with the EP release on Wish Fulfillment Press too, so it was great playing those songs live to new crowds too. 

Eilidh: My favourite might have been the Malle Mile motorbike festival. Most interesting crowd I’ve played with of any project, and lots of drinks tokens. We had a lovely little camping experience as well, I put my scouts badges to practice.

What is your creative process when creating music? Do you have a specific technique for writing/composing or is it freestyle? 

Lloyd: I’d say we’re pretty chaotic when it comes to creating music, not necessarily in a bad way. We’re definitely far more collaborative than we ever were in the past. When an idea lands and everyone thinks it’s interesting, it usually ends up in a million ideas floating around until at some point we have a song. Most of the time Sean is the voice of reason, otherwise all of our music would probably sound like a circus soundtrack.

Eilidh: Yes Sean is the anchor of our unruly maiden vessel for sure. He is also a producer so has a great sense of big picture stuff. I think being a drummer helps that too, string players can definitely get easily carried away.

Sean: Very much appreciate the kind words from Lloyd and Eilidh, but I really can’t write songs harmonically so I never generate the root ideas for the song, which the rest of the band are great at doing. The collaborative element of the band is definitely an amazing aspect. Having five brains working together to fit a song together definitely allows for unique song writing!

Aaron: The rest of the band are all like “Aaron Aaron we tried to write a song but we’re so bad please fix it please”. 

Tell us your three desert island albums. 

Sean: Floral Green by Title Fight - Definitely one of my favourite albums, I grew up on emo music and I’m semi-obsessed with Will Yip who produced the album and a bunch of albums that’s very influential to me. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver - This album has a lot of sentimental value to me. My sister got me this record on vinyl and it’s probably the only piece of music I’ve actually played on a record player. But I got into it at a pretty chaotic time in my life and I probably can’t separate it from my personal experience anymore so it’s definitely worth putting it on the list.  Untrue by Burial - My favourite electronic album, it’s pretty much a perfect album to me.

Aaron: Beach Music by Alex G - It was the first album of his that sent me on a slippery slope to complete obsession. The Way Out by The Books - Weird crunchy fun beats with some genuinely good meditation tracks that would be useful for mental survival. Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds - Nothing sentimental, just brilliant.

Reece: White Pony by Deftones - One of my formative albums and one I always come back to, Solid State Survivor by Yellow Magic Orchestra - BEEP BOOP, and Either/Or by Elliott Smith.

Eilidh: Calvin Harris by I Created Disco - I love it. It’s all his talent for incredible satisfying synth lines and danceability but it’s packaged in an LCD soundsystem, tongue in cheek, goofy 2007 debut. Don’t knock it till you try it. Frost Children by Hearth Room - start to finish each song is so interestingly produced and beautifully written, and so emotive – and they’re also capable of unreal 100 gecs type hyperpop in their other stuff, don’t know how they aren’t global yet!

Lloyd: Sea Change by Beck - such a beautiful, slow and well produced album, could listen to it for days. Sgt. Peppers by The Beatles - always hear something new every time I listen to it and I feel like it’d be the perfect soundtrack to lose your mind to. Weathered by Creed - don’t think I could survive on a desert island without some outlet for dad rock bangers.

If you could collaborate with anyone on future music, who would it be?

Sean: I’d love to work with Iglooghost just because his music melts my brain and I’d love to see how he crafts a song. 

Aaron: 100% Alex G. Personally would love to work with him but I reckon for Lloyds House it would be a genuinely good collab.

Reece: Rick Ruben, everything he touches seems to turn to gold. Seems like a chill guy too.

Eilidh: Will.i.am. would definitely be the most fun just for me, but as a more sensical answer I’d say Albert Hammond Jr. or Mark Ronson.

Lloyd: This will come as no surprise once again but Beck, lol. He seems like a very wired and interesting guy to make music with. Or Melody Prochet, I’d love to cook up some weird psychy pop stuff with her.

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are looking to establish themselves in the Scottish music industry?  

Sean: Probably what everyone else has said. Just make the music you like and don’t be afraid to try out new stuff. Almost all of my musical influences have came about by being involved with a band in a specific genre I’m not familiar with. But yeah just do what you want and you’ll slowly start finding other people that are doing stuff you like also. So much bands in any scene in Glasgow are filled with musicians who are playing in multiple bands within that genre.

Aaron: I would say it can take a lot of hard work and pushing yourself out there constantly but it can be hard not to be discouraged when you feel like you’re making progress but still getting paid pennies for shows. Half of the battle though is finding the people you love working with, it makes it not feel like work and none of us get paid enough to not enjoy ourselves.

Reece: What Lloyd said, the best music is made when you’re not trying to adhere to other peoples expectations.

Lloyd: Don’t let anyone bully you out of what you listen to, and don’t try and make the music you think people in the scene around you will like. If experimental synth wizard screeching noises are your thing, then do it and find your own crowd. Guilty pleasures don’t and shouldn’t exist.

Eilidh: Just that it can be quite a tough and cruel business, so hold onto your socks. The demand is smaller than the oversaturated supply but if you are doing it for the right reasons and you have this in mind, ditto what Lloyd says, don’t let anything lead you astray from your own weird deranged path.

Lastly, what can we expect to see from Lloyd's House in 2024?

We’ve got some pretty exciting things coming up this year. New music is happening, we may or may not be putting something out on the 3rd of May. We’re playing a headline show at McChuills that very same day, and then heading up to Inverness to play with PAWS again at the Tooth & Claw. Definitely expect something different. What we’re working on is the most interesting music we’ve made. 

For more Lloyd’s House, follow them here.

Q&A: ZDO

ZDO [pronounced “zy-doe”], is a cyber sonic wave music producer / artist who was born and raised in New Zealand and is currently based in Edinburgh, UK.

Drawing influence from trance, trap and festival dance music, the intoxicating sound of ZDO emanates from his immense euphoric melodies that buries your body in bass and opens the door for your soul to escape on a spiritual experience. ZDO sheds light on the uncharted universe within by blending in sonics from his Indian roots. ZDO is well immersed in the EDM world, already making an exciting disruption to the local scene, playing live shows and working with select local and international artists.

Tell us how you started out creating music as ZDO

Following my move to the UK in 2022, ZDO was born as my new alias. After years of working under an old alias in New Zealand and Australia, I felt it was time to rebrand and establish a new electronic artist; one with a consistent sound, direction and identity. During the pandemic, I rediscovered a lot of the nostalgic 2000s dance music I grew up listening to and I realised how simple it was, yet it had this profound effect on me that seemed was increasingly lost in modern dance music. On the hunt for new music, I managed to find some incredible young artists doing exactly this in tiny pockets across the globe. Having produced several other genres up till this point, this ‘wave’ movement immediately felt the most authentic to me, especially when reflecting on my long intrigue with cyber culture explored through other art mediums growing up. ZDO is my contribution to this culture.

Your latest release with LYFFE was ‘Fall’, and previously you also released ‘Late At Night' together. Could you talk us through any musical/social influences for these and your continued collaboration with LYFFE?

LYFFE is a brilliant producer, collaborator and friend. We met through an online discord community that shares a passion for wave music. We both grew up on 2000’s dance music - trance, hardstyle, electro etc - and this comes through in both tracks, especially melodically. These melodies are rhythmically contrasted with modern trap drum beats that give our tracks a fresh festival aura. A type of beauty and the beast blend that has been distilled down today to be known as ‘hardwave’. We like to say that both those tracks are like siblings, having been made around the same time after a track idea swap that got us started. There is definitely more coming with LYFFE.

What was your favourite musical highlight of 2023? Favourite show to play, any "pinch me" moments?

Playing main stage at YouthBeatz Festival with Alexander Romance (shoutout) was a big highlight. Shortly after meeting last year we joint forces and produced an array of new material together in a very short space of time just for this show. A moment we were both immensely proud of. Towards the end of last year, I also played my own full original electronic dance set at F!N!TE, an hour long of mostly unreleased material which had otherwise been collecting dust on my hard drive. A huge pinch me moment to finally put my new sound in front of people in a live setting and have it resonate with others.

Tell us your three desert island albums.

alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Flume - Hi This Is Flume
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP2

If you could collaborate with anyone on future music, who would it be?

Flume. Since the day I started writing music, Flume’s production has been an inspiration. The process of endless experimentation to achieve otherworldly sonics keeps artistry fresh and exciting. I think it would be a lot of fun.

You're originally from New Zealand but what advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are looking to establish themselves in the Scottish music industry regardless of where they are from?

In my limited experience here, aspiring musicians could capitalise on the many networking opportunities around and closeness of the local music communities. There are a great bunch of organisations supporting young musicians. Meeting people face to face and having real human relationships leaves a lasting impression that will set you up well for when you are ready to take things to the next level.

Lastly, what can we expect to see from ZDO in 2024?

2024 for me is all about introducing ZDO to the wider world. I have plans to release mini mixes containing my own original music, remixes and include the work of some brilliant artists within the sphere of this sound. I have just put out one already called ‘Hydrogen’ on YouTube and SoundCloud: https://youtu.be/DasJADDnm0o

Follow ZDO here.