(Photo Credit - David Guenther)
We caught up with Leeroy Stagger and discussed his background and his upcoming album 'Strange Path'! 'Strange Path' drops this Friday. Check out our interview!
1. How did you come to pursue music and how long have you been at it? My dad took me to see the Stones when I was 14 and got the bug there, It was when they ripped into Honky Tonk Women, the Bras started to fly onto the stage, the sweet smell of marijuana filled the place, That about did it for me. I've been touring for 17 years. 2. Could you walk us through your process of writing music? Well it's different for everyone and it should be. For me it changes all the time to be honest but usually I’ll start with a seed of an idea like a title or a chorus and build a song around that, my mandate is that its gotta have a lot of truth to whatever I’m writing, even if the story is fictional I’ll put a lot of truth in there. I feel like if you are truthful in your writing its naturally gonna have some soul to it. 3. What artists have inspired you in your career? So many, I always go back to the essence of Joe Strummer to guide me when I need it. 4. Do you have any favorite music gear (guitars, amps, effects pedals, keyboards, etc.) that you love to use? If so, what’s the story on them? Ah yes, totally. I have some really nice guitars, I tend to find these wrecks of guitars and build em back up into something amazing. My favourite piece of gear though is an amplifier I bought from a local builder named James Hadfield, His amps are called Glacier Amps, I had him build me a custom amp that was pretty great, based on Neil Young's Fender 5E3 Circuit,I loved it but then he lent me this little white thing based on a 5C3 Circuit that just did everything I need an amp to do, its light too so it doesn’t break my back. I absolutely love it. I’ve named it the White Buffalo. I just sounds like how Rock N Roll guitar should sound. 5. Can you describe the vibe at your live shows? Also, what do you enjoy most about a venue when you do a show? The vibe is usually pretty positive at our shows, our fans are really all about the LOVE. They’ve been so supportive of us over the years, they feel like family. It's a pretty family vibe I suppose. I like good sound and friendly staff. 6. What is one thing that you want the public to know about your music? It’s the real deal, I’m drawing from the source. It’s love and light, its medicine for me and the people that love it. 7. Can you tell me about the writing, recording, and promotion process for your new record Strange Path? I wrote it over a couple of years, it’s a pretty wild story that I go into detail in the Book called Strange Path that companions the album. We demo’d the record a lot before we settled into the final record, there are multiple versions of songs that maybe I’ll release some day. For the final album, Pete Thomas came up from LA again to play drums, Paul Rigby and Brad Barr played the guitars as well as my touring band, the Rebeltone Sound. It was very much a family affair. It's being released on True North Records, They’ve been incredibly great for us, super supportive for the most part, it’s pretty much all a dream come true. We are always on tour so come see us at a show.
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