Interview with eclectic indie-rock band, Leland Blue

With roots in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Leland Blue creates a unique sound that undoubtedly attracts a diverse group of listeners. The band provides a refreshing and vulnerable approach to the indie-rock genre, a category incapable of encompassing all that their music truly brings to the table.

Following their 2017 single ‘Sofia’, which has amassed over 3 million streams on Spotify, the band consisting of brothers, Connor and Ben, and their cousin, Satchel, has released two EPs and hopes to release a new song monthly for the rest of the year. Oneul had the opportunity to have a conversation with Connor and Ben regarding the evolution of their music, their perspective on the creative process, and humble expertise applicable to more than just the music industry. 

I noticed that Leland Blue is a stone from Northern Michigan, what made you choose it as your band name?

Connor: We spent a long time just trying out different band names, some really bad ones, and we knew that we just wanted something that kind of tied us to Michigan. The Leland Blue stone is from the Lake Superior area, which is a spot that Ben and I used to go to a lot when we were kids… and it's a decent band name. 

Ben: It’s kinda weird because we know that affiliation with it, but to people that don't know what Leland Blue is, it's kind of just like a, “What’s Leland Blue?”

Connor: We try to not go super overboard with the blue thing, because people are always like,  “oh, you guys should like, dress in blue and have blue instruments” so we try to use the color blue in our art and clothing as little as possible.

As family, have you always known that you would pursue music together?

Connor: I feel like we’ve always wanted to make music be the full-time thing, but we really started going at it like in our later high school years. 

Ben: Well, we always played together as kids. Connor started playing drums really young, and then a year after when I was 8, I kinda hopped on guitar. Then as soon as we started playing around, like town shows in middle and high school - I think it was towards my senior year, that’s when we came up with Leland Blue - we decided to actually take it seriously and pursue it. 

Did you go to a lot of concerts growing up?

Connor: Our dad would always take us to concerts… our first show ever was KISS, which was a huge spark of inspiration for us.  

Ben: “Detroit Rock City” is still undeniable. I don’t love KISS as much as I did when I was ten, but that guitar solo gets me every time. 

Connor: Our dad, and our mom too, have always been really big on showing us cool music and taking us to shows, and our dad is a musician too, so we grew up going to his shows as well. 

I first listened and immediately thought of the 1975 and COIN. What are some artists or genres that you draw your inspiration from?

Ben: We love the 1975! One of the reasons that we love them, in particular, is that they're an indie-rock band/pop-rock band kind of, but they also really like to wear their inspiration on their sleeves, so I feel like that naturally ends up in them sounding a little different from everybody else. I think in a lot of ways we try to incorporate whatever feeling or vibe that we’re really digging, regardless of the genre, and try to pursue that at an angle that really makes sense to us. 

Connor: I feel like we just listen to a lot of different types of music and try to not be afraid of trying out new sounds that we haven’t done before. We always try to make sure that the projects are cohesive, so it’s a balance for sure. 

Have you experienced any creative blocks? 

Connor: I feel like it [creativity] is pretty consistent… I do know that whenever we finish a project, we kind of always have this period of being super proud of what we just did and questioning how we’re ever going to write another song again. But, I mean, we love writing songs and creating stuff. If you just keep doing that, the next thing will just pop up. 

Ben: We spent a lot of time, especially with quarantine and everything, making demos and hashing out a lot of ideas, and trying to weed it down to like six songs. It was honestly kinda nice because at this point we were just figuring out which ones had to go. It was kind of a bummer to not bring to life some of the other ones, but it might happen someday.  

How did you go through the process of figuring out what would make this next project cohesive – what to keep and what to get rid of? 

Connor: A lot of it was just taking the batch of demos we had and picking out the ones that we kind of enjoyed listening to the most, and also asking people that we were close to or people in our scene and community for their opinions. 

Any thoughts on your new single “Good Time”?

Connor: Musically, this song is one of the more energetic songs we’ve ever done, so I think that’ll be a refreshing change in pace. 

Ben: I feel like it’s almost meant to be a slightly manic-venting session. When I was writing the lyrics, I was kind of venting, while weirdly in a neutral state. I had a lot of energy about the past year and wanted to vent about it, so the chorus is just like, a lot of words. But it’s fun because I feel like I’m just venting on stage or whatever when we’re performing it. 

What is your guys’ creative process for songwriting? 

Connor: I feel like whenever I sit down to try and write a song, I never really get anywhere. We’ll just make beats/instrumentals and whenever inspiration strikes while we’re listening to that, that’s when the songs start forming. 

Ben: It’s kind of fun to have the instrumental and even just get on the mic and start mumbling melodies or rough lyrics. Sometimes having that instrumental verse directs you into the motion of the song, where you can get in there and see what things feel right to sing over, or talk about.

Connor: I’ve heard that whenever Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) is writing new music, he’ll make an eight-hour loop of a chord progression or something and just listen to it constantly while he’s doing everyday tasks and wait for a melody to come to his head while he’s listening to it – and I feel like that’s pretty similar to how our songs come about. 

Are there any other creative outlets aside from the music itself that you’ve enjoyed?

Connor: I feel like from the time that we start recording and writing a song, we’re already talking about what we think it looks like. I definitely think that’s heavily tied into our process. 

Ben: Definitely, dressing up and wearing what we feel is cool and confident is something that comes with it that’s fun. Talking about ideas for photoshoots and music videos that we’ve done has always been a really fun part of the process as well. 

What would be your dream event to play?

Connor: I think one of mine is the Reading and Leeds Festival in the UK, or Glastonbury… really everything the UK does. 

Is there any advice you have for other musicians just starting out?

Ben: I guess just start? I mean, Leland Blue started just because we wrote a song, and then had a few more, then (we) were like, “wanna get a whole set together and just do it?”

Connor: Yeah, I would say going to local bands/shows to meet people in the scene, and just building connections with people who are doing the same thing. 

Kicking off the new year, their most recent single, ‘Good Time’, can be streamed on Spotify and is featured on the platform’s playlists ‘Soda’, ‘Fresh Finds’, and ‘Fresh Finds Indie’ with more music to come.