INTRODUCING: We chat to punk-rock four-piece LEONARD AND THE ZOMBIES about music, their forthcoming EP and meeting their heroes....
After seeing LEONARD AND THE ZOMBIES supporting MOTHER VULTURE at Things Happen Here in Dartington recently, we were keen to get in touch and find out more about them. We caught up with them and chatted about their forthcoming EP which is being polished right now, gigs, festivals, dinner party menus, dream festival lineups and meeting their heroes, read on to see how we got on….
You’re called Leonard and the Zombies but I see nobody called Leonard in the band (unless that’s the drummer?) and certainly no zombies, explain how the name came about....
Leonard is the middle name of Evie our lead singer’s brother and all of our friends call him Leonard. Evie had a dream about him getting chased by zombies which she felt very necessary to share with everyone. At this point we were struggling with a band name, so our drummer Remy suggested ‘Leonard and the zombies’ as a joke and after that it just seemed to stick!
When did the band form?
The band formed when we were at school, we had a music project to do in 2021 and it went from there. We formed because we were all mates and then realised that we actually sound alright. We met Imala our lead guitarist slightly later on but we all had a natural connection and it just seemed to work.
Please introduce each band member and tell me what they play
The band is formed of Evie (Lead Singer and Rhythm Guitarist), Imala (Lead Guitar), Abi (Bass Guitar) and Remy (Drums).
Do you all share the same musical tastes?
I’d say that we somewhat share the same musical tastes but we all listen to a bit of everything. Our combined Love is for music ranging from Heavy Metal to Drum n’ Bass to more relaxed indie music.
How does it work when you write music, is there one songwriter in the band or do you all chip in?
Most of the time our lead singer Evie will write the lyrics, melody and chords to the song and then she brings it to the rest of the band and they help to shape it into a song that people would enjoy listening to. Recently we have been collaborating more on our songs and have all been writing our individual parts.
I’m assuming that you’re all still at school/college, are you going to pursue music/performance studies once you leave school or will you be looking to lean more towards the band as a full-time career?
Most of us are in college at the moment but Imala is still in secondary school. If we could make the band a full-time career it would be a dream come true. If not, then I guess we’re stuck being refuse collectors!
Tell me about the bands and artists which have helped to shape your sound?
We adore 90s Rock music and the ‘Riot Grrrl’ scene. Bands like Hole, Bikini Kill and Dazey and the Scouts have massively influenced our sound.
If you could meet any of your heroes, who would you like to meet and what would you chat about?
That’s such a hard question, there are too many people I’d like to chat to but if I had to pick one, I would love to meet Lana Del Rey which may sound weird coming from a punk-rock band, but I’d love to talk to her about her songwriting, which is all pure poetry. I think we take influence stylistically from her Lizzy Grant days and the way she can make anything sound beautiful. (She used to go by the name Lizzy Grant but didn’t do very well so changed her name to Lana Del Rey and was acclaimed as a new star).
I saw a Go Fund Me campaign for your LATZ EP Recording, is this to help fund the cost of recording it?
Yes, with us all being in school, we couldn’t afford to record this EP any other way. Everyone was incredibly generous, and we reached our target in just two days! This money has all gone towards the recording process!
Great to see that you smashed the target already, does this mean that you’ll be in the studio soon getting the EP recorded?
We have already been in the studio and the whole EP is currently getting mixed and mastered. It will be out at the end of February!
Have you decided where you’ll be recording the EP and who will be helping to produce it for you?
We recorded the EP with Dave Knox and RandK studios. We have gone with Pete Martin for production. From what we heard; it’s sounding awesome! For us, this was the perfect team to help what was in our heads become a reality.
Tell me a bit about the tracks that will be on the EP...
There will be 4 tracks on the EP, most of them are really special to us and we can’t wait for everyone to listen to them and understand what ‘Leonard and the Zombies’ is all about. One of the tracks, ‘Musty Musky’, is not as good as the others but is the most fun to play and usually gets a good giggle. We wrote the track when we were 14 years old and it’s hilarious!
Dream festival time, please nominate 3 acts to play at ‘Leonard-Fest’ - They can be bands that are dead or alive and you can have ‘supergroups.
Wow that’s a hard one. First up, it would have to be Nirvana because they are simply iconic. Next up would be Deftones with a caveat that they play ‘7 words’ and finally, it would have to be OASIS to make Abi happy and possibly faint at the thought of it!
Come Dine with Me time – If we were to come to yours for a dinner party, what would you be serving us (starter, main and dessert)....
For starters, you would get Lidl’s own chicken noodles (other noodles are available) as they are simply THE best on the market. For main course, you would get a Totnes Grill burger with a can of Monster Energy to wash it down and for dessert, it would be a pink French Fancie with a glass of Lambrini, that would hit the spot!
Tell me about any gigs/festivals you have lined up in the near future
We are hoping to do a launch gig for the EP which is a bit of a secret right now (keep your eyes on our socials). We have a bunch lined up for Summer all around Devon, Coldharbour Festival is booked and there are others that we probably shouldn’t announce until the promoters have confirmed! BOARDMASTERS TAKE US BACK. We still have faith ;)
Social media is a crazy thing, which platforms are you most active on?
We are most active on Instagram but we are also on TikTok and Facebook.
Have you mastered TIKTOK yet? (it scares me)
TikTok scares us too, we try and usually fail....
Lastly, would you rather live with a monkey that can talk or a dog that can clean?
Definitely a monkey that speaks. I can live in a mess but I can’t live having no one to pretend they are interested in my bullsh*t. Maybe it could learn to write songs!
We’d like to thank the band for sparing the time to answer our questions and we wish them every success for the future and especially for the launch of their debut EP which I hope will be happening very soon! Keep your eyes on their socials for the date of that ‘secret’ launch party they teased about above!