Chas Leman is a London based singer songwriter who has a new EP, titled Repetitive Strain that is landing on February 16th. We were keen to learn more about Chas, his influences, his heroes, his songwriting process and of course, his favourite cheese. Read on to learn more about him….
We know you’re called Chas Leman, we know you have an EP out on February 16th called Repetitive Strain, tell us something about yourself that not many people would know (party tricks, world records, can juggle 5 balls etc.)
I'm actually a direct descendant of Henry viii...but you know...politics n that!
Please tell me a bit about where you come from and where you currently reside
I was born in the London borough of Merton where I still live. I grew up in Colliers Wood and Morden. And I'm still there. I live in a small victorian park keepers cottage which I rent from the council with my wife, two children, my bulldog Cyril and my tortoise Quincy.
How would you describe the music scene where you are based now?
I'll try my best not to sound like a grandad who said everything was “better in his day” but it did seem a lot easier to get decent gigs 15 years ago. But then again, maybe I was more appealing to promoters when I was 15 years younger! Obviously a lot of the venues have gone since then, and some don't put on music anymore .. yet there’s never been more people making music and wanting to put on live gigs, and there's a lot more DIY venues and events than there used to be, which of course is positive, even if it is happening out of necessity.
Do you remember the first song you ever learned to play?
Yes I do, it was the bass line to the outro of the chain by Fleetwood Mac, my dad showed me how to play it when I was about 15.
Repetitive Strain feels like a sonic diversion from your debut release — what pushed you toward this more electronic, loop‑driven theme, and why was now the moment to make that turn?
It's just something I've always wanted to do, and it's nice to take sharp turns in my sound, I'm trying to create a reputation about myself where people are unsure about what the next record will sound like. I have to challenge myself as an artist. I'm never going to be one of those acts that basically makes the same album every year.
You mentioned The Streets (Original Pirate Material) and Gorillaz (debut album) as early influences, what is it about those records that stayed with you, and how did they help to shape Repetitive Strain?
Well I think the first CD you ever bought with your own money stays with you no matter what, and that's the case with The Streets. I only bought it because the cover immediately identified with me, I had never heard of him or any of his music. But that's what buying music as a kid was all about. I often wonder where my songwriting would have gone if OPM wasn't the first CD I bought. It's always had an influence on anything I've done, from my old band ‘Gorgeous George’ right up till now.
Gorillaz immediately spoke to me because as a child I was obsessed with comic books and drawing as well as music, and then this band came along that were both things at the same time and it just blew my mind. I remember watching MTV2 all the time hoping the Clint Eastwood video would come on. There was no YouTube back then! I just thought everything about it was so cool, it was unlike anything that was around.
Working with A. Charles seems like a central move in the creation of the EP, how did your creativity evolve during the making of the EP, and what does A. Charles bring out in you that wasn’t present on the debut?
So, he worked on my debut album with me too, although I'd say it was more of an engineering role, and he played some guitars on it too. But that album was already 'produced' so to speak in the sense that I had the songs for a long time and they were really ‘established’ arrangement wise and well lived in.
But on Repetitive Strain, I knew that if I wanted to go down the electronic route, Mr Charles would have to take a much more collaborative and hands on role, and his forte is indie pop so we got our heads together and the result is this four track record. He's really good at building the drum tracks and putting all the samples together. He also finds harmony really easy when he sings and his guitar playing is frustratingly brilliant.
You’ve spoken about being “computer illiterate” — yet here you are releasing a heavily electronic record. What did you learn about production, technology, or even yourself during the process?
Ok so computer illiterate is probably a bit of an exaggeration. I definitely know how to switch one on!
No, I just never got the hang of music technology. You need a fair bit of space to be able to practice music technology freely, and growing up I was the eldest of five kids, so nobody had a chance to go for a piss in piece let alone have a desk with a keyboard, a computer and all the other gear set up all the time! So I just focused on getting good on guitar. Further education was just not really something that my family was able to support back then. Then as I got older, I was so busy with gigging or working and was so used to not being one of these guys that has a computer set up all the time I just never got round to learning any of it. Then my kids came along and that definitely made it impossible to have any kind of home studio! But I know what I'm looking at on the screen in the studio, and I know (enough of) the terminology to be able to get across my ideas and what I want. I just can't twiddle the knobs.
How does it feel, knowing that the new EP is out now and people can finally get to hear the fruits of your labour?
Yeah it's cool and I hope it makes some people happy!
The EP leans heavily into themes of work, repetition, and the erosion of leisure time. Was there a particular moment or personal experience that cemented this anti‑capitalist thread for you?
My whole life basically.
Do you have a tried and tested method for writing songs?
Not exactly, but most of the time it starts with either a title, or a chord progression. I take writing songs really seriously but I also just let them come to me naturally and I don't force them. I know I will always write songs, so I don't worry so much about dry spells. When I'm on it, and in work mode I always write loads. One of the ways that's been good lately is picking a nice sounding chord from a song I like and then using that as a starting position for a new song.
I’m writing these questions with the Winter Olympics on in the background, which event would YOU most like to try? (I have you down as a ski jumper but I could be wrong!)
Probably luge cos they get to lie down.
How does Chas Leman like to relax? And what would be a perfect day?
I love going to Craven Cottage to watch Fulham with my son (we're season ticket holders). Those Saturdays are brilliant, even if we lose. That's the perfect day for me.
Tracks like Washing Machine Week and The Good Life? blend playful production with melancholy lyrics, how do you balance these contrasts without tipping too far in either direction?
I think those two tracks you mention really sum me up best as an artist at the moment and they were also the two easiest songs I've ever produced. They both happened so quickly. The contrast of musical vibrancy and melancholic vocals really is what I'm all about so I find it quite easy finding that balance.
If someone entered you in a karaoke contest, what would you sing?
If we were coming to yours for dinner next week, what would you prepare for us? We’d like 3 courses please….
Crisps and Nuts On Arrival.
Order an Indian.
No sane person would want a dessert after that, but if you insist you can have a rummage through my sweet tin.
What about drinks?
It's got to be lager with a curry.
And what or who would be playing on the stereo?
GOLD RADIO.
You nod explicitly to Jarvis Cocker in the press release, who else sits on your podium of ‘heroes’ and have you ever crossed paths with any of them?
Damon Albarn is obviously a clear influence on me. I met him once in about 2013 when I was playing with my old band somewhere in Hackney. He was riding a ‘Chopper’ bike and I told him to go and listen to Gorgeous George and he just said “maybe I will” and rode off. So I think I left a lasting impression on him.
The Real World is described as your most experimental track to date, what risks did you take on that song that you might have shied away from earlier in your career?
Well it's got a lot vocal tuning on it. I can sing, but I do actually like the sound of heavily tuned vocals when it's done well and used as a filter rather than masking bad singing. But it's not something that anybody would ever have associated with me before. I do wonder what people will think of it. We actually had a lot of fun manipulating the vocals, and I think for the theme of the song, it was the perfect sound. It’s all about how digitised our lives are becoming, as well as the constant threat of war and economic breakdown and I think the overly tuned vocals just added to the dystopian feel of the piece.
You’re playing two intimate shows in March 2026 to launch the EP — The Bees Mouth in Brighton and a daytime set aboard the Battersea Barge, what made you choose these spaces, and how do you imagine the songs will translate when played live?
I only play small places. I'm obscure and I don't have a massive audience, so I pick places where I know I will be able to get a good crowd. Everything I do is rooted in reality. I could book bigger venues but I'd rather have a packed out room at the back of a pub than a half empty 500 cap venue. When we play live, the songs can sound really quite different. We don't use much electronics on stage except for a bit of synth, so the stuff from the EP is rearranged for a live band and it gives such a different perspective on the songs where I think the raw songwriting comes through maybe a bit better than on record.
Looking beyond Repetitive Strain, do you see this electronic direction as a temporary detour or the beginning of a longer love affair in your sound?
I've got no idea at the moment. I need to give myself time to really think about what's next. I need to watch a lot of films, listen to a lot of music and work out what it is I want to say before I know what I'll do. But I'm listening to a lot of instrumental music at the moment ...the jazz-hop genre, I've fallen in love with it!
There are millions of acts out there, please name a few that you’re currently grooving to?
Gemma Rogers
The Offline
Dry Cleaning
Getdown Services
Finally, the question that EVERYONE wants to know, what’s your favourite cheese and how do you take it? Crackers, crusty bread, chutney, pickle? We need all the details…
Chaource! It's basically brie for adults! I’d serve it with red onion chutney and a nice sea salt cracker…..Let's go!
We’d like to thank Chas for chatting to us and we wish him every success with his new EP Repetitive Strain which is available from February 16th.
Repetitive Strain artwork