I recently had the chance to have a chat with one of Scotland’s rising stars, Luke La Volpe ahead of his upcoming Scottish dates!
Who first inspired you to get into music?
My grandad, Papa D. He’s an old school guy who doesn’t mess about
when it comes to music. He was a renowned singer back in his day who
taught me what was good music and what wasn’t. He started me off at
young age listening to Sinatra and Elvis, so that’s clearly where I’ve taken
a lot of inspiration.
How would you sum up the last 12 months?
Pretty special to be honest. A year ago me and the boys in my band were
recording some of the songs we have out now and trying to find a way to
establish ourselves in a very busy music industry. Since then we’ve picked
up a few cracking support slots with the likes of Tom Grennan, Lewis
Capaldi and Tom Walker and played a sold-out King Tut’s and some other
cracking headline shows. Things have slightly snowballed since then and a
lot of the hard work that’s been put in is starting to reap the rewards.
Do you have any new music in the pipeline?
Absolutely. As some people may have noticed, we haven’t had anything
new out for a while but I promise this isn’t due to sheer laziness. I’ve been
working with a lot of writers as well as the band, working on songs for the
next phase of our music… so there’s plenty coming soon.
What festivals do you have lined up for this year?
Buzzing out my skull to be playing at TRNSMT this year. I was an avid T In
The Park boy back in the day. The dream of playing there is gone but
getting to play TRNSMT just solidified for me I’m on the right track and to
just keep nailing everything that’s in front of me. Also we are playing on the main stage at Party at the Palace this year supporting the Manic street
preachers which is insane.
You are playing a few gigs soon such as Aberdeen and Dundee and Edinburgh. Are you looking forward to them?
Can’t wait for the tour. My dad’s side of the family are all from Aberdeen so
it’s a great gig for me personally to play in front of them. I haven’t
headlined in Dundee before and the Edinburgh show sold out really
quickly. I’m looking forward to playing these venues as it could lead to new
fans and more great gigs up north.
What’s it like playing someplace you’ve not played before?
It’s definitely a challenge, because a lot of the people coming see you may
not have ever heard your music before. That in itself gives me a bit of a
boost though as it gives me the opportunity to showcase our music and
hopefully get a few more people on our side.
What was it like supporting Lewis Capaldi, especially knowing now everything he’s went on to achieve?
That was one of the most pivotal days of my life. I was gearing up to
possibly call it a day on the music but after experiencing what its like to
play to a crowd of that size I’m not going to stop until that’s my crowd. I
can’t explain how it felt really. Spiritual.
What do you hope to achieve in the next 12 months?
In the next 12 months I’d like to start turning some heads with our new
music and hopefully get in with a shout for Breakthrough act at the Scottish Music Awards. I understand that’s a pretty big ask but what’s the point if you don’t aim high?
What Scottish artists are you currently listening to?
Obviously all the local boys from West Lothian like Lewis, The Snuts, Mark
Sharp and the Bicycle Thieves. There’s millions of unreal acts in Scotland
right now it’s hard to choose. Someone’s voice that is standing out for me
right now though is Kitti. I first I heard her recently and she blew me away.
Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s big things coming for her.
What advice would you have to new artists starting out?
My best advice is to keep writing songs, work your arse off and be
prepared to put absolutely everything into it to get to where you want to be, because there’s always someone who’s willing to sacrifice more than you that wants to take your spot. I’d also say to get a community going with
other bands in your area so you all help each other out. That’s made a big
difference for us in West Lothian and people are really taking it seriously
as a source of new talent.