Interview with Leon Marshall: ‘Subconsciously, my style has evolved as my writing style has changed’

Harrogate, York-based acoustic indie singer-songwriter Leon Marshall is gearing up to release three new singles, following on from the highly infectious ‘Going Nowhere’, which came out last month.

‘I was in the studio last week recording three new ones, one about love, one about grief and one about the devil, so they’re all quite different,’ he laughed. ‘The love one – ‘Nobody Better’ – will probably be out next, so later this year. It’s new and exciting with an upbeat feel similar to ‘Going Nowhere’.’

‘Going Nowhere’ was inspired by a personal story: ‘It was written after an old flame came back into my life and wanted to get back together but I had learned from my mistakes,’ he said. ‘I wrote it about a year ago.’

As the song goes: ‘She says she wants to know my story, she’s sorry she let me slip away, she wants to take me home and hold me, she’ll never let me go again.’

One of his favourites out of his own songs is ‘One Step at a Time’, which came out earlier this year. I tell him it’s one of my favourites, too. ‘It’s really upbeat, isn’t it? It’s got a tappy feel, it’s a nice one, I really like that one. It’s about a friend of mine who rushes into things and relationships. I told him to slow it down and not to scare off the lovely lady! He ignored my advice but it seemed to work because they’re still together!’

The track has a big, hooky chorus: ‘ I’ll give you everything that you could need, I’ll tell you all of my hopes and my dreams, I’ll take it slow, one step at a time as long as every step you take is a step closer to being mine.’

He released his last EP, Feel The Rain, in 2017 but has released enough singles since then to put out another EP. He is now mulling whether to release one next year: ‘Potentially, never say never. I’m enjoying getting singles out at the minute and improving my writing style.’

His musical direction has shifted in the past three years, it’s a little bluesier, with a slight country twang. ‘Subconsciously, my style has evolved as my writing style has changed and as I expand what I listen to,’ he said. ‘In the past, I’d often start a song and not finish it. Now I force myself to finish it! One band I’m listening to a lot is Flatcap Carnival (from York), a sort of ska carnival, they’re brilliant! They make you get up and dance, you can’t help it!’

‘It’s about struggling with mental health and the conversations you have with your mind’

He doesn’t shy away from tackling more complex subjects either. Earlier this year, he released ‘Hold On’, which was, by his own admission, written when he was going through a difficult time. ‘”It’s about struggling with mental health and the conversations you have with your mind,’ he said. ‘It’s quite cathartic to write songs like that, it’s like a remedy, it helps you to put things in perspective.’

The song shows his frustration at the time: ‘Pop another painkiller ease my mind, pour another drink to pass the time, roll another smoke to stay awake, write another song until I break.’

‘Feel The Rain’, a single from his debut EP, released in June 2017, received top accolades in The UK Songwriting Contest and was supported on local radio, including BBC Introducing.

Marshall’s love of music stretches from Elvis to Cypress Hill, and from Otis Redding to Barenaked Ladies, all of whom have influenced his work. He’s also a big fan of local band, The Paper Waits, who he describes as ‘alternative folk music, beautiful music to listen to’. If he could tour with anyone, he picks Barenaked Ladies: ‘Just for their energy, when Steven Page was still with the band, can you imagine?’