Interview with Louis and the Shakes: ‘The lone rider comes into the dystopian, deserty, psychedelic town and makes his way through’

London-based bluesy glam rock band, Louis and the Shakes, have released their debut album, How Badly Do You Want It? today (30 September), a thumping, riff-driven offering paying homage to the Wild West and their love of Americana.

The band comprises Louis Antoniou on lead vocals, Jamie Lawson on lead guitar, Manny O’Donnell on drums and Will Finnerty on bass, who have been together for around two-and-a-half years. Antoniou met Finnerty at one of his solo gigs, who went on to introduce him to Lawson and O’Donnell. Their name was inspired by Australian rock band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: ‘There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with the name,’ Antoniou laughed. ‘I said something about liking the name Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. It’s medieval, with a kind of deep rooted in the bluesy tradition vibe. I liked the idea of ‘The Shakes’ and we considered ‘Holy Shakes’ but it sounded too churchy. I think our name has a soulful and rocky vibe.’

The album comprises 12 tracks, including the title track and other previously released singles, ‘On One’, ‘Bullet 4 U’ and ‘Losing My Mind’. The whole album tells the story of a gunslinger’s journey to a little town in the Wild West and the girl who he meets there, a narrative that is apparent if you listen to the tracks in their running order.

‘How Badly Do You Want It?’, the title track, blends indie rock with Antoniou’s bluesy rock vocals, which are underpinned by the fierce tremolo of the guitar and the power of the rolling sound of the drums as well as the backing vocals with a ‘tribal’ feel. Lyrically, the song is encouraging the listener to keep going, keep believing and never give up, which will resonate given that the pandemic hasn’t disappeared and that UK is now facing a number of crises, including a fuel shortage.

‘There are so many things people want after a year in lockdown‘

‘It’s such an appropriate song after a year of lockdown,’ Antoniou said. ‘It was the first song in the locker, crying out to be recorded. A couple of the guys in the band weren’t convinced but our bassist pushed it over the edge. There are so many meanings behind it, there are so many things people want after a year in lockdown, aren’t there? Contact with other people, a summer of love, living it up! This song’s also saying that we’ll come out of all this, so do you want to be on this journey with us?’

It’s a deeply personal track for the band, not least because they had a talk at the beginning of 2019 about what they wanted and where they were going, according to Antoniou: ‘As a band, you have to have that talk. I want this (musical success), so I wrote it about the band and also about the inner questions I was asking myself. It’s a bit of a timeless song which can mean different things to different people. We can’t wait to play it live, with the claps and the hooks. The funky middle eight wasn’t even in the original version. I write the spine of the song and take it to the guys. Jamie just started riffing it and we though “This is gold, we have to keep it!”‘

The track was produced by Michael Smith, who has also produced on tracks for Wolf Alice and Weird Milk, and was mastered by Pete Maher, who has mastered an array of acts such as U2, Jack White, The Killers & Noel Gallagher.

Last month (August), they released another single from the album ‘Bullet 4 U’, a blues-driven, old school love song: ‘My girlfriend at the time loved Sam Cooke (an American soul singer in the 50’s and 60’s) and we were playing him a lot. I wanted to write something in that vein. It’s a bit old school. I grew up on The Beatles and rock bands playing love songs but when I first started, I wanted to be a modern day blues singer. ‘How Badly Do You Want It’ is very bluesy as well.’

‘In my head, the album is all about this song’

The opening track, ‘Shoot To Kill’, features rocky drums and punchy riffs, interspersed with Antoniou’s energetic ‘Woo woos’: ‘I was looking to empower people, the name is more of a metaphor,’ he said. Another track, ‘On One’, kicks off with dirty guitars and best encapsulates the whole flavour of the album, according to Antoniou: ‘In my head, the album is all about this song,’ he said. ‘The lone rider comes into the dystopian, deserty, psychedelic town and makes his way through. He’s got a point to prove, meets the girl but then he has to leave town.’

I tell him that there’s a very clear narrative binding the songs together and he’s really pleased: ‘The story’s really important to me,’ he said. ‘I don’t just want any songs, I want songs that tell a story, so I’m really happy that you can hear that.’

In April, they released the third single from the album, ‘Losing My Mind’: ‘It started out as a song about lockdown but morphed into something else,’ Antoniou said. ‘I wrote it two weeks into the first lockdown, I was bored very quickly!,’ he laughed. ‘I was also writing a lot, I went on a bit of a spree! The chorus was ultimately lockdown related but I didn’t want to make a ‘lockdown’ song. When I wrote it, I was piecing together the album concept and narrative, so I developed the track to be about the girl. It’s the first song on the album where the girl gets introduced. I love this song and it’s a standout track for me on the album. We’re so tight on this record, Manny’s thumping hypnotic drumbeat, Jamie’s eerie echoey guitar tones and ear-gasmic solo. Will’s bass helps push the track along nicely and then you got this gnarly, dirty, scuzzy riff I play – the hook. It’s ear candy for the indie masses that’s for sure!’

He’s a massive fan of American blues giant Chester Arthur Burnett, better known as Howlin’ Wolf, as well as John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson, an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.

‘Hit The Road’ is a brilliant closer, with a bass line that evokes a dusty town and a gunslinger drowning his sorrows at the local saloon. It starts off as a bluesy ballad before seriously kicking up the tempo about 1.20 minutes in, turning it into something bolder, sexier and edgier. I tell him it’s a Bond theme in the making. ‘The James Bond thing was floating around a few times!,’ he exclaimed. ‘I’m a cinematic songwriter and James Bond is a big inspiration. I think ‘Hit The Road’ and ‘Daredevils’ are quite Bondesque.’

If their music could feature on any show, he’d love to hear it on Peaky Blinders: ‘Our music is similar, that kind of badass, empowering, zero fucks given! That would be be brilliant!’

(Photo from left to right: Will, James, Louis and Manny)

(This is an extended version of an interview we ran on 18 March 2021.)