Lycio
With a focus on championing females in music, Midlands-based Lycio take an egalitarian view of how their music is developed, allowing for an exciting, collaborative and democratic writing process.
Vocalist and lyricist
Genie Mendez,
keyboardist Charlie Kellie and
drummer Alex Lowe
are each multi-instrumentalists, resulting in their performances being held completely live with no backing tracks or playback. Frequently the songs written revolve around singer Mendez' expressions of her own mental health and Kellie even designed his own software specifically to perform live.
All three band members are influenced by a variety of musicians, including the likes of Alt-J, Jack Garratt, Janelle Monae, London Grammar, Jungle, Bonobo, Grimes, Charli XCX, Haim, Tim Hecker, Fickle Friends, Imogen Heap, The XX and Chvrches. However, their own sound sits in closer comparison to the likes of Skunk Anansie, Skin, Santigold and Little Dragon.
I wanna know
Signale zu senden, zu setzen, bewusst oder auch unbewusst, aber auch diese zu empfangen, zu deuten und den ersten Schritt zu machen, zu wagen, mit einem Wort das Flirten in der modernen Zeit als Thema des Songs. Ja, zu wissen ob das Signal angekommen ist, wäre schon gut, im Sinne von " I wanna know".
Diesem ausgefallenen Thema widmen sich Lycio, ihrerseits eine vielversprechende dreiköpfige Electro-Pop/Alternative-Pop Formation, aus Birmingham. Die Performance von Genie Mendez im Mittelpunkt des Geschehens, umringt von Charlie Kellie am Keyboard und Alex Lowe an den Drums.
Das Sounddesign von Kellie darf durchaus als außergewöhnlich bezeichnet werden, dabei wir die auffällige Klangselektion gekonnt in Szene gesetzt, ohne aber den Gesang von der Stage zu verdrängen. Die Drums fungieren euphorisch im Background, immer bereit den Track anzutreiben, in neue Höhen zu verlagern, ja fast schon zu zwingen. Genie Mendez fühlt sich hörbar wohl in diesem Umfeld, ihre Darbietung, ihre Interpretation emotional perfekt eingefangen und eingebettet. "I wanna know" von Lycio, ein Brise 80er welcher durch die 2020er weht.
Q&A
Lycio are...?
We are Genie Mendez (Vocals) Charlie Kellie (Synths) and Alex Lowe (Drums). We can't let you in on the band name as it's our biggest and best kept secret.
However Genie, now famously within the band, wasn't too sure of a second musical date when we originally got together back in 2016. Luckily she decided to give it a chance. We also use a custom made setup to play live, which Charlie (The Tech Wizard) lovingly crafted.
Who inspired you to make music in general ...and especially to your song "I wanna know"?
It wasn't particularly one person who inspired me to make music, but instead a guitar in a charity shop window when I was 14. I'm not quite sure what drew me to buy it, but when I got home I tinkered around with it and eventually picked it up, as well as singing and writing songs.
At first it was just a bit of a hobby, but people in my school began to take an interest in it so I transferred to a local performing arts school.
I Wanna Know came about after Charlie put the accompaniment idea in our google drive. When I heard it a few different vibes and ideas came to mind. I quite like the euphoric vibe of Fickle Friends music so I guess I wanted to incorporate elements of that in there. I just envisioned this euphoric summery track, even if it is winter right now.
What is your creative process like?
It's not one size fits all, it just depends on when our creative juices are flowing or when we have the opportunity to really jam. Sometimes I'll think of a musical idea, create a demo of it on the guitar and take it to the guys like "hey, what can you do with this?" Funnily enough, I'll occasionally dig up old lyrics, even back from when I was 14, and revive them somehow.
There are times where the guys will put instrumental ideas on the drive for me to listen to and see if I can put some inspiration to it.
Then other times, and these are the occasions where I struggle to write the most, we just get together with the intention of writing something, whether it's good, bad, a full song or just a small idea. Then Charlie will jam some chords, Alex with play around with a drum beat and I'm just there like "ok, what can I add to this to really make it something?"
What's your most useful talent besides music?
Charlie's talent is, and I have no idea what this is, object orientated programming and MIDI manipulation...
I'd say in terms of USEFUL talent, I (Genie) quite enjoy having an overall creative flair, whether that be decorating or art...I'm also pretty handy with DIY.
Alex says his talent is that he can make a mean latte and, again no idea what this means, that he's recently transferred into the V60 Dripper world....
How would you describe 2021 in a sentence?
A series of unfortunate and inconvenient events, followed by pleasant surprises.
What do you prefer, a live gig or a studio session?
If it's a good crowd, then we'll go for a gig. But Genie prefers the gig every time!
Do you remember your first ever self-written song?
I believe I was around 7 years old and it was along the lines of wanting a boy to dance with me....
What’s next for you?
You can never have too may tunes, so we've got some tracks coming up which are a bit more dark electronic. So look out for those!
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