Features

Cheltenham singer songwriter, Laurie Wright, is undoubtedly one of the best unsigned acts in the Gloucestershire music scene, and unknowingly you have probably already heard his music.

I caught up with Laurie prior to his audition to play at London's renowned Underage Festival.

How long have you been playing?

I got my first guitar when I was 14. I played piano before that but I had never written anything, and drums I played as well, but getting a guitar was a real breakthrough for me.

I found it was more of a player's instrument. I find that with piano, I mean, this is obviously classically speaking because you can do all sorts with a piano, but I find that is was often quite sort of regimented, it is less hard to mess around with, and come up with weird stuff.

On a guitar I practically taught myself, I had two lessons, and then taught myself.

Laurie can often be seen busking in Cheltenham

What is it like being a solo artist?

It is quite nice to be by yourself because you don't have anyone to rely on or fall back on.

You don't need to worry about what anyone else is doing, you run the show completely. You don't need to worry about taking up too much of the stage, or not taking up enough, or whatever.

You just fill it with what you can and I like that about playing solo gigs because when I used to be in the band I didn't get the chance to do a lot of that.

Is it nerve racking being by yourself?

Well, I've never really got nervous because I have always busked.

If you just play to random people on the street, then getting up on a stage for people who have come to watch you isn't actually hard at all.

You regularly busk in Cheltenham, how did that come about?

It is because I want to play music and it pays a bit so that is quite handy, and it helps, it is how I got to play the Theatre and Circus Greenery Bar at Glastonbury last year.

Last year at the Christmas market on The Promenade, a man came over and said, "I've got a stage at Glastonbury, I'd love for you to come along" because he liked what he heard.

I was really glad with that, it was fun, we got showers as well, that was quite cool!

Have you busked anywhere else?

Birmingham, I got stopped after five minutes. I was just in Birmingham and had my guitar, so I thought why not? And just set up, but some bloke came over and told me to go away.

Where do you get the inspiration for your songs?

It really depends. I have written songs that have taken five months to write and I have written songs that have taken an hour to write.

Sometimes you can just get lyrics that come into your head when you are walking along and I'll save it as a draft and then later on I'll make something out of it.

Or, I'll have a jingle usually on the guitar, and just find something that fits with it in terms of subject matter that catches your ear.

You are recording at the moment, how many songs are you planning to record?

Seven, record them all, put them out there and see what people think because you never know really when you have actually written a song.

I often find the best songs I have actually written I think are bad and the ones that are bad are the ones that I think are really good.

Where are you recording?

Round at my mates actually! He has got Logic on his computer. So, me and my mate recorded the drums together, then bass on top of that which I did, and loads of guitars, and a piano which my mate did, and about three vocals, different harmonies which was quite hard to grasp at first. So it is quite a busy sound for a solo artist really!

Are you going to release the songs officially?

When I've finished recording I don't want to go selling it. I think you can waste so much of that just by getting a bit greedy and wanting the money now.

Just chill out, and give people CD's at gigs, let your music circulate, you will reap the rewards eventually.

What even is success? Success is having a good time really, if you are enjoying playing music then that's what it is about.

But if someone came up to you and asked you to sign to their record label, would you?

I have thought about this quite a lot. I wouldn't want to release anything for another couple of years because I don't think I'm ready.

I would be quite happy to do a bit of a Bombay Bicycle Club, they recorded a couple of EP's with Mmm… Records, but they wouldn't just release their album then, but they had been on their books since they were in year 11 developing their sound.

That's what I want really, I wouldn't accept any deal that wanted me to go churn tunes out six months from now.

As an aspiring musician, what do you think of the Gloucestershire music scene?

It is hard to properly make it from round here because you have got to go to the cities, I know it is clichéd to say, but it is London or Manchester.

If only they looked a bit further a field and found some absolutely brilliant music, that perhaps isn't being noticed.

Do you think Gloucestershire gets overlooked?

I think so, I haven't really been aware of any music obviously before my generation, but certainly now there is some interesting stuff really.

There is enough local talent going around. There is a very, very, good alternative band called Atakarma, who I am playing with at the Guildhall, they are quite like Arcade Fire it is that kind of flavour.

Have you got any gigs coming up?

I'm playing the Gloucester Guildhall on the 25th and, actually, I have got an audition to play the 'Music is Power' stage at Underage Festival.

I entered the Youth Music Underage Festival competition. I uploaded a song and just left it there, and thought well, if it happens it happens and if it doesn't it doesn't.

Then I got a call when I was at Glastonbury saying "you're through to the final" and I have an audition in Bristol on July 18th.

Catch Laurie in the county while you can, as in September he will be heading to Brighton to study song writing.

This article is an external contribution and expresses a personal opinion, not necessarily the views of the BBC.