Holly Lerski Talks New Album, Her Voice And More

British Alt-Americana troubadour Holly Lerski will release her new album ‘Sweet Decline’ on 26th April 2024. She took time out of her busy schedule to chat about her album, her voice and more:

Your new album ‘Sweet Decline’ is released on 26th April 2024. How did you want to approach the making of the record?

I wanted it to be as real and authentic as possible to reflect the journey I took, and how quickly the songs came. I said to my producer, Roley, I wanted to do just 3 takes each time for the vocals and then I’d choose. I didn’t want any over thinking, it was all about catching a moment and the performance. That’s where the magic lives.

Where did you record it and who produced it?

It was recorded in Nashville at a studio called Bunkernoise, built by my producer Matthew Roley. Amazing place sitting beside the Cumberland river looking out towards the Nashville skyline. Roley is phenomenally musical, and we completely clicked as soon as we met. I told him about the road trips, what I wanted to convey, and he just responded very intuitively. We both did. If we felt a song needed something, we’d take it in turns to add it. Took us 20 days.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

One of the best was SistaStrings coming in to play on 4 of the songs. They’d never heard them before. I told them the story behind each song, gave them the setting, they listened and played. No music just responding to the song. It was incredible. We had donuts from Nashville Donut Distillery to celebrate afterwards.

In addition, you have your new single ‘CHICAGO’ which is out now. What was the inspiration/story behind the song?

Basically this entire album was me getting over a big heartbreak. I went on a massive solo rail and road trip with a travel guitar and these are the songs that came. The order of the album is the order they came en route. CHICAGO was the first song. It started in Heathrow departure lounge as I was waiting to board the plane and then carried on as we were flying to America. It’s a song about jumping off into the unknown – I was pretty apprehensive, never road tripped on my own in the States before – and I was hoping the heart strings to my ex would finally snap.

The single is accompanied by a music video. Where did you film it and what was the idea behind it?

I made it with a Nashville filmmaker, Adam Dobbin, on a golden afternoon in his Treehouse studio. I love the atmosphere he created. The song has a lot of movement in it. Half of it was written flying across the Atlantic over clouds, and SistaStrings really gave it that swing, so I wanted to somehow get that across visually. Adam used a smoke machine and lots of movement with camera shots. All of it was done quickly. Again, I prefer real, spontaneous creating – I never like to overthink or interfere with the creative process, whether it’s writing the song, recording it, or creating visuals. It’s an intuitive part of the psyche, not logical, so I like to allow it to just flow and see what happens.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones?

I used to, when I had a lot of gear in my Angelou days. These days I like to keep it as simple as possible. I play Gibson acoustic – either my J45 or my Sheryl Crow, and also a beautiful handmade guitar I call ‘Scarlet, made by a Nashville Luthier called Norman Urmy. I used her on every track. For amplification, I use both LR Baggs and Fishman.

Do you have any live plans for 2024 in the UK and Europe?

I plan to go between Nashville and the UK doing pop-up gigs. Previous years I’d tour an album, but these days unless you’re signed to a major, I’ve found it’s incredibly hard to fund and promote it yourself. I’d rather do pop ups, which I actually did on a beach for my Kickstarter single in 2022. It’s great, playing to my Kickstarter family around a fire watching the waves crashing behind them. I’d love to do that all over the UK.

Who is in your touring band?

In Nashville, Roley, Josh Hunt – who’s played with Alison Krauss in the past, and Alex McCollough, who’s played with John Prine. Here, in the UK, I have a band called The Tendrils. All of them old friends of mine: Mark Ireland on drums (who’s been playing for me on and off since the early 90s), Chris Evans on guitar (also my record label distributor) and a Nic Spinks on bass. Nic’s been playing with me the least amount of time, but she’s amazing. Can play literally anything with strings.

How do you look after your voice?

No smoking – ever! I used to smoke socially years ago, and remember the days of coughing through sets when the audience smoked too, but thankfully those days are gone. Aside from that, no talking in loud places before a gig.

I’m probably more concerned with looking after my ears, to be honest. I’ll walk out of gigs if it’s too loud. My hearing is integral to all of this. I lose that, I lose everything.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

I hope to make people feel something deeply. The more connected we are to our feelings, the more we care about each other.

And I hope they’ll buy my record! When I first started out in the early 90s, you could make money from music. We’d sell CDs after gigs because that’s the only way people could hear your music when they left. Now gate is open, and streaming platforms pay pittance, it’s impossible to support yourself from music. I sold my house to put this record out because I believe in it. It’s not just about putting out another record. I’m doing it because I want anyone else who’s heartbroken to hear it, and know there’s life out there afterwards. And adventures on the open road.

Was it a difficult album to write?

It was the easiest and quickest album I’ve ever written because I didn’t plan on writing it. I just travelled with a guitar and an open mind and heart. I didn’t know if I’d come back again. At that point, I didn’t care. I just knew I wasn’t happy in England and felt I had nothing left to lose. Those songs were my emotional reaction as I travelled.

What makes Holly Lerski happy and what makes you unhappy?

The obvious is creativity – here’s nothing more incredible than pulling something out of thin air, or even better, hearing your record play through the speakers. But for me, I’ve discovered, I can’t do any of that unless I’m moving through life experiencing it. Exploring, discovering the world and meeting people makes me creative, and the result is happy. Doing that in the USA makes me especially happy, it’s an incredible landscape. California has everything: mountains, beaches, forests, deserts, cities, open roads. In one day you can drive from snow and pines in Mammoth to cacti in Joshua Tree desert and end the day on an LA beach under palms trees. It’s like driving through a National Geographic magazine.

What makes me unhappy is being stuck in one place, unable to travel or connect with people. Modern life, for most of us, means we spend our days toiling to keep a roof over our heads and night times zoning out so we can get up the next day to do it all again. When I broke up with my long term partner, that way of life fell away. I didn’t want it to at the time – tried to hold on to it – but when I surrendered, I discovered how asleep I’d been in my previous life. It may mean now, not having much – I’ve lived out of a suitcase for the last 9 months – but it’s amazing how little you need. I have my clothes, guitars, books, laptop and passport, and I’m happy. A love and a dog again would be nice, one day, but for this part of my journey, it feels right.

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By Frontier Promotions

Holly Lerski’s new album ‘Sweet Decline’ is released on Friday 26th April 2024 on Laundry Label.

Pre-Save Digital: https://orcd.co/zex1dgx 

Buy Signed CD: https://hollylerski.com/product/982885 

For more information visit her official website here: https://hollylerski.com/