BlackSheepLad New Release

BlackSheepLad is set to release his latest single, ‘Pantomime’, on Friday 29th October. Melancholic in places, reflective and angry in others, this song plays out the rollercoaster of emotions of a relationship hurtling towards the end of its life. Ridiculously catchy, you’ll be humming this all day after just one listen! Beautifully melodic, the gentle rhythm betrays the anger hidden within the track’s lyrics, building into a crescendo of guitars, drums, mellotron and harmonies.

Without a doubt my favourite upcoming release, I was eager to speak to the man behind the music, Phil Mellen for more of an insight:

Pantomime is a far darker track than your previous two singles, can you tell me why that is and what influenced the song?

‘’I suppose that I try to write a range of songs on a range of subjects although it is true that I have probably written more upbeat love songs than songs on darker subjects. This one was inspired by the fact that we have probably all been in or witnessed relationships that have gone on too long. There comes a point when you are just going through the motions and trying to find a way to end it that isn’t too hurtful when really you just want to be honest. I tried to reflect the darker nature of the song in both the lyrics and the melody/arrangement.’’

How do you juggle writing as well as playing all your own instruments on the track? Would you consider bringing in session musicians or are you on a one-man mission to produce as much as you can yourself and therefore retain total ownership of your sound?

‘’I enjoy writing and playing my own stuff and I have taken a fairly DIY approach to recording because it allows me to work on the arrangement for longer before recording. It has also been safer during the pandemic! I do like collaborating though and it is great to be back working in the studio with a sound engineer which enables you to bounce ideas around and take on board suggestions.’’

You came back to music after a 25 year hiatus – are you enjoying it more second time around?

‘’Music remained important to me across those 25 years and I listened to loads and went to lots of gigs but I was doing very little creatively so it has been wonderful to come back to writing, recording and performing as a significant part of my day to day life. I feel a bit like I have been given a second chance to do some of the things that I wanted to do 30 years ago. So yes, I’m loving it!’’

Do you feel you have more to offer as a musician and lyricist having gone through Covid-19 and experienced redundancy and hardship? Has this served to enhance your music?

‘’I think it has definitely had a strong influence on me lyrically – a number of songs I have written are about being ill (Livedo and Wintering to give two examples) and others like Zombie Romance were inspired by TV I watched whilst ill. Being ill gave me the time to start writing new material and also to practice more so I definitely can see the silver lining that came with the cloud of Covid! I do have long term health issues associated with my Long Covid so that means I have to measure my effort and judge when I can and can’t do stuff. But I am so glad that new music has come out of a tricky situation. https://blacksheeplad.bandcamp.com/

You are touring up until the end of the year as part of a trio – can you tell me a little more about the dynamics of that and what kind of experience the audience can expect?

‘’I am doing a mix of solo and trio gigs. The trio is me and two young Manchester musicians who I have been rehearsing with since April this year. Live we include guitar, bass, keyboards, ukuleles which we swap around between. I feel that this fills out the sound nicely and playing with other musicians inspires me and influences the way that I write and play. We have been playing mainly locally to Manchester/Cheshire but are striking out to play further afield in the next couple of months. Up to date details can be found here https://www.blacksheeplad.com/upcoming-gigs so we look forward to seeing people out and about and performing live for you.’’

‘Pantomime’ is out on October 29th – please see the following for more details: http://www.blacksheeplad.com

twitter: @blacksheeplad https://soundcloud.com/blacksheeplad https://blacksheeplad.bandcamp.com/

Instagram @BlackSheepLad

By Lauren Jayne