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Leeds-based brass band Loud Noises team up with Darlington’s Luke Royalty at Durham’s Brass Festival
As part of the unique BRASSED ON event at Durham Town Hall on Friday 14th July, two North East artists take on a fantastic challenge of working alongside an established brass band to enhance their sound and take it to new levels.
Leeds-based brass band Loud Noises fuse high octane dance with contemporary brass music, and their live shows are energetic and playful. They’ve teamed up with Darlington’s Luke Royalty to infuse his soulful urban pop sound with joyous brass! Here, Tim from Loud Noises tells us more about what audiences can expect from this unique collaboration.
Tell us a bit about how you’ve got involved in the Brassed On project and how you feel about being involved
Loud Noises have worked closely with Durham BRASS Festival for a few years now with our trombonist Tim working as the ‘Ambrassador’ to the festival helping to advise and curate the line-up. When we spoke to Sue the festival director about this exciting opportunity it leapt out to us because we have recently been looking for collaborate with other artists and grow as a band; the timing of this was absolute perfection.
We’re very excited to be involved with Luke on the Brassed On project as we have been wanting to collaborate with other artists for a while. Working alongside such a talented up and coming artist at a festival very close to our hearts makes it all the more special.
What did you think of Luke Royalty’s music when you first heard him?
The first listen through to Luke’s music made us look forward to the collaboration even more. We have been tasked to work with other artists in the past and sometimes we have found it hard to connect to their music but the lyricism and musicianship shown by Luke and his band is exceptional. We instantly clicked with his sound and from our perspective we could already hear specific melodies and space within the music that we can latch onto as a brass section.
How have you been preparing for the collaboration?
In terms of Loud Noises’ preparation for this collaboration the first step is for us to transcribe Luke’s music so we have a skeleton chart to work from. Once I completed this we sat together as a band to highlight any areas we thought horns might add to his songs; this was also guided by Luke’s Musical Director giving his notes of where he thought brass might add to their sound. Once we had decided this, I wrote out some three-part horn lines for us to play. Our next step is to have a rehearsal together to play what we have created to Luke and the band, then we can expand on some areas, adapt some of the ideas we already had and add any new elements we can hear on the day.
Do you have any particular expectations in advance of the show?
We don’t have any expectations with regards to the show, we find it much more effective when collaborating with other artists to enter the situation with an open mind; this helps us to create a more organic and real performance. We are however excited to perform with Luke at such a high-profile event and to witness how The Original Pinettes have collaborated with Sisi for this unique project. Who knows what the future has in store for everyone involved!
What can audiences expect from the live performance?
Audiences can expect Luke’s authentic and unique sound that they have already grown to know and love but with the added auditory and visual element that a live brass section adds to any project. Witnessing how we all interact on stage and getting to hear a world first, this exceptional artist’s first collaboration with brass is well worth the ticket price and then some!
How does working collaboratively on a project like this affect or influence your own creative processes?
Working collaboratively on a project like this can come with its own unique set of challenges. Adapting an artist’s music whilst still making it true to their own sound and direction can be difficult but by keeping an open mind and having the confidence to speak out and be honest with each other about the new ideas helps to keep the project flowing and ultimately create a top-quality end product.
Luke is obviously the major player in this relationship and we are just offering the knowledge we have to hopefully help him and his band progress and add to their tried and tested sound. The role of a brass section isn’t to change the music but to support the artist therefore we are very experienced with our side of the creative process, we just hope Luke likes what we’ve created as much as we do!
Luke Royalty and Loud Noises will perform at Durham Town Hall on Friday 14th July as part of Durham BRASS Festival. Also performing, Sisi will collaborate with The Original Pinettes, plus there’s a DJ set from Noble & Heath. Tickets, priced from £8, are available here.
