Liverpool Acoustic’s Graham Holland caught up with Roxanne de Bastion ahead of her headline show at LEAF on Bold St on Thursday 9th June. Read on to hear what she has to say about her pandemic positives, the inspiration behind her new album, the lure of vinyl, and her love of Liverpool.
How are you doing?
Very much looking forward to finally getting back out there, playing live music to people – it’s been so long!
The Covid-19 lockdowns from March 2020 had a devastating impact on the live music scene. How did you cope during this time, and has anything positive come out of it?
What a thing to go through collectively… it’s been such an intense time. Personally, there were definitely positives – as a touring musician, I’ve never been in any one place for longer than a couple of months since I left school and, on some level, I really needed rest and time to think, grieve and regroup. It also forced me to brush up on my tech skills – I really enjoyed live streaming and getting into home recordings.
You launched your new album last year. What can you tell us about it?
My album is called You & Me, We Are The Same and is an homage to my dad, Richard de Bastion, whom readers might remember from our 50 Years Abbey Road show.
The songs were written and recorded during a very tumultuous time in my life when it became clear that we wouldn’t have that much time left together – I poured a lot of my grief into this album, but somehow it has turned out to be quite upbeat and full of light. That’s the thing I’ve learnt about grief…it doesn’t exist without love, it’s basically the flip side of the same coin.
You did a mini tour of record stores earlier this year to promote the new album’s vinyl release. Why do you think vinyl is still popular in the world of digital releases and streaming?
All things digital are somehow fleeting. I know that feels counter intuitive, but it’s hard to feel like you own a digital album and you don’t exactly feel sentimental towards MP3 files, do you? But a piece of vinyl, with all the artwork, lyrics, credits – it’s a thing of beauty! I love giving an album dedicated time and that’s what’s required when you put a record on. Streaming is such a great innovation and I wouldn’t want to miss it (as a creator and mostly as a consumer), but it just doesn’t come close to sitting curled up in your living room in front of your record player, placing the needle carefully onto the outer groove to hear that delightful pop.
You’re bringing your re-scheduled tour to LEAF on Bold Street on 9th June. What is it about Liverpool that keeps drawing you back here? And what can people expect from the show?
How much time have you got? 🙂 Liverpool has such a special place in my heart – I feel so at home and so sentimental about the place…t here’s just no where else like it. It’s geographically so small, but so, so full of music and life. I’ve made many friends there over the years and have so many fond memories, honestly I could start to cry just thinking about it! I cannot wait to be back at LEAF and to finally be able to play all my new songs to Liverpool fans and friends. It’s going to be a really special night. I’ve got a great band with me and some excellent support acts (the super talented Zoe Konez and the one and only Thom Morecroft). Can’t wait to see yous there!
Graham Holland
© 2021 Liverpool Acoustic
Roxanne de Bastion ‘You & Me, We Are The Same’ UK Tour 2022
with support from Tom Morecroft + Zoe Konez
Thursday 9th June 2022
7.30pm to 11.00pm
Tickets £11.25 (inc bf) from Skiddle
You & Me, We Are The Same was released on Friday 3rd September 2021 and is available to buy and stream from all major digital download stores here: biglink.to/roxannedebastion You can read Liverpool Acoustic’s review here.