Awesome Lawson

Young band rocks to the top

By Tatat Bunnag
Photographs courtesy of Universal Music Thailand

Thai fans who saw UK pop group Lawson’s great concert at Siam Paragon last April will be happy to hear that the band is back on the charts with their new single “Brokenhearted,” which features rapper B.o.B.

With their good looks and catchy hits like “Standing in the Dark” and “Learn to Love Again,” Lawson — singer Andy Brown, bassist Ryan Fletcher, guitarist Joel Peat and drummer Adam Pitts — have all the right ingredients to be international stars. Having already toured with superstars like Avril Lavigne and Bruce Springsteen, it’s no surprise that Lawson’s following keeps growing stronger.

Student Weekly recently had an exclusive phone interview with Andy and Adam from Lawson to ask them all about their band.

Student Weekly: What’s the story behind your band name?

Andy: About five years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was a distressing time in my life and I was petrified. The surgeon who carried out the operation and saved my life was named Dr Lawson. We named the band after him.

Student Weekly: Can you tell us about your latest single, “Brokenhearted”?

Andy: “Brokenhearted” is the fourth single from our album Chapman Square. I had the idea for the song for a while before I wrote it. We’ve released a lot of love ballads, so I wanted this song to be a bit more edgy. We jammed together and then recorded it. We thought it was definitely a new sound for Lawson.

Student Weekly: Why did you choose to work with rapper B.o.B on the song?

Andy: When we were recording the song, we all agreed that it could be really great to feature a rapper on it. Instead of looking for a UK rapper, we decided to try to contact our favourite American rapper, B.o.B. Luckily he was happy to be involved.

Adam: We flew to Los Angeles recently to meet him again and to shoot a video for the song. It was brilliant. We enjoyed our time working there with him a lot.

Student Weekly: Are there any other artists that you’d particularly like to collaborate with?

Andy: We’re all huge fans of John Mayer. It would be awesome if we had a chance to work with him.

Adam: For female artists, we’d love to work with Taylor Swift, Jessie J or Katy Perry. They’re all very talented.

Student Weekly: We also heard that you’re fans of bands like Coldplay, Maroon 5 and Kings of Leon. What do you like about them, and how much has their music influenced yours?

Andy: We just love them because they’re real rock ‘n’ roll bands. They inspired us to pick up instruments and play. They’re such a big inspiration for us and I think our sound has been influenced by their music.

Student Weekly: What do you think of the current popularity of social network websites?

Adam: I think they’re all great. Websites like Facebook, Myspace and YouTube are important for the modern music industry. We were first discovered when we posted our cover version of the Bruno Mars song “Grenade” on YouTube. Sites like that are still very useful for us to keep in touch with our fans.

Student Weekly: What was your recent experience in Thailand like for you guys?

Andy: Our fans are great everywhere, but we were really excited to go to Thailand. It was our first visit and we didn’t expect to have so many fans there. Bangkok is a great city and everybody there seemed really friendly. We hope to go back to Thailand soon.

 

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