Manchester's Kiran Leonard is but a young pup, yet his songwriting – striking of tone, poetic in nature – already has fans in raptures.
Blessed with a keen observational eye, the singer's travels have broadened his mind and sharpened his pen.
Who better, then, to take part in Good Trip, Bad Trip...
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BEST TRIP
Driving from Newcastle to Edinburgh right after we'd been shafted by a shifty promoter, passing through resplendent, green, dramatic swathes of protected land and listening to Kyuss''Welcome To Sky Valley'. Made for a cathartic journey.
WORST TRIP
The time Rover, our first bass player, died on the way to Brighton. We had stopped at Corley services so he could go to a nearby field for a piss and he was run down by a passing people carrier. Miss you, buddy.
MY FAVOURITE FOREIGN VENUE
I haven't toured abroad yet. Give me time, c'mon, I haven't been doing this for very long. I don't know. I saw a video of Bilge Pump playing in an old laundromat in Portugal once. That one.
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WE ARE SURPRISINGLY POPULAR IN
India and Pakistan. According to my Facebook stats around a fifth of my likes are from the Indian subcontinent. Perhaps because 'Kiran' is a Sanskrit name. It also might be because it's a uni-sexual name that I share with lots of female models from that part of the world (Google 'Kiran'). I'm not judging, Anshul. Thanks for the support.
BEST OR WORST EXOTIC FOODSTUFF
That Swedish rotten fish with the odour that makes you gag when you open the tin. I want to make an album, a quartet band recording, of Beatles covers, where each player is wearing a tin of the stuff, like a horse's feedbag suspended a few inches from the nostrils, and the tins are opened simultaneously by assistants at pivotal moments in the song. Like "When I-I-I, say that so-omething, I wanna hold your HAAAA-OWHRJGKJFDKLJsplutterhgekj*crash*hlksplugjhlkjh*thump*gbklnl.
So, for me, that stuff (Surströmming! That's the name) is both the best and the worst exotic foodstuff. Though I have not tasted it. You will soon learn that because I am still but a young man, I have experienced nothing in my thus far meaningless life, and can only answer these questions, which are clearly aimed at the wizzened touring veteran, though hyperbole, unfunny allegory or lying.
THE MOST INTERESTING INDIVIDUAL I'VE MET ON THE ROAD
We met this one guy in Duluth, Minnesota when we were on tour with Valente Park. He wore a long cape and a flannel shirt with all the buttons tucked in one slot too high. His grey beard spent the whole of our set rested on the stage, though he was stood upright and at least 6' 5". His hair met his body at the ass, which, though the man was clearly in his seventies, had the protrusion and firmness of a gym instructor in their mid-20s.
He said he'd enjoyed our set, and wanted to take us back to his church. He drove us out west and we were led into an old bunker full of tinned food and piles of white tunics. He instructed us with his hand to sit down on the wooden floor. He stepped onto a milk crate and said to us: "In order to find the crystal spoon, you must trace idols in the condensation formed by rainwater trapped on the windowpane." There were no windows. It was not raining.
WORST ON-TOUR INJURY, ACCIDENT OR INFECTION
Dunno, I never got the whole "play till u bleed; so punk!" thing; just play properly, ya dingus. My brother was in this band in college and he used to bleed all the time, playing these sick lead guitar parts that I can't do cause I can't play fast enough, and sometimes he just ties me up in his basement and slaps me, slaps me because he's so much faster than I am, real hard. I went temporarily blind driving down the M1 once.
MY ESSENTIAL TRAVEL ITEM
I never go anywhere without my I Ching!
MY ESSENTIAL TRAVEL TIP
Oh OK, I can actually answer this one properly. Don't travel with negative, self-centred people, and don't be a negative, self-centred person. Sleep well. Take CDs, not iPods, because it's nicer to listen to a CD at a time, and sometimes switch to Richard Bacon if you feel like it. Try and get shout-outs on local radio stations (we tried to get one on Steve Wright In The Afternoon once but it didn't work). Try and wander around every town you visit. And, I don't know, have fun? Is that right? I don't know, I've never left my house before
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Catch Kiran Leonard at the following UK shows:
March
16 Sheffield The Harley
17 Manchester Gullivers
18 London Shacklewell Arms
19 Newcaslte Cumberland Arms
20 Glasgow Glad Cafe
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