1: How did you decide on the name, “The Great Leslie”?

The Great Leslie was a character played by Tony Curtis in the film The Great Race, which was one of my favourites growing up. It was just one suggestion of many when we were searching for band names and happened to be our favourite!

2: What inspires you to create?

There’s nothing specific that inspires myself or the band to create. I think I have an innate desire to express myself as I’m emotionally quite a closed off person. When I write a song that’s me being honest, so I suppose in a roundabout way, life/everything and everyone around me inspires me to create. It’s the intrinsic desire to connect to others that pushes us to do what we do, though do we not all have that desire?

3: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a creative profession?

Be honest, be persistent, work harder than everyone else.

4: Do you feel open minded when it comes to what you listen to? Do you like going out of your comfort zone?

My love and passion for art and music is not exclusively love and passion for rock music. I don’t dislike any form of art or any genre of music. I am forever searching for work that I can connect to, so I’d say my mind is completely open to new ideas and sounds. Therefore, I don’t feel like I’ve ever been out of my comfort zone listening to music, but I certainly have been out of my comfort zone when I’ve been writing music; that’s good because then I know that I’m pushing myself and possibly delving into new territory.  

5: What outlets do you find out about music from? (Record stores, magazines, samplers, etc.)

Mostly social media and Spotify, blogs like yours and podcasts. That’s where new acts are establishing themselves right now.

6: What are your plans for 2021?

We plan to release another six singles throughout 2021 and God willing we shall start to gig again all over the UK as soon as the pandemic lifts.

7: What was the inspiration for your song, “Out of My Hands”?

Out of My Hands was very much a subconscious creation. I just sat down and started to play and sing; no planning went into it, nothing preprepared, it just happened. I just started to write down all the negative things about myself and it developed from there.

Hear their guest playlist: Guest Playlist: The Great Leslie

Listen to them on Spotify: The Great Leslie

Follow them: Instagram + Facebook + Twitter

1: How did you decide on the name, “Riot Course”?

The name “Riot Course” came from a poster Spencer saw in a downtown cafe, which depicted a student protester after being roughed up by the cops. The poster was meant to show the protestor in a negative light, but by reclaiming that image as activists, we like the statement that is made.

2: What inspires you to create?

The catharsis that comes with writing music is unmatched. Seeing your art resonate with other people is also extremely exciting and creates an incredible sense of community, which I think everyone craves.

3: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a creative profession?

Do it for the right reasons. Authenticity shows, and the connections/fans you make will appreciate that. Also, remember that the act of creating is often more important than the result, simply because if nothing else you will become better at your own craft.

4: Do you feel open minded when it comes to what you listen to? Do you like going out of your comfort zone?

All three of us have music tastes that span over several genres. In fact, it was pretty hard to select songs for the artist playlist because we were only able to cover a very very small amount of artists and genres in the 20 song limit.

5: What outlets do you find out about music from? (Record stores, magazines, samplers, etc.)

The majority of the music we listen to I feel like is found from friends, because most of our friends are very into music or play music themselves, and therefore are always sharing new finds. From there, it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole of similar artists, and before you know it, you’ve found great music that becomes part of your personal library. It all snowballs. 

6: What was the inspiration for your song, “Insecure”?

It was written from a place of hurt and betrayal, the song focuses on me regaining my worth and power while I simultaneously watched the antagonist of the song deteriorate, unable to manipulate me anymore. This is a song I want people to listen to when they feel like they need to regain their purpose, or leave a toxic situation. I will not name names of those involved, simply because people like this crave the negative attention.

Listen to their EP: Maybe I’ll See You Next Year

Follow them: Instagram + Twitter

Hear their guest playlist: Guest Playlist: Riot Course

Photos Taken By: Cheyenne Thomas