Luke La Volpe remains committed to the music industry 'grind'

There is no misery like self-inflicted misery. Ask Luke La Volpe – who left his job for the sheer graft of the music scene, who backtracked on plans to emigrate Down Under for another crack at it – his story is one that echoes along the trenches of basement venues and leaky rehearsal rooms across the country.

For Luke, every hurdle is arduous and every victory is short-lived. For every step forward a new barrier emerges. He leans on his experience to navigate an industry seemingly hell-bent on deterring even the most modest venture into originality; that is until those efforts – hailed as fresh and exciting for the sheer audacity of being somewhat innovative – are too pressing to ignore.

He grinds, as others do. Waiting for his opening. Yet for every blow he sustains, his resolve only strengthens. He reminds himself that his path to the biggest stages will be paved by a series of little victories over time – a door chapped many a time before opening.

Meeting with The Weekender in his hometown of Bathgate, Luke ruminates over the pitfalls and peaks of his chosen profession. “It is a grind,” he proclaims in a seasoned tone, highlighting the sacrifice and resilience required.

“I’ve heard some artists saying all you have to do is dream,” he says,” Just go out there and get it – but, no, that’s not how it is. It’s going to be a grind and you have to take it all on the chin. I always get asked what advice I have for a young musician, and it’s always: ‘Be prepared to sacrifice a lot and to feel like s*** all the time’.”

Before the industry was halted by the pandemic, Luke was primed for his next big steps. New releases and a sold-out stint at King Tut’s had been looming. He feels his time away from the scene was productive – a chart-topping Terribly Beautiful EP being a massive achievement. He also earned the prize of the Scottish Music Awards Breakthrough Artist of the Year. But, there, in the wake of it all, the coalface waited.

“I feel like I’ve been saying next year is my year for seven years,” the singer reflects. “I think a lot of people will get the idea in their head that all you need is a ‘big break’ and that’s it… you’re ‘famous’. But being a musician is a graft. I tell my friends that I chose this and that means taking the highs and lows.

“I thought things might have turned when EP went to #1, but after a couple of weeks I was back to the grind again. The music industry is a grind. You are, essentially, set up to fail at every corner; if it was easy then everybody would do it.

“I’m sure there are some out there that have been ‘lucky’ but even those folk who look like their careers have taken off overnight it’s probably not the case. It’s probably four years of planning that has gone into that.”

Luke performing at Sound City Liverpool. Picture by Iain Smith/The Weekender

Luke continues to wrestle the industry in many ways, but he is open about his mistakes as well. Arguably his biggest challenge is finding the balance between his own self-expression – what he wants to say and how he wants to play – and the demands of the commercial machine.

“The music industry is f***ed at the minute – it’s all TikTok and things like that. Everything is based on the quick-fire attention span; if people are not interested in your thing for even a second – then it’s gone. Not a whole lot of record labels coming to places like Bathgate for their next discovery.

“I had it in my head, for about two years, that I had to get signed by a record label – I was obsessed with it. In some instances, I was trying to, more or less, change who I was just to find someone to take me on.

“But the more I think about it, these days, the way to get signed is to show you can do it without them. They are looking for you to do all the work and to then pick you up when you’re ready. A lot of people don’t think something is good until other people think it’s good.

“I still have that conversation with myself all the time. Should I try and appease other people? But then the reason I am in the position I am in is because I wasn’t trying to please anybody but myself.”

The rehabilitation of the music industry has been gruelling. Some major events were able to run, most bands have made their return to the stage, or will be shortly. For Luke, the festival season had its share of ups and downs: Latitude, Sound City Liverpool, Vibration all went ahead, though he had to postpone his TRNSMT appearance due to Covid.

All in all, the West Lothian man has been able to pick up on a strong footing. His previous singles, in Stand Up and Alter Ego, certainly bolstered his profile and gave him a few lively tracks to punch up his set.

Of course, for all he wants to achieve, Luke is all-too-aware of what he has accomplished so far and the support he has had through the years. He sold out King Tut’s without breaking a sweat before doing the same at St Luke’s. Indeed, the latter is a venue that holds a special place in his heart and going back there only serves as a reminder to trust in his own judgement.

“To sell out St Luke’s in a week was mental,” he says. “It’s actually one of my favourite venues – I’ve supported Capaldi there and Tom Grennan there. I had a bit of a turning point in my life at that venue. In the same week I support Capaldi at Princes Street and then Tom Grennan at St Luke’s. I worked in a warehouse at the time and my work wouldn’t give me the time off to play – so I quit and haven’t ‘worked’ since then.

“But to go back there and headline that venue just shows I made the right decision. I’ve gone from playing there when no one really knew me to selling it out on my own. Quitting work to do that was one of the hardest decisions I’d ever had to make – but it was one of the best. Playing those shows re-lit the fire again.

“The support I have had from people here [West Lothian] is incredible. A load of the folk that will be at the St Luke’s show will be the same faces that came to see me years ago.”

When asked what ‘making it’ might feel like, if a sold-out show at St Luke’s wasn’t it, he adds: “It’s weird to even talk about it. I visualise a lot of stuff that I want to do – years down the line. I’m already thinking about playing The Hydro; if you don’t believe that you’re going to get to that place then it’s never going to happen.”

Luke on stage at Vibration Festival earlier this year. Picture by Iain Smith/The Weekender

He will have heard the phrase “make or break” sent his way a number of times of the years; he admits “his year” has forever been around the corner. Whether or not his time comes in 2022, Luke is determined to steer his own course going forward.

While he reflects on what makes a Luke La Volpe song – or his ‘sound’ – he is clear there will always be room for experimenting. He has already tested the water with some new ideas, most notably with his most recent single Alter Ego.

“That song is basically about getting a maniac out of my head,” he says. “I don’t really know how I feel about it, but it had to be done. Sometimes it’s difficult to know what other people will like and you have to put it out there to know. Alter Ego was a left-field shoot to try something else.

“I’m not sure if there is a ‘classic Luke’. Alter Ego was, literally, a different side to me. When I put out Terribly Beautiful, everybody loved it. It was lockdown and people were listening to music. So, that was fine. I then put out Stand Up, which didn’t hit as much, but people love it live. I think maybe it’s not a track that a load of folk associate with me – it’s maybe too upbeat. I think they want slower stuff from me, because my voice suits that. But I do enjoy playing faster stuff. It’s about getting that balance.”

New material is on the horizon – indeed, the singer buzzes at the mere mention of it. He’s also found – in Snow Patrol guitarist Iain Archer – the man he feels can unlock his potential. The duo had been working together before lockdown and Luke will be heading down to Brighton at some point to finish work on his upcoming EP.

“He’s a genius,” Luke adds. “He wrote Jake Bugg’s album and James Bay’s Hold Back the River. I’ve had writing sessions with a lot of people, but he’s the first guy that has understood what I’m trying to do. He doesn’t force an agenda onto me.

“We’re going to work on an EP – five tracks. I don’t think folk will be expecting what comes next. Alter Ego was something a bit different. This EP will be something different again.

“I want to go back to telling stories. These new songs are maybe not ‘hits’ or anything; I can’t see them being played on Radio One. They are exactly what songwriting is to me: Just me telling linear stories and getting my therapy done and out there.

“It’ll be a little stripped back – guitar and piano. It’ll go out as an EP and will evolve as a live band and beefed up then. I want to make it about the lyrics and what it means; not just loads of production. In the vein of Terribly Beautiful…more anthemic. I want to make it natural and raw – like I’m just an artist coming up for the first time.”

Luke La Volpe will headline a sold-out St Luke's later this month, with new April 2022 tour dates announced across the UK, including Dunfermline, Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.