LASTELLE: “WE’RE TRYING TO WRITE MUSIC WE LOVE”

Despite 2020’s hurdles, post-hardcore outfit Lastelle aren’t letting these unpredictable times diminish their creative yearnings. Dreambound’s finest, the Oxfordshire five-piece continue to unleash ruthlessly emotional yet insanely catchy anthems that make them a feisty frontrunner to become one of 2021’s biggest breakout bands. 

If you’re a fan of La Dispute, Being As An Ocean or Counterparts you’ll surely love these guys – happy songs are nice, but a song that gives you a good ol’ cry is what you need in today’s climate. Their tra Coping Without A Cure exemplifies their best qualities; from Adam Rigozzi’s powerhouse vocals to the Rich Lester and Jonjo Williams great blend of infectious riffs, an overarching quality that resonates above all is the straight up brutally honest lyricisms, often detailing struggles with mental health and the struggle to get better.

“That’s the beauty of the nature of free expression” says bassist Freddie Whatmore. He sits down with us to unravel the history of Lastelle and what they’re about. “I think music can be whatever the artist wants it to be; art for the sake of art, is still art. A lot of our subject matter tackles mental health and loss, which is perhaps something we’re better versed to communicate: both in words and in the sound of our band. Coping Without a Cure is a testament to anyone that has had to witness the deterioration of a loved one’s mental health. It’s heart-breaking to watch someone you care about fade away but, unfortunately it’s a universal thing a lot of us have dealt with.”

Lastelle’s beginnings take them back to 2018, Jonjo, Rich and Mike had just disbanded from a previous group. Adam, now their lead singer, was actually a videographer for them before becoming their frontman. Whatmore was the last to join but found them on his sheer love for the sound, saying “I heard what they had written and the music instantly clicked with me as something I’d love to be involved with. I knew all the guys before that but it’s been really special – and the good kind of surprising – how we mesh together.”

Coming into an extremely saturated market can be daunting, Whatmore says that channelling that mind set can sometimes be negative. “It can affect how you write,” he explains “how you act and how you are perceived. We’re trying to write music we love, while being as honest and open as possible. Hopefully that honesty is the thing that resonates with people and comes across.”

Lastelle are a band that can adapt to any climate, a chameleon of their craft. “Lockdown hasn’t really affect our song writing and marketing process too much to be honest,” Whatmore admits. “We’ve always worked with mixing engineers remotely, so when Simon Jackman (Outhouse Studios) was mixing Coping Without a Cure, we just communicated back and forth on mix notes until we were all happy.” However, in the grand scheme of things the bassist reflects on the daunting impact this has had on the music industry, and the strenuous pressure it’s put on artists like himself. “I won’t pretend I’m the right person to answer this” he says “but the entire music industry is suffering, globally, and a lot of close friends of mine have had their dreams shattered. The planet is dealing with a pandemic, so it would be selfish to act as though we’re the only people struggling, but it will be a long uphill struggle for the arts, especially in this country.”

Looking toward the future the bassist reveals that the only way is up for this band “We’re looking to release more,” he says “write more, play more and connect with as many people as possible. It’s always hard to predict where you would like to be, so I think we’re going to roll with it, work hard and keep doing what we love!”

Check out Lastelle’s music here: