ANGELO LEROI INTERVIEW: Chicago-based singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Angelo LeRoi, is known for his production credits for MAVI, MESSIAH!, Malaya and more. His brand new solo EP, ‘eLRoi‘ is out now, get familiar…
What five words define your sound?
Black, blue, true, sparse, hypnotic.
Tell me something unique about your creative process
I play most of the instruments you hear in my music.
Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?
‘Another Man’ is a good start, I’d say. I really like how that one turned out.
What inspired you to make that song?
I seen this girl I had a crush on with her man and I was heartbroken [laughs].
What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?
My last EP, ‘TV Dad’, for sure. Just discussing a lot of family stuff, and my feelings on situations. It was a really cathartic experience for me, getting to channel those feelings into this body of work, my brother collaborating with me on the album cover too. I was super open on that project and I think that that energy translates and is felt on the listener’s end.
What’s the best experience you’ve had on stage?
March of 2020, it was maybe a week before COVID hit and I was playing a show in my homie’s apartment. We’re third out of fourth on the bill so by the time we get up, it’s packed out, there’s people outside the door trying to get in. So this is lowkey at the same time Virgil gets the LV job, and there’s that runway show where the band plays Kanye’s ‘Ghost Town’ at the end. So, last song of the night is this Punk version of ‘Ghost Town’ and I thought we were gonna break through the floor, everyone was going crazy in there.
What is your favourite song to perform?
I haven’t performed a full solo set since then so I gotta say it’s ‘Ghost Town’ [laughs].
Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?
It might’ve been Steve Lacy, he was around my age playing guitar too so he made it feel accessible.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?
I don’t really know a life without music, I’d probably work at a skate shop or something.
What’s success to you?
That’s a big question but I’d say it’s fulfilment.
What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?
I think that more recently I’m understanding that being an artist is really integrated into my work as a producer. I considered them different things for a long time because I felt like my technical production skills did not meet my artistic imagination. In that way, I feel freer in my approach now that that gap has closed more.
Where can people keep in touch with you?
I’m on pretty much everything @angeloleroi. If you wanna support, tap into the Bandcamp. Merch coming soon!
Photo by Eden Berke
