Kiran Leonard is a multi-talented instrumentalist from Manchester who’s releasing his new album Grapefruit at the end of this month. Already released singles Pink Fruit and Secret Police are brilliant and we can’t wait to hear the rest of the album. We had a chat with Kiran prior to his show here next month about the new album, being a musician, touring and what’s next for him this year.
Your new album ‘Grapefruit’ comes out next month. How long in the making has this album been and are you excited for it to get out there?
I finished Grapefruit over a year ago, so… yeah, I’m definitely excited to be relieved of it. I can see it now. Slouching in my iTunes. Secretly. Alone. Unwanted.
You seem to have tons of passion and knowledge about all aspects of music. Did this start at a young age?
I used to really like writing short stories when I was a kid and music took over when I was 10 or 11. Before that I liked Lemony Snicket, Manchester City and diggers. I like that story about Keiji Haino… you know apparently he really wanted to be the next Rimbaud or something until he heard the Doors’ “When the Music’s Over”, and then that was it. Fushitsusha.
As someone who has played instruments for years, what’s your favourite part about being a musician?
Anything from: hitting a perfect 9th fret harmonic (w neck bend) on an electric guitar; doing a bad Greg Saunier impression behind a drum kit; doing a bad Cecil Taylor impression at a piano; group free improvisation; hitting an ugly chord with a huge tessitura and lots of sixths and sevenths in it; tightening and loosening all the tuning pegs at random; jamming on “Gomni” by Ali Farka Touré or “Moby Dick”;
When you’re on tour do you have any hobbies to keep you occupied throughout all the travelling?
I’m in the middle of my degree so I have to read a lot. I mostly just change my strings. I’d say on tour I spend about 19 hours of my day changing my fucking strings. And reading, I don’t know, Pío Baroja or something. The last tour I was reading El árbol de la ciencia by Pío Baroja. A legit fascist, but funny.
What’s next for Kiran Leonard? Will we be seeing your name on a few festival line ups this summer?
I’m gonna watch an episode of KOTH and go to bed. In the summer I hope to watch the show in a number of different places, at different festivals around Europe.
Kiran Leonard plays The Bodega on the 7th April with support from Field Studies and The Blue Period. Tickets available here
You can also preorder Kiran’s new album Grapefruit released on the 25th March here.