Manly Boathouse, love-bombing and finding her voice – Lottie McLeod on her latest EP
This week, Brisbane’s indie-folk vocalist Lottie McLeod dropped her second EP The Boathouse, a body of work that sees the artist honing in on her delicate sound. Right before the EP dropped, we sat down with Lottie to discuss the tender collection of tracks chronicling love-bombing, yearning and the irresistible draw of Manly Boathouse.
Tell us about the story behind the album name and the artwork for The Boathouse EP.
It’s called The Boathouse because I subconsciously always bring people to the Manly Boathouse when I want to have a discussion that’s not lighthearted. I always, for some reason, gravitate to that area.
The first lyric of the song ‘Boathouse’ is, we get along and we talk it out by the boathouse. That lyric was written before I decided the title, so I thought that would all tie it together.
The cover art was really unintentional. I knew that I wanted it to be in a watery sort of area, and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks later I realised that I took it at Wynnum, right next to the boathouse. I was like, oh, I should just run with that and tell people I did it on purpose, but it was accidental.
What is it about Manly Boathouse you find yourself going back to?
My first boyfriend lived five minutes away, so we went there a couple of times, and then for some reason, everyone who has had some sort of important role in my life has always lived near that area too. So it’s just been somewhere we can meet in the middle and it’s just really grounding. I’m a water baby, I always have been, so anywhere near the water will always be really grounding to me and bring some sort of ease and calmness.
Can you tell us the best lesson you learnt while putting together the EP?
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In this EP you’ll hear that I’m a very trusting person, maybe a little bit too much sometimes. I let people in and I take their word for all the good things they’re saying, which isn’t a bad quality to have but I definitely learnt to put myself first and learnt from a lot of experiences like love bombing, for example.
A lot of these songs came from love bombing and I know that’s such a modern word, but it’s so common. It happens to everyone and it’s not a lighthearted thing. So I learnt to think more about who I let into my life, not in a toxic way but in a way where I’m choosing myself first.
The Boathouse will be your second EP in as many years; how has your sound and style changed over that time?
When I recorded Bug, I was very new to being in the studio, and I still am now but I was a baby who had never done anything like that before. Sometimes I was scared to use my voice, and I also hadn’t really made any close enough connections with producers that I could just throw a really whack idea out there.
With this EP, I’ve learned that I don’t need to have lots of major intense theory knowledge and be the most knowledgeable in the room. I can just say what I’m thinking and if a sound comes into my head that I think sounds cool I can just say it. I’ve developed a team of people that I can say anything to, like my producer Josh Beattie – he will never look at me like I’m a weirdo and we’ve really built a sound that sounds more like me.
Where was the EP recorded?
It’s a seven track EP and five of the songs were recorded at 4000 Studios, so a big chunk of it was there with Josh Beattie. The other two songs were recorded in North Carolina, actually, with Caleb Wright at a really, really beautiful studio in Durham.
The music video for ‘Wednesdays at the Waterloo’ looks like it was a fun one to film. Can you tell me what your favourite part of that process was?
Well, all of the extras are just really close friends of mine, so it honestly just felt like a really cool hang. To be honest, I didn’t see what they were doing in the video because I was looking at the camera, but when I watched it back, they just got into it so much. They’re all incredible actors, and they just made the music video what it was.
I’ve never really had any ideas of what I want my music videos to look like. Most of my music videos before ‘Wednesdays’, I haven’t been too proud of and acting in front of the camera is something that I haven’t ever been too comfortable doing. But with ‘Wednesdays’ I was able to incorporate my own idea and also feel a lot more confident in front of the camera, and I can watch it and not cringe, which is really good.
Subscribe for updatesYou’ve got a big couple of months coming up with the release of your EP. How do you manage such a busy schedule, and does it help or hinder your creative process?
Yeah, it’s very, very hectic. I’m very lucky that I have just the best team. It’s a small team but they’re all so willing to take a load off my plate when I need to.
I’m not going to lie, sometimes it does have an effect on my creative process. Sometimes when I’m so focused on the songs I’m promoting, I can feel a little bit burnt out. I also work almost 30 hours a week, so it can get very tricky, but last night I wrote a song that I’m really, really proud of, and there’s little moments like that where I’m like, oh, I’ve still got it, I haven’t lost my push and drive for it.
I love writing, and I think it’s really important. I always take at least half an hour a day to sit and play, and even if it’s just playing a cover of a song that I really love.
What would you say is your favourite venue in Brisbane to play?
There’s so many. Maybe this is a hot take, but I love playing at Black Bear Lodge. I started there, and for a while there, I was playing it all the time, and I kind of got over it. Then I didn’t play there for probably a good year, and I played there a few weeks ago, and it was really nice. Everyone starts their Brisbane live music experience there and it feels really sentimental.
Now, if you could only pick three songs to take with you on a deserted island, what would you pick?
The first one is ‘The King of Wishful Thinking’ by Go West. That’s one of my favourite songs of all time, it always feels like the first time listening to it.
Can I swear? There’s a song called ‘Coolest fucking bitch in town’ by Haley Blais. That’s a song I discovered in high school, and then it wasn’t until last year I listened to that album in full, and it’s one of my favourite albums of all time.
And I can’t not say a Samia song, she’s my favourite. I’d have to say ‘Proof’ by Samia.
If you were tasked with creating a dream team of Brisbane artists, who would you want on your team?
Meiia. It sounds biassed because she’s my best friend, but I genuinely am just obsessed with her music, I listen to her demos all the time. She’s just moved from Cairns, and she’s a crack songwriter. She’s just put out a song called ‘Fix It Anyway’, and it’s about how AI sucks, but not in a cringe way.
What are you looking forward to on The Boathouse tour?
Well, I’m playing smaller venues, and I am really excited to just see the people. I did my own tour last year, but I also supported a band called Peach Fuzz, and I feel like I got some people listening from that tour, so it’ll be really cool to see those faces again.
Honestly, touring just feels like a holiday to me. It’s just like a big holiday with my band, and also my friends, and Meiia is playing Sydney and Brisbane, so it’ll just be like a holiday with my best friends. I’m literally counting down the days.
Lottie McLeod’s The Boathouse EP officially drops on Friday September 25, with the tour kicking off in October, where she will play Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with support from LILY B, Meiia, Franjapan, Grace de Vos and Kieran Stevenson. She will also be supporting both The Tullarmarines and Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos on their tours across November.
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