After a successful Saturday at Reading playing on the BBC Introducing stage, we caught up with Lleo about how the festivals have been so far and discussed her biggest inspirations and dream collaborations.

Tell us a bit about yourself, who you are and what is your musical background?

Lleo: My name is Lleo. I make bipolar pop. So it’s the highest highs and lowest lows condensed into bangers, and, uh, yeah, I have bipolar and it affects so much of my life, and I basically make tunes about what goes on in my head to try and make sense of it. So that’s kind of what I do, and it’s like guitar alt pop. I just do it to explain what goes on in my head, but other people seem to connect to it as well, which is nice.

Who are your musical influences?

Lleo: So I love pop, obviously. I love hip hop, I love gospel, I love country, I love dancehall—like, so many different genres. But I’d say I really love The 1975. I love Muna (my favourite band, The 1975)—oh my god, they’re insane. I saw them at Glastonbury, and I just stood there, just crying, hands in the air, crying. Um, who else? I love Billy Joel, I love Lady Gaga, I love so many, you know…

So who would your dream collaboration be?

Lleo: My dream collaboration, right now, today, if they were gonna walk in: The 1975. 100%! I feel like they would make something sensational (it’ll also be extra special because they don’t collaborate with anyone). Exactly! George, if you’re watching, give me a call. Or Matty, any of you!

Okay, fun question: If you could describe your music as a scent, what would it smell like?

Lleo: Oh my god, that’s really hard. I wanna say my favourite perfume, which is called ‘Queer Magic,’ but that’s a bit rogue. My favourite scent, god knows, something that smells beautiful, and exciting, and amazing. I don’t know what that thing is- sorry!

What’s your writing process like for your music?

Lleo: I love to co-write with people, cause I feel like I chuck out loads of ideas, and they help me filter out what’s good and what’s not so good. The way it usually works is when I’m on a train, or a bus, or a car—like when I’m moving—ideas just pop into my head. I’ll write them all down on my notes app. All of a sudden, something will just happen, and then I’ll take that into a session, and whatever vibe I’m feeling that day, I’ll be like, ‘Okay, I’ve got this idea about how we do this,’ and if they’re into it as well, then we’ll run with it. And yeah, I just basically chuck out a bunch of ideas and we see what’s cool. (I feel like you’re most creative when you travel for some reason.) Yeah, I don’t know what it is. Yeah, it’s like when I’m moving. It’s something about movement, and my brain is just like, ‘Okay, this feels exciting.’ Um, but yeah, I just like to co-write with a bunch of different people, and yeah, we just make cool stuff.

What would be your favourite place to perform, like what city?

Lleo: Anywhere. Japan. I really, really, really want to go to Japan; I wanna play in Japan. So going to Japan to play in Japan would be like—would be the dream, the ultimate. Yeah, there’s something about it. Whenever I see artists I love, like Yungblud, whenever he goes to Japan, he’s always like, ‘Japan, you’re like the best place ever,’ so I’m like, okay, I need to go. I need to experience it for myself.

Any pre show or post show rituals you have?

Lleo: At the moment, it just seems to be crying at the end. Um, no. Pre-show—do you know what? I’ve realised that I don’t like having loads of people around me before a show. I just like to be in my own space, so yeah, just be with the band, be with Jack, my drummer, do some warm-ups, drink some water, not be around loads of people, and just chill and just like get in my zone. Then, after, have a laugh, mess around, get a bit cheeky.

How have you been finding the festival so far, how has the fan response been?

Lleo: Yeah, really good. I mean, yesterday—so we played Reading yesterday—and it was really cool. I had some flyers made, and I was going around just saying to people, like, ‘I’m on the BBC Introducing stage at 5:30,’ and I was kind of like hoping it works. I didn’t really know if it would, and people actually showed up—it was really nice. People were really supportive, people stuck around, and yeah, today the atmosphere is like, so nice in Leeds. I used to live in Leeds; I lived here for 4 years, so it’s really nice to be back and to actually play at the festival now. But yeah, it’s a really nice environment, and the weather’s nice, the people are nice, you know—so far, so good. (Are you staying for the rest of the day today?) Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna stick around. I really wanna catch Nxdia, who’s headlining the Introducing stage later. I think that’s gonna be so sick. A couple of other acts—I heard South Arcade as we were arriving, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, South Arcade are on,’ you know? They sounded amazing, honestly. I didn’t get to see them, but they sounded incredible. But yeah, I’m just gonna check out some cool artists, have a laugh, have a little mooch around, have a nice day!

Lastly, would you come back?

Lleo: Oh my god, 100%. Imagine if I was like, ‘No, hated it, I’m never coming back.’ No, 100%, I would love to. I feel really lucky to be here with Introducing and to be playing, and it’s such a great opportunity, and I’ve been looking forward to it for so long. So yeah, hopefully today goes really well, and then maybe I can come back!

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