Magazine Article Further Improvements

Renaissance, your typical mouthy, bigoted band? no, after bringing fans and critics onto the Renaissance bandwagon with their debut album ‘Alone We Stand’ the band see are stepping back into the light with their new album ‘As one Door Closes’ with the potential to take control of this music era. We meet with frontman Liam Lennon in a small  pub in the dark brooding moores of Leeds where the previous night saw a triumphant return to music for Lennon and his and band Renaissance who set the house ablaze with a gig at Leeds’ o2 academy, two nights before the release of their massively anticipated follow up to debut album ‘Alone We Stand’, ‘As One Door Closes’

Interviewer: Right then Liam, where do I begin, sat here today you look as relaxed as you did last night when you were performing your heart out to Leeds’ finest, how did the gig pan out in your eyes?

Liam: Haha (Liam smirks) yeah you know, we erm felt really good up there (the stage) it was an electric night, the crowd were on form, looked really happy, we came off stage buzzing so erm bring on the rest of the dates I guess.

Interviewer: One of the most notable things from the gig, was the crowd reaction to the new material, can you give us an insight into what we can expect from your new tracks…

Liam: Well it’s all sort of a blur now, but at the time I remember thinking, wow, these tunes are rocketing all round man which you know is what we wanted. You know we knew how important the second album is for a band like us, it can make or break your career and when we went into the studio on our first album we just got the job done, erm it was almost like we wanted it to sound like we made no effort, and we were just unleashing on our equipment. So we wanted to carry this through to the second album, you know we didn’t want to make the same mistake as other bands and try to act all ‘grown up’ (Liam lifts and bends his middle fingers, with emphasis on the word) and really over produce the record to give it a deeper meaning, hell yeah we still wanted to have meaning behind our stuff, but we aren’t four lads who studied at Cambridge, we just write about what we know, and on the second album we want the same guitars riff-ness and to feel as if we’re the same four lads off the street that we were at the time of Alone We Stand. You know man we wanted to create that same vibe with second album but spice it up a little and give it something new, something extra, but keep the no fucking nonsense attitude behind it, give it our all and keep it fresh if you get where I’m coming from.

Interviewer: Well Liam, as you and I have both gathered, your fellow bands mates are missing today. Does this imply you to be solely responsible for the direction and decisions made within the band?

Liam: Haha (Liam Smirks) well this could be quite difficult to answer. If I am being this honest I gotta’ say, I write the lyrics and add on the music behind it, but this is a running scenario for most bands, you know I’m the ‘frontman’ of this band so it was only natural for me to be the voice of the band on and off stage, without sounding too big headed and obnoxious. It does feel pretty cool though. Although without the rest of the band along my side I’m nothing, so there is no pragmatic meaning behind the absence of the other members today, when I’m on stage, without em’ I’d be like a guitar without the strings.

Sadly Liam, we’ve not had nearly as much time and I would have liked. You admit yourself to being an in depth person along with having a huge vision for Renaissance to become one of the all time greats in British music. Where will Renaissance be standing in five years time?

Liam: Hmmm, straight away the image put in my mind, us, top of bill playing numerous sold out nights at Knebworth, my god if we could pull that off man it would just be a complete dream, but you know in my eyes the dreams are there for a reason, to make them happen. So as a band we want to takes the risks that could potentially take us beyond everybody’s expectations of Renaissance, we don’t want to be sitting here in the years to come, thinking, if only, if only we had took a few risks, not living in the nightmare of what could have been. So in answer to your question, yeah Knebworth would be lovely (Liam smirks)

Straight away after asking only a few questions, I could tell Liam Lennon was a man oozing and dripping in confidence, the charisma and drive in his voice, just glimmered his attitude towards making great music. His vision for the band is clear, he wants be at the forefront of the music scene setting the trends for all other indie/alterative bands to follow.

 We then bought this interview to a close; Liam gave a firm handshake and a slight hug and said ‘Farewell’ before he dashed off to most probably check what availabilities what Knebworth had in store. Though all that can be said is Liam is stood firmly on the launch pad, and knows exactly what is needed to be done to take Renaissance into outer space. So yes or no? Will ‘As One Door Closes’ take Renaissance to the next level? Of course it will, if there is one thing that this interview has taught us, it’s that Liam Lennon will not take no as an answer.