Exploring the eclectic sounds and creative evolution of leather.head, from their roots in the DIY scene to their latest EP welded.

Hailing from London and Brighton, leather.head is composed of siblings Toby, Josh, and Aidan, alongside Cole and Charlie. Together, they create a distinctive musical experience that is as unpredictable as it is captivating. In this interview, the band discusses their creative journey, the making of their recent EP welded and their evolution from their early days in the DIY music scene of Brighton. They also shed light on their collaborative process with producer Jamie Neville, the intriguing choice of filming locations for their music videos, and their involvement in the DIY music collective Solidarity Tapes.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

We’re a band made up of siblings Toby, Josh and Aidan alongside Cole and Charlie. We’re currently based in London and Brighton - never really sure how to describe the music we make - its janky sort of amateur math-rock or emo with with a horn section.

Can you tell us about the creative process behind your recent EP "welded"? How did the collaboration with producer Jamie Neville influence the final sound?

Welded was born out of experimenting in a new tuning, initially we were writing songs but without the intention of releasing them - but as they developed we decided to take them to the studio. It was our first attempt of trying to write something longer form, hopefully it all sounds like the same world, most of it is essentially the same riff just played in different ways. It’s quite old for us now but I think it’s a successful representation of what we were up to at the time.

How has your musical style evolved since your earlier work, particularly considering the post-rock tendencies of your previous releases?

Our music has changed a fair amount over the years, initially we were a duo just me playing guitar and singing and josh playing sax - we really couldn’t play at the start though, pretty much learnt our instruments playing little DIY shows in Brighton where we started. Gradually as we solidified a lineup and started rehearsing properly the music got a bit more complex and experimental and I guess more post-rocky, but it changes a lot - at the moment we’re going through a skramz phase. We are all massive emos.

The "welded" video features a lengthy instrumental section before vocals kick in. What was the inspiration behind this choice, and how did poet Zia Ahmed become involved in the project?

The vocals thing we only really noticed after we’d written the song, it wasn’t a conscious decision it was just where the lyrics fitted the best. We thought it would make a funny video because it would be such a bad karaoke song - we thought Zia would do a good job of standing there looking tense for 5 minutes. We initially connected with Zia from being fans of his poetry and playwriting, we often collaborate with him by providing music for his poetry performances.

Could you share some insights into the decision to film the video at The Ivy House? How does the location tie into the thematic elements of the song?

We love the Ivy House, Sam who does bookings is such lovely guy and was so ready to help us - its a really nice and iconic looking venue and we needed somewhere to be an interesting enough backdrop for a video where not much really happens at all. Also we’d recently played at their 10th anniversary party and had a really great time so it just made sense.

The band is deeply rooted in the South East London music scene. How has this environment shaped your sound and contributed to your growth as musicians?

Moving to South London was pretty integral to our sound and how we operate now, we met so many amazing musicians like Goat Girl, Lou Terry, Gentle Stranger, Baggio, Liv Wynter, Nukuluk, the Shovel Dance lot and I guess most importantly Great Dad who were fronted by Charlie who plays with us and also as piglet - these bands and others influenced us immensely and made us feel like actual musicians.

As members of the DIY music collective Solidarity Tapes, how do you balance your roles as musicians and grassroots activists?

I guess the point of solidarity tapes is that these are not mutually exclusive roles - we want to make clear the connections between activism and diy music culture and how they can flow together. Now more than ever it feels important to use every platform, no matter how small, to amplify voices and draw attention to issues that need it. Music can be escapist but also it can serve as a tool to connect - we have less and less time for music and art that says and does nothing.

Lyrically, you mentioned that the EP is comprised of "loose threads and fragments." Can you elaborate on the themes and narratives explored in your lyrics?

The lyrics weren’t really the focus of this EP, I tend to write in different ways sometimes quite focused and narrative driven but this was more like fragments and phrases from my life that stuck with me. if something stays in my head for long enough it eventually finds its way into a song - the lyrics for the track welded are originally from 2016, feeling weird in an airport and unable to be alone.

Can you tell us more about the documentary you did recently?

The documentary was made by Ethan the youngest Evans-Jesra brother, he runs a bootlegged gig channel on YouTube and makes music videos, he made the welded one with us - he initially made the doc as a uni assignment but we thought it was great and got him to release it - I think he’s going to turn it into a series featuring different bands. Check out his channel Reality Breakdown - loads of great gigs documented.

The band has shared stages with notable acts like Birthday Girl, Horse Lords, Goat Girl, and Kiran Leonard. How has touring and performing alongside these artists influenced your approach to live shows and songwriting?

Yeah its great to play with bands we admire so much - horse lords was a pretty huge one for me, I’ve been a fan of theres for years since their album Interventions, they’ve had a huge effect on how I think about music. I think we learn a lot from playing live in general - it feels like we learn something after every show, we like to debut new material before its completely formed, the process of playing it live really informs the final version of the song.

What do you love right now?

The new Goat Girl album is incredible - Aidan and I did the artwork for it and Josh played some sax on it, so we’ve already heard it, they’ve always been one of the greats but they have taken it to a whole new level with this new album - its so dark and doomy but beautiful at the same time - its such a good direction for them. There’s a song on it called ‘words fell out’ that has been in my head ever since lottie showed me the demo about 2 years ago.

What do you hate right now?

Bands who ignore calls to boycott festivals that have direct and explicit links to the genocide being carried out by the apocalypse state of ‘Israel’. It’s literally the least you can do - to think you value playing your guitar more than a boycott that has been called for directly by Palestinian people is pathetic. Boycotts work - and they are comparatively easier than a lot of other actions, you literally just have to not do something.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Hard to pick one that covers all of us but I think we all have a lot of affection for Silent Alarm by Bloc Party - it holds up so well, the drumming is amazing. I also think that it was quite an important for me personally to see a queer person of colour thrive in a genre/scene of music thats so white, being mixed race and making experimental guitar music can feel a pretty weird and impostorish, another reason I love being in a band with my siblings.

Looking ahead, how do you envision the future of leather.head? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations on the horizon that you're excited about?

We’re working on writing album currently which is really fun - we just need to work out how we’re going to pay for it, at this rate we’ll probably release around 2030. We’re working on something with Zia that should come out much sooner though. But yeh lots of other things going on, a piglet ep, a lobby ep (my other band with lottie from goat girl), some solidarity tapes events, more shows, some collaborations - just generally keeping busy at the end of the world.

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