Helen and Benjamin AKA Lady Buds are a travelling Indie/Folk urban new age Rock duo.
Interview conducted on October 22, 2020
By Dan Locke
The duo has made heaps of road trips and hitch-hiking trips around different countries and have lots of experiences and stories to be shared with the world and they thoroughly enjoy sharing them through their songwriting
What is your upbringing?
Helen was brought up on the Wirral with her dad and brothers and Ben was brought up on the other side of the water, in the musical city of Liverpool, with his parents and older sister.
How did you discover music?
We both have musical fathers and I feel like where we are from has a massive impact. Ben’s dad is a singer songwriter, traveling the world touring and Helen’s dad has his collection of vinyl’s and we used to sit and go through them listening to tracks.
How did you start to write music?
Ben started writing stories about his adventures, being inspired by traveling and turned them to songs. Helen used to write poetry and very similar turned them into songs when she learnt how to play guitar.
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
Helen bought it herself when she was 20 for £100 and looked at it for a few years before she actually picked up the courage to learn to play, she still has it safe in her mums house and has bought several more since then. Whoops hehe! Ben’s dad gave him his when he was in primary school and it made it as far as his first independent apartment in Liverpool city centre. It was a special guitar, an old nylon which sadly he no longer has, although he doesn’t know what happened to it, it holds a place in his heart.
How did you two get together?
We met in an Irish bar in Liverpool called Pogue Mahones as they were hosting an open mic night. It was one of the first open mic nights Helen attended but to Ben it was his thing. After both performed Ben asked Helen if she’d like to jam and two days later, they became band buddies.
What was your first performance at like together?
It was cool as! Very spontaneous, we went to New Brighton for a busk and managed to get ourselves a gig inside of a lovely new venue. We had fun bouncing off our new collaborations and made the most of the open bar.
What makes a good songwriter?
A good songwriter speaks with the audience, talking about real life experiences. Ups, downs and everyday emotions.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
The first song we wrote together was called Run. It is about how we both should Run away together on a musical adventure. We recorded it live in a popular recording studio in Liverpool, with some other newly collaborated material.
You are a traveling folk/roots and urban new age rock duo. How has the virus affected you?
It was crazy, we couldn’t move anywhere! We couldn’t share our love with anyone and it made us very sad. Mainly because we knew our gifts made people happy and what we gave we would receive much more out of it. We had just been offered to go on tour with The Extravaganza Fair in New Zealand, which sadly got closed down a week before lockdown.
How was it to record your firs live album in Liverpool?
It was super magical, we had awesome musicians who helped us and got involved bringing our first album to life. It was in Vulcan Studios and we had our friend Zak who is from California and a super talented all-rounder musician, play Bass and Alex who is from Liverpool and a super tight drummer. We did 11 tracks in 4 hours and it flowed smoothly, we were super happy and couldn’t wait to release it!
You are releasing your new CD, From the Cities to the Shores on Nov. 27th. Tell me about it. Why did you push it back for Oct. 20th?
Yes, we are and we cannot wait! From the Cities to the Shores is our third album together, all of the songs have been inspired by our travels over the last three years. Escaping many cities around the world and landing ourselves at some of the most magical beaches. The album wasn’t actually pushed back, the release date has always been 27th November 2020.
What is your favorite track on the album?
Ben’s favourite track on the album is, Coming Home because it brings him nice memories of us together. Helen’s favourite song is, Phoenix because of the meaning, where we were when we wrote it, the production and Ben’s amazing sound effects.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
We eat great food, try not to eat too much pizza haha, drink lots of water and beer, we surf and do yoga! Another big part of our lives is looking after our bodies because without them we can’t do what we love, like performing and dancing the night away.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
As the music industry has evolved over the last 2 decades, streaming genres of music is a great way in the new era to reach out to all parts of the world and for specific music to reach the correct audiences’ ears. It’s nice to know cassette, vinyl’s and cd’s still exist and people are trying to bring the old way of listening back.
Digital vs. vinyl?
We love love love vinyl but because we are on the road quite often digital music is so much easier to rely on and ask people to listen. It would be so awesome if we had our new album on vinyl whilst we are settled back in England.
At the beginning of the Covid-19 virus you were trapped in New Zealand. How did you finally get back to England?
We never really felt trapped in New Zealand at the beginning of Covid. It was a challenging time for just over two months, we missed our families, we couldn’t do any music and then we both eventually spent money on an overpriced flight which got us safely home.
What are your feelings about the social uprising going on in the United States?
It’s a sad time for the USA being such a big country with many states and a lot of energetic people who are finding it hard to stay inside just as the rest of the world.
What is the mental health situation of the England?
Like anywhere it’s a hard time for a lot of people which will be affecting mental health. It’s a small country with a big population and it’s a hard situation to have to rely on FaceTime and modern-day devices to be able to communicate with others.
Do you think kids should go back to school?
We feel like if it causes more infections going back sooner then we’d rather the schools remained closed for a bit longer as it would have a huge drop in cases instead of a rise.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Helen’s is The Boxer as she is currently learning it and has a nice memory of her and her dad singing it together.
Ben’s is Dock of the Bay as it brings back beautiful memories from his travels.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Well until the virus is controlled, live music and large festival gatherings are put on hold and people won’t be able to feel the connection that music brings to one another.
You wrote a song called Lockdown during the lockdown. How long did it take you to write it?
We had the idea for a day or two before messing around with a chorus line and a djembe beat, it was written within the first week of the lockdown happening in New Zealand.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
We have been writing, practicing and recording songs.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Ben started fishing and Helen started making jewelry out of everything organic.
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. This includes people who don’t have television and using their computers to do streaming of programs and movies. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
We watch films mainly and documentaries, we don’t really watch tv to pick a favourite anyway haha.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In October that is going to change at least on Facebook. Facebook is cracking down on livestreamed shows that include recorded music with new terms of service, preventing artists from using the platform for “commercial or non-personal” purposes, unless they have obtained the relevant licenses.
The updated music guidelines state that users “may not use videos on our products [which include Instagram] to create a music listening experience […] This will include [Facebook] Live,” and stipulates that such content should be posted for the enjoyment of friends and family only.
How do you think this will change the landscape of Facebook?
We think it will make it more business oriented and prevent silly videos that end up viral taking over the news feed. Eliminating unprofessional that post videos far too frequently.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merch to them at the show?
The bands can still send merch via the post and they can record live session videos and post them on social platforms so their fans can still watch them live.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
That would be AWESOME! Totally futuristic but there is nothing like the real thing. I’m sure holographic projectors do not come cheap plus we would rather feel the energy from a live performance.
If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
We would somehow figure out how we could do music, even if we started with crafting our own instruments from the forest.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Big thanks to Unrated Magazine for the interview and we all hope you listen to our album on the 27th Nov but if you do want a hard copy in the meantime, drop us a personal message on our Lady Buds Facebook or Instagram. We will post the album signed with a super cool Lady Buds sticker right away!
Peace and Love, Lady Buds xo
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