Lucy May Walker is steadily building a reputation that looks poised for bigger things ahead. Her debut EP ‘Heartbreak Songs’ hit #3 on iTunes’ singer/songwriter chart, while early tracks including ‘Safety Net’ have also helped to earn airplay at BBC Introducing and Radio 2. Now the young folk-pop artist takes another substantial leap forward by sharing her new single ‘Bad Day’ earlier this month.
Full of the wit and personality that permeates Lucy May’s spirited songwriting, ‘Bad Day’ wishes a catalogue of minor misfortunes on an irritating adversary. It’s an uplifting, country-tinged pop anthem that hopes for a little natural justice.
“‘Bad Day’ is a song about someone who you really don’t like,” says Lucy May. “You don’t wish anything REALLY bad on that person, but some mild inconveniences like stubbing their toe wouldn’t go amiss. A little bit of bad karma”.
Lucy May co-wrote ‘Bad Day’ with fellow rising talent Melanie Baker. It was produced by her friends and previous touring partners The Dunwells. The song represents the first taste of her next project, citing influences including Nina Nesbitt, Maisie Peters and Lucy Rose.
Originally from Worcestershire and now based in London, Lucy May’s passion for music started when she was a child. She cultivated her talents in a DIY style, studying performing arts and playing open mic nights. That modest beginning resulted in a huge moment of exposure after Jeremy Vine saw her busking. Describing Lucy May as “simply brilliant”, he invited her to perform live on his Radio 2 show and subsequently on his Channel 5 discussion show too.
Lucy May Walker is also an accomplished live performer. She’s sold out headline shows all over the UK, and also played to larger audiences as guest to artists as varied as Tom Speight, Lucy Spraggan, The Dunwells, Wet Wet Wet and Hue And Cry. She’s continued to share performances from her home during the current lockdown, notably with her take on Maisie Peters’ ‘Favourite Ex’.
We caught up with Lucy as she talked about her latest single, upcoming EP and more!
So how has your latest single Bad Day gone down so far?
The reaction to the song has been really overwhelming. I knew my fans were eager to hear it because it’s always one they ask about when I play live, but to get playlisted on Spotify in the first week has meant it’s already hit 25,000 streams so that’s something I did not see coming.
Can you tell us something about the single no one else knows?
Hahah, erm… okay yeah. When we started writing it, the verse was initially one very bad swear word repeated over and over again until we took it seriously enough to actually write some less offensive lyrics.
What was it like working with Melanie Baker on the single?
SO FUN. Melanie is a close friend of mine and we actually wrote the song when she was playing keys for me on tour last year with Wet Wet Wet. We had a day off in our airbnb and decided to make the most of it. We’d written one song together before so I knew we bounced off each other well, but it was nice to write something just for the fun of it without any pressure. If you haven’t heard of Melanie her new EP is gorgeous so definitely check it out.
Will you be releasing an EP/Album this year at all?
5th June baby! Bad Day is the lead single from the EP, I’m really proud of the whole project and can’t wait for people to hear the songs. It feels like a really good time to put out new music at the moment as people seem to have more time to sit and listen to it.
How have you been coping during lockdown, there anything you particular miss?
Actually, I feel really lucky I’ve adjusted really well to lockdown measures. It’s been great that I’ve had the single release and upcoming EP to concentrate on, there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes and it’s been nice not having to juggle that with normal life. Lockdown has definitely allowed me to be more creative and I’m going to try and keep that up moving forwards. I would have to say I do really miss going to the pub with my friends.
What do you think local music venues should do to survive this lockdown?
I think it’s so important for live music and venues to survive this. I recently did a live stream fundraising for ‘The Sunflower Lounge’ which is one of my favourite small venues in Birmingham – it’s easy to forget that the venues are going to struggle financially just as much as us artists. It’s a tough one, but I’d say it’ll mean having more intimate gigs, with less people bunched in together where possible. I saw something recently in Germany about a drive in rave and I thought that was a really cool idea.
Have been doing any online shows on social media at all for your fans?
I’ve been doing quite a lot of live streams actually yeah! I know a lot of artists hate doing them but I think I need that buzz off an audience to keep me going – I know it’s not the same because there’s nothing that compares to the atmosphere of a live gig, but I’m adapting to getting used to reading comments instead of hearing applause. I put up a PayPal donation link when I do the live streams and encourage people to tip if they can afford to – people have been really supportive and it’s the only way I’ve been able to survive financially at the moment so I’m so grateful.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time as an artist?
I really love what I do and honestly I just want to keep doing that but on a bigger scale really. I’d like to be in a position where I don’t have to busk or do the cover gigs to survive financially and just write and perform my own music. There’s so many things I’d like to achieve that it’s hard to mention all of them, but I’d love to be regularly selling out bigger venues at around 500 capacity, and to be playlisted on BBC Radio 1 or 2 would be a dream.
If you could work with any band or singer on a new song, who would it be and why?
There’s so many people I could list, but I would really love to write with Gabrielle Aplin. I think she’s an amazing songwriter and really inspires me. I love her older acoustic music and admire how even though her music has gone a little more pop – she’s still managed to keep her sound and originality. I think we would work really well together.