This week’s Artist of the Week is different than most. While most bands are from around the same place, vocal group ABT LST NT (pronounced About Last Night) is not. We sat down with the band to discuss music, TV shows and their creative process. Read more below.
Photo Credit: Steven Taylor
Eben
Tell us about the band!
We are an international vocal group who’s based in Los Angeles. We’ve been together for about four months now and have been loving every moment of our journey together! We are all from different places around the world as well. I’m from Cincinnati Ohio, Jack is from Wales, Mikey from England, and Jackson’s from New Zealand. When I think about it, it’s pretty crazy that we are all together.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a musician?
I’ve been singing and performing for people since I was about five. I realized I had a true and real love for music though when I was about thirteen years old. I had landed my first real big lead role in our community theater company, so that was a pretty big deal to me at the time! That’s when I knew I wanna do this for the rest of my life.
How did you guys get together?
Jackson and I were in Orlando working together and needed another member for the group so we found Jack on YouTube and loved his tone and knew he would be a great fit for the group. After some time as a three piece, we all felt a voice was missing. That’s when we all decided we needed another voice to hold down the low end in the group. That’s when Jack came into play. He knew Mikey from a few years back when they were on X-Factor UK and he contacted him. The crazy thing about this is, Mikey just so happened to be in LA the day we were leaving to all go home for little break, since we had just finished our last show on the High School Nation tour. Mikey literally drove the the airport and auditioned for us right there. We knew right then that he had the same love and passion for music as we did and he couldn’t of been a better fit!
You all come from various places around the world. How has that influenced how you work together as a group and the kind of music you produce?
I love our creative process because that’s when you can hear each of our influences really show out! The fact that each of us has our own little style in the group is what makes us unique. For myself. I live more on the pop side of music as Jackson grew up on the real soul side of music. But somehow all of our different influence come to together to create a unique and ABT LST NT sound!
Jackson
You guys also just released a video for “Somebody”, how did that visual process differ from the process of actually writing the song?
As much as I loved to write and record [“Somebody”], in the first instance, making the video is so much fun. It’s cool to see the lyrics/story come to life.The recording process can be long and sometimes tiring but when it comes recording the video edits we really get to enjoy it-different locations, activities, and clothing styles. It’s really cool!
What can fans expect to see from ABT.LST.NT for the rest of 2016 and beyond?
We are currently working on our second EP & getting ready to release it to radio in the New Year. We are very excited for you all to hear what’s next!
What artist would you want to work with in the future?
I saw Beyoncé live in concert a few years back with my mum. Watching her perform made me want to become a singer more than anything, she was phenomenal and so inspirational. I will never forget the effect she had on me. But if I wanted to turn back time, the person I would most want to be in the presence of would be Sam Cooke & Amy Winehouse. Sam Cooke because of his pure talent & soul. He is my all time favorite. Amy Winehouse because she was a unreal talent – an old soul and she stayed true to her craft and what she was about. Her voice is unmistakeable.
If you could travel back in time and see any live show, who would you go see and why?
I would want to go back to watch Michael Jackson’s performance at the Super Bowl. I watched it online and got goosebumps, couldn’t imagine being there!
Mikey
Favorite TV show to binge watch?
I love to watch ‘Match of the day’ it help me keep up with football from back in the UK.
Favorite place to travel?
I love to travel around Europe, Paris, Spain, but my favourite place to travel is Amsterdam it’s a beautiful city.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Oasis, James Morrison, McFly, and I recently went to a Allen Stone concert and he blew me away! I love seeing raw talent.
Favorite song on “wrt. rcrd. rpt.”?
My favorite song on the EP has to be “Sorry I Lied” on the reason that it was the first song we ever wrote together as a group and I’ll always remember that. Good memories.
Jack
For anybody that’s just starting to check you guys out, how would you describe your sound?
I would describe our sounds as a unique blend of voices that have come together to create something new & fresh. Each having individual styles, everyone contributes to the sound of the group ! I would say to summarise we are an Indie Pop Group but there are a lot of other styles incorporated into our music !
What musical influences do you all tend to gravitate towards?
Growing up I listened to a lot of R&B music, I loved artists like Mario, Usher, Stevie Wonder and a major influencer for me was Michael Jackson ! I also get inspired by a lot of acoustic artists such as John Mayer & James Morrison to name a couple.
Jackson grew up listening to a lot of soulful artists such as Sam Cooke, Otis, Donnie Hathaway and has a huge passion for soul music, modern day artists such as Sam Smith and the late Amy Winehouse have also been major inspirations.
Eben’s has been influenced by various artists over the years, he has grown up listening to Elton John, Hall & Oats, Stevie Wonder ! He also loves the 1975 ! He has also always appreciated HipHop music.
Mikey’s influences in music was early rock and roll like Oasis. He also likes acoustic artists such as James Morrison and Paulo Nutini.
You guys just released your debut EP “wrt. rcrd. rpt.” – what was that process like?
We began writing and recording…& repeating back in July this year ! We had our own little studios set up in the house. At one stage we had 2 running at the same time. The process was a lot of strumming chords and running back and forth between studios to lay down rough guitar and a vocal. In terms of writing the lyrics and melodies we would take almost a campfire style approach where we’d all sit down in the living room together and jam out ! Everyone’s individual styles and musical inspiration helped in coming together to make something that we feel is unique and fresh ! Big shout out to R8dio and Candice Pillay for production and writing !
Any parts of the creative process that stick out as favorites for any of you?
A few stand out parts of the creative process for me were of course writing and recording the EP itself as it was such an organic and enjoyable process ! But also filming the music video for somebody and …for Ghost ! Which you shall all get to see very very soon!
Stay tuned for the second and third parts of ABT LST NT’s Artist of the Week!
- GTK: PJ Harding - June 16, 2023
- Big Time Rush is Just Getting Started - February 13, 2023
- 2023 GRAMMYs: The Nominees - November 15, 2022
