Finally, Something to Define Essex Other than Fake Tan and Gemma Collins.
A new decade, a new era in the music industry – the rise of the self-produced musicians: Tom Misch, Toro Y Moi, The Japanese House all fit under this bracket. Thankfully, we are seeing the decline of self-made pop stars who have their 5-minutes of fame on The X Factor, warm the seat at the top of the charts for a couple of weeks, then bugger off to make way for the next one hit wonder. But finally, we’ve started giving the longevity platform to dexterous musicians such as 20-year-old guitarist and producer, Stan Lodge.
It’s April 2020, COVID-19 is still in full swing, lock down measures are still in place and the nation has watched the entire contents of Netflix. So, what next? Reaching out and checking in on old friends: something I had the pleasure of doing with Stan, one of my closest friends during sixth form back in 2017. As old friends should, and the only way we can in the current climate, Stan Lodge and I caught up virtually, reminiscing on our fondest music memories and seeing what’s next in store for the young musician.
Five years ago, alongside fellow school pals, Stan kick started his music career (and the attention of hundreds of girls) as lead guitarist for indie-rock band, Vivacity. The band were a success in the prestigious Southend-On-Sea, often selling out headline shows at Chinnery’s, a venue made for indie-rock bands before they get their big break. However, small grotty venues weren’t where it was at for the band, as Stan recalls “I remember pretty vividly playing with Vivacity in our old school hall to hundreds of screaming girls… that was pretty strange”. Like everything good, it must come to an end, members of the band were eventually shipped off to university, whilst others entered the big wide world of work and teenage girls grew out of their fan girl stages. Vivacity may have fizzled out, but Stan Lodge certainly hasn’t.
It’s not hard to see where Lodge gets his creative flare from when he’s been bought up in such an artistic household, with parents as keen muso’s as well as a sister studying fine art degree. As the youngest sibling, it seems Stan has found influences in every member of his family, as there’s no doubting the producer has an artistic twinkle in his eye when it comes to his album artwork, “I think photography plays a huge part in my music. Whenever I’m releasing a song, I go through all of my photos over the years and think what suits the mood of the song best. Sometimes it can work the other way round, I might find a picture of mine that I like and that then inspires the mood of a song I go on to make.”. And of course there’s a musical influence in there somewhere, as Stan elaborates on the pivotal point of his current music career, “My Dad’s always been a fan of jazz & soul so that’s obviously a big influence on where the music I make today stands.” Since 2017, Stan has moved onto producing his own solo work, which enhances essences of: neo-soul, jazz and R&B, a fine concoction which is difficult to tie it down to one specific genre. “First hearing about hip-hop producer/rapper J Dilla was the turning point for me. I think being a solo artist means you can make quite literally any type of music you want so since I’ve had access to this it’s given me a freedom I’d never previously had.”
After gaining a keen following on social media due to his music, Stan Lodge made the innovative decision in January - that he was set to produce a track each week for the entire year of 2020. So far we’re on week 17 and are still getting our weekly dose of woozy goodness, as Lodge explains “I thought releasing one song every week would always keep me motivated to be making music, as every single week there was a goal that needed to be achieved. I’ve found it pretty challenging but at the same it’s always improving my production skills and developing my sound every week.” And it looks like the challenge is certainly paying off, as the musician got his first radio play for his single Ven Aqui by Ezra Collective drummer Femi Koleozo on Reprezent Radio “It was crazy having Femi play my track on the radio, I’ve been blessed to have been in contact with him for a while now, it’s great getting to speak to and remain in contact with those you so highly look up to.”
And it seems having close ties to his influences doesn’t stop with Femi Koleozo, as Stan modestly reveals his incredibly wholesome relationship with the UK’s most in demand jazz, hip-hop and general head nodding multi-instrumentalist, “I’ve been lucky enough to know Tom Misch and his family for a very long time. As where my family and I have gone to Cornwall for the past 19 years is the same as where the Misch’s have too, so it’s been great to see how well Tom and Laura have done musically since.”. It’s nothing but admirable to see that when he’s not ploughing away at Logic or his Fender making alluring riffs, it’s not unusual to see Stan supporting fellow jazz artists in the heart of London. An opportunity he’s often taken to catch up and become associated with yet more of his exemplars, “I went to Alfa Mist’s EP launch show in Shoreditch back in November and Tom happened to be there so it was nice catching up as I hadn’t seen him in around 7 or 8 years! About a week after I was actually seeing Alfa Mist again in Hackney, this time where Tom Misch and Loyle Carner were, so it was nice bumping into Tom again and meeting Ben (Loyle Carner).”. Apologies, to any insatiable envy this may cause to any Tom or Loyle fans reading this, meeting your idols twice in two weeks really is something one can only dream of.
One of the challenge’s Stan Lodge is battling is the ability to play live shows due to his current living predicament. His home being in Essex, the county that everyone hears and instantly associates with excessive amounts of fake tan, the Sugar Hut and Gemma Collins. Music? Not important. It’s unfortunate, but there’s an awful sense of truth in this statement, as Stan explains, “It’s really hard in Essex as there isn’t much of a scene with regards to the style of music I’m into, so finding musicians and artists who have the same vibe as me isn’t easy. Same with regards to venues, we have venues like Chinnery’s and The Railway but again, they’re not too associated with the genres of music I’m into.”. Although it may look bleak now, Stan presents his ideal living situation for the future, where he is bound to blossom, “I think the London jazz scene is something that’s flourished so much over the past few years, especially South/East. So many artists are coming out and doing huge things - Tom Misch, Loyle Carner, Ezra Collective, Yussef Dayes, Barney Artist, Alfa Mist, Joy Crookes, the list is endless. So, London would definitely be a place I’d want to move to at some point.”.
For anyone who’s been left drooling, urging to know what’s next for Stan Lodge, here it is, “I've got something very exciting coming out in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!”.
Listen to Stan’s 52 Beats Of 2020 here:
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