Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: Denn: As an only child, this meant I had time to experiment with different instruments , and use them to create different textures.
Tats: Well I started drumming at 3 years old , but joined a brass band in school as a cornet player, a type of trumpet, played that for four years, and then rekindled my passion for drums , and joined the percussion section, from there , like Denn , my musical tastes are very broad, and this is what makes Leavy & McGee a wide spread of sounds and influences.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Leavy & McGee”?
A: Tats: We focus on us , making sure we are producing a quality product , at present our numbers are low , but it is rare to find anyone who has heard us , that hasn’t liked it in some way, so sponsored advertising, radio play and reviews like this one , thank you Bored City and you Hanna. We are working hard , and learning everyday , so fans championing us by sharing our content , liking , subscribing , all helps , in a flooded market. We intend to be independent artists , so these early years will be tough to get a break, but we write good songs , and we believe in our product .
Denn: Yes, we do believe in our product , we hope we can keep growing our fan base, making improvements to our production and visual output ..
Tats: Agreed , we want to be the best at what we can be in our departments , Denn is guitar , bass, keys , backing vocals , the odd lead vocal ,and production , mixing , mastering, and I am drums , lead vocals , some keys , visuals, art , video , design .
Denn: We write music that we hope brings others as much joy , as it brings us !
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: Tats: We listen to so much music in our day to day , personally I am just inspired by music , it is my life , I listen to anyone and everyone , it’s about the song , the sounds .
Denn: I am similar, but recently I have taken a lot of inspiration from Radiohead’s The Bends, but I think Tats and I have such a great connection, I find a riff , progression, Tats throws out some words and melody, and we build from there. Sometimes it goes differently, the writing process, but the McGee Leavy partnership keeps us both inspired , the songs are still flowing , and long may it continue.
Tats” We do inspire each other , we have a great working relationship.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Freewheeling.”?
A: Tats: Denn and I spent many hours talking , cycling and walking , through our three bands we have played in , when we wrote Freewheeling, Denn’s guitar , inspired a lyric reflecting the cycling . We helped our mental health big time , on those rides, so Freewheeling was very easy to write , it’s one of our first songs for this group.
Denn: Freewheeling was written during the COVID time, it has grown as a song since then , those bikes rides were cool therapy sessions, we talked about everything, past , present and future. It got us through a lot!
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Tats: Listenable! Lol
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Freewheeling”?
A: Tats: This song started as acoustic and voice, like most of our songs to date. Time has brought this song it’s heart, and I feel it sounds like a bike ride, so I hope all cyclists buy a copy lol..
Denn: lol yes , this style of music was new to us then, we had been in two hard rock bands before, but once we got the blend of instruments , which took a while , the recording and production though went as smoothly as possible.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: Denn: Our music encompasses a wide range of topics, love, romance, music festivals, finding oneself and much more. Our goal is to make a living from music at any level that is achievable , but we do have aspirations to be as big as possible too.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Denn: 10CC and The Beatles!
Tats: M83, Simon and Garfunkel, Babymetal !
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: Tats: Work hard, learn your trade, work with as many people as possible to help learning. Cross your fingers lol.
Denn: Definitely! Also keep your aspirations high, hone your craft and communicate effectively!
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: Denn: I simply say , don’t doubt yourself.
Tats: Yes, belief is key, but I probably wouldn’t say anything to a younger version of me , I would just kick me up the arse, with a look of GET ON WITH IT! lol.
