Luke & Mel joined forces in 2012, having met through performing in the UK’s top touring theatre show, Country Legends. Prior to this, Mel was performing as a solo singer/songwriter, as well as appearing in musicals around the UK, including London’s West End. The duo’s latest single, ‘Bad Habit’, was released in April as a double A side with a new mix of their award-winning song, ‘Somethin’ About A Woman’, and they have a new video on the way for ‘Bad Habit’. We asked them a few questions.
EP: What’s the Luke & Mel Story! Who are you, where are you from, how did you come to be singing together, tell us about your music!
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L&M: Hey Guys!
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I (Luke) am from Saddleworth near Manchester and Mel is originally from Cockermouth in Cumbria. We met when Mel joined a theatre show that i was working in called Country Legends… after working in that show together, we decided to start writing and performing as a duo and the rest is history, as they say!
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EP:Â You have 3 British Country Music Awards – what’s next? What do you aim for after that?
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L&M: Yeah we are very proud of our BCMA success so far and hope to build on it at this year’s awards. We have just recorded a new music video and haven’t won the video of the year award yet so it would be very cool if we could grab that this year.
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EP: How do you describe your sound – for instance, ‘Bad Habit’ is quite bluegrassy, whereas ‘Somethin’ About A Woman’ is more modern country (if I can say that?). Do you feel it’s important to be able to change your style when you want, and are your fans okay with that?
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L&M: Yeah, that’s a good question…When we sit down to write, we never have a specific sound in mind. I think it’s important to take songs where they naturally lead you and in our case it does differ slightly throughout our catalog. Of course, every song we write falls under the country bracket though. I think the fans like the variation because it can get boring if every song on a record is similar.
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EP: What’s next for Luke & Mel?Â
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L&M: We have plenty of great festivals lined up this summer and then we plan to release an EP in September to coincide with our co-headline tour with Gary Quinn which will see us visit Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester and London on the 5, 6, 7, 8 September.
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EP:Â Where can people hear you perform?
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L&M: We play all over the UK so you can check out our dates at www.lukeandmel.com to see when we are coming to your area.
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EP: Who would you consider to be your greatest inspirations in music, and in life?
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L&M: Very tough question…Mel is a big fan of Miranda Lambert, not only because of her great music but because she is a woman who doesn’t take crap. Just like Mel! Sheryl Crow is also a huge inspiration to her. I am a huge fan of Vince Gill…He is up there with some of the best guitar players ever and his voice is second to none. He is also a great human being.
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EP: What would you differently, if anything, if you could go back to the beginning and start over?
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L&M: We would have met sooner!
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Find Luke & Mel online on their official website,Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Youtube. You can download their self titled EP from iTunes.
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Check out the official audio video for ‘Bad Habit’:
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