Hotel Lux - Touring, Lager Tops and Channelling The Beatles

Credit: Li Cya

Here at Some Other Time, we love new music, of course we do. Although, what we love even more is catching up with some of our favourite artists during the liminal spaces between releases to find out what they’ve been up to and what’s been inspiring them. This week, we managed to carve out some time with Hotel Lux before they head out on an eight date European tour that kicks off in Brussels in a couple of weeks time.

For the uninitiated among us, Hotel Lux were one of the most exciting prospects of the pre-pandemic, post-punk gold rush. However, since the release of their debut EP Barstool Preaching the band have undergone a series of transformations that included changes in personnel and a significant shift in their sound. 

Last year they celebrated the birth of their highly anticipated and long awaited debut album Hands Across The Creek, a record that showed off a burgeoning maturity and a more rounded sound while retaining their disarming self-awareness and razor-sharp sardonic wit. A vital step into a lane of their own. Twelve months on from the release of the record, we caught up with the band to find out what they’ve been up to and what we can expect next…

Credit: Hotel Lux

It has been just over a year since the release of your debut album Hands Across The Creek. How have your feelings about that record evolved since then?
The majority of the songs were written pretty close to the time of recording so, they were still pretty fresh when we got into the studio. This was in-part a product of slackness but it also meant that the songs have stayed pretty exciting for us throughout the tours. It definitely led to us exploring new textures and sides to our sound that we’ll take into the next release.

Which tracks have proved to be fan favourites when you've been out on the road?
‘National Team’ Gets the crowd moving when we’re lucky but the acoustic tunes have been a fan highlight. I guess it’s something a bit different from us. 

Speaking of getting out on the road, you recently were involved in Independent Venue Week, what do those spaces mean to you as a band?
Most of us met playing small venues, so they mean a lot! 

Was there any show that really stood out for you during IVW?
Hot Box in Chelmsford was great. You can feel that there’s a real community there. It makes such a difference when you feel welcome and in safe hands before a show. It ended up being one of, if not our best performances as a result. 

Tours are of course pretty intensive, how do you normally kick back when you get home?
Straight to the local for a delicious pint of Fosters Top.

Credit: Hotel Lux

What has been inspiring your writing over the past year or so since the album dropped?
I think after releasing the first album we feel a lot more free musically, we are enjoying collaborating more as a band which we didn’t always do the first time. We’ve also been trying to share a lot of music with each other and try to get ourselves excited about sounds and ideas. We’ve got a new permanent space that we can use as well, having a room that’s ours is really helpful and I think we all look forward to going in each week and writing together

What does a Hotel Lux writing session typically look like?
We used to demo separately and then pitch it to the rest at practice but recently we’ve become a lot more collaborative. We sit in a circle now and try out ideas as a group, there’s a lot of humming and air drumming involved. Imagine a much shitter version of that Beatles documentary. 

Credit: Hotel Lux

Can fans expect anything new from the band anytime soon?
We’re currently writing album number two, I imagine it’ll be a little while yet before we release anything from it but we’ve been roadtesting a couple of the new ones at live shows recently.

You are heading out on tour again later this month, this time across Europe, what will you be listening to in the van?
Lots of Gabber as we venture through the Netherlands hopefully. 

What could we expect to find on your continental rider?
Our riders are actually very boring. We kept it very simple, we’ve added ‘local surprise’ but it’s a rarity that comes through. We were given a couple of rubber ducks to race in the annual duck race up in Newcastle on our last UK stretch. More of that, please.

Hotel Lux will be heading out on tour later this month. You can find more details about the shows outlined on their social media.