There’s never been a band as triumphantly independent as The Lovely Eggs. A duo consisting of Holly Ross and David Blackwell who over the course of seven studio albums, and numerous EPs in the last twenty years have managed to bring their brilliant indie pop to the masses all on their own terms. Now with the release of the brilliantly titled ‘Bin Juice’ a collection of tunes and demos which didn’t make it on their last album ‘Eggistentialism’, and a tour to celebrate twenty years as a band, we caught up with Holly from the band to find out more.
You always seem so prolific. Do you always have a backlog of song ideas to pull from when it’s time to do a new release, or do you prefer to start afresh and start writing when you want to release something?
“Yeah I have hundreds of voice notes on my phone or scribbled down and then I often just pick the ones I like and start it from there.”
How do you start sketching out a song, do you work independently on ideas then bring them to rehearsal or as you’re together all the time do you both work on ideas together as and when inspiration strikes?
“Sometimes I’ll write something and bring it to David and David will say let’s flesh it out at the next rehearsal, sometimes we’ll just start playing. We’re a band that’s not here to entertain people though, as bizarre as that may sound, we’re here to entertain us as we have to keep it different and keep chopping and changing. If people are entertained that’s good, but that’s not the motivation, we’re not here to please people. The writer Charles Bukowski said that if you think about the audience or reader you may as well be dead in the water. So although we’re happy that people like our music it’s not the main motivation. I’ve devoted my whole life to being in a band, I’ve been in one since I was 15. In the early days of the Lovely Eggs we’d put mattresses in the back of a van and drive off to play a gig, it’s just what I’ve done my entire life. We’ve sacrificed a lot of luxuries in life and had to give up a lot of that for music and art, but we’ve done it so we can avoid the 9-5. This is an all consuming job really, we don’t clock off in the evenings or weekends, and we’re not doing it for the money, it can be tough but we’re glad to be in this position, making music for a living.”
The new album is compilation of demos ‘Bin Juice’ which didn’t make it on to the last ‘Eggistentialism’ album, you always take a lot of time and care over the artwork as well as the tunes so what can you tell us about this one?
“Bin Juice is being released on neon green vinyl with artwork by Casey Raymond who is this brilliant psychedelic artist, and then it’s also in a black plastic bin liner with a Bin Juice sticker on the front. There’s also some signed copies and there are hand written prints in them too. We used to handwrite a load of them but now we have to do a print as it takes too long otherwise!”
The last few albums have also had artwork designed by Casey Raymond how did you first get into his artwork?
“We were at a festival and got chatting to Huw Stephens who mentioned that we should get Casey Raymond to do a video. Later that night I woke up with the name Casey Raymond in my head, wrote it down on a hotel notepad and thought we had to check him out. We had a look and loved his stuff. We messaged him and said you wouldn’t want to work with two idiots like us would you? He said I’ve been wanting to work with you for years!”
Going back to your previous album, the brilliant ‘Eggistentialism’, the song ‘People TV’ seems to be concerned with how somethings in a neighbourhood never change and having the courage to not change. “50 piece jigsaw with 48 pieces in” love that line. “Never gonna change this view, never gonna be like you”. To me that seems to be about never giving in, and sticking to your own way of doing things, was that the message you wanted to get across?
“‘Well ‘People TV’ started in lockdown, where we played a game called ‘People TV’ with our son. One person would go to the window and describe what was going on outside ‘woman walking down the road with dog, sniffing tree’ and we’d do it like reporting on a TV or radio show’ it was just a bit of fun, and our son would always go to the window then to see too.”
You have been running your own label for so long now, and this year celebrates your 20 year existence do you find it has become easier over time or are there still obstacles which need to be dealt with each year?
“We started our own label and it’s great but the more you go in and as people buy more records, the bigger the job becomes. We also make it hell for ourselves too as we’ll say things like ‘why don’t we do a free sticker on each one’ or why don’t we sign each one’. We don’t mind though, we like doing stuff for the fans.”
When I think of Lancaster now, I think of The Lovely Eggs, as you’ve become such an integral part of that city and its creative scene. How has it changed over the years since you started, to where it is now in terms of creating access to creativity?
“It’s changed a lot really and a lot of it is down to the Lancaster Music Coop which we’re currently battling to keep open, it’s an amazing space for music and art, and it sticks out against everything else around. We need to keep this space open for the people of this area. It’s a really important space.”
You’ve worked with producer Dave Fridmann on your last few records. I’m a huge Mercury Rev fan too, what do you think he brings to your songs and recording process?
“Me and Dave (Blackwell) often feel like we’re in a bubble, and don’t really give a shit what anyone thinks, and that can be quite liberating. But with Dave Fridmann, we send him stuff and he makes suggestions and it just works. He’s on our wavelength.”
You’re playing Manchester on 30th October 2025, what can you tell us about that?
“This is our last Manchester show for a while, we’re not playing here again next year at all. We’ve got Frank Skinner as support and Polite Bureaux, it’s all about just trying to put together a great night. We absolutely love playing Manchester!”
The Lovely Eggs have forged their own sonic path with a fiercely independent ethos and their own unique fuzzed up melodic pop sound. Happy 20th birthday to Lancaster’s finest!
The Lovely Eggs: Bin Juice – Out 17th October (Egg Records)
The Lovely Eggs Live Dates:
Weds 22 La Belle Angele, Edinburgh PORKY THE POET + POLITE BUREAUX
Thur 23 Òran Mór, Glasgow ZARA GLADMAN + POLITE BUREAUX
Fri 24 Newcastle University, Newcastle SIMON DONALD + POLITE BUREAUX
Sat 25 All day 20th Anniversary Party at The Brudenell, Leeds TBA *SOLD OUT*
Sun 26 Concorde 2, Brighton STEWART LEE + POLITE BUREAUX
Mon 27 The Garage, London FRANK SKINNER + POLITE BUREAUX
Tues 28 The Globe, Cardiff TBC + POLITE BUREAUX
Weds 29 Castle and Falcon, Birmingham FRANK SKINNER + POLITE BUREAUX
Thur 30 Academy 2, Manchester FRANK SKINNER + POLITE BUREAUX
Fri 31 Metronome, Nottingham ERIC RUSHTON + POLITE BUREAUX
Sat 1 Nov Trinity, Bristol ROB AUTON + POLITE BUREAUX
From the early days of creating handmade zines, in a DIY paper and glue style, interviewing bands around town, then pestering Piccadilly Records to sell them, to writing for various independent mags such as Chimp and Ablaze, writing about the music I love is still a great passion. After testing the music industry waters in London with stints at various labels, being back in my hometown again, writing about this city’s vibrant music scene is as exciting as ever. All time favourite bands include Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Patti Smith although anything from electro to folk via blues and pysch rock will also do nicely too. A great album, is simply a great album, regardless of whatever musical cage you put it in.
