Kieran Leonard

Kieran Leonard, also known as Saint Leonard and Saint Leonard's Horses, is a British musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist and writer. He performs most frequently with his backing band The Horses, and has previously toured in support of Ryan Adams, Father John Misty, The Libertines, Bob Dylan, Adam Green & Binki Shapiro, Peter Doherty, The Cribs, Fionn Regan, Jonathan Wilson, Lee Mavers, Billy Bragg, Keane, Babyshambles, Dirty Pretty Things and Wolfmother.

From 2009 to 2015 Leonard wrote and performed under his own name, releasing one album, an EP and four singles. His second album Good Luck Everybody was released in 2016 under the Saint Leonard moniker.

Early life

Leonard spent much of his childhood travelling. He has two older brothers, and has never known his father but has a good relationship with his mother. His upbringing has been described as 'unorthodox'. His restless upbringing left an indelible impression, and a sense of displacement and alienation would become one of the central themes of much of his creative work. Leonard has stated in several interviews that he was inspired to write music after watching a David Bowie retrospective at the age of 13, and subsequently wrote 100 songs in the space of six months. In both his work and interviews Leonard often cites writers and world literature as a central influence on his musical output.^[1]

Career

In 2009 Leonard recorded his first professional demos at London’s Konk Studios. The 'Scapegoat' EP was produced by The Libertines’ Carl Barat, and was mixed by Chris Sheldon. The four songs were released as individual tracks timed to coincide with the full moon each month. This unusual release schedule garnered some media attention and led to Leonard being invited to perform on Absolute Radio UK for two of the 'Full Moon' release nights.^[2]

The following year he recorded and released his debut single "Jerusalem". The single was well received both critically and commercially, and appeared in the soundtrack for Ridley Scott’s film Life in a Day. "Jerusalem" was noted for its timely response to the social unrest occurring in London at the time, and for its relevance to the global Occupy movement in particular.^[3]

Out of Work Astronaut (2012)

Kieran Leonard’s debut album Out of Work Astronaut was recorded largely in a home studio in North London and released in August 2012. It featured the singles "Harold Pinter is Dead", "Wooden Man", "Vampire", and "Air Raid". The album garnered generally favourable reviews, being listed as one of BBC London's Albums of the Year, and enabled Leonard to tour UK and Europe several times.^[4]

Los Angeles Recording Sessions (2013-2015)

In 2013 Leonard left the UK and moved to California. Citing the collapse of a long-term relationship, he abandoned the gothic church where he had been living on the Moors of North Yorkshire, and following the invitation of Ryan Adams to use his recording studio he spontaneously moved to Los Angeles for an indefinite time.

Upon his arrival he was offered a tour of California with Australian rock band Wolfmother.^[5] This delayed the commencement of recording by a month, and was the first of a series of unusual and chance occurrences that led to the entire recording session taking almost 10 months. Leonard ended up using several Hollywood studios and producers, however he was ultimately dissatisfied with the extensive LA sessions, despite having been enthused and inspired by the musicians and artists he had met and worked with. He also cites the friendships and experiences he had while there as reason enough for the costly abandoned year of recordings.

Nashville - London (2014-2015)

In Winter 2014 Leonard left LA, briefly returned to London, and then for a short time his whereabouts were totally unknown. He was later found to have taken up residence in a log cabin on the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee, where he spent several months writing a semi-autobiographical novel. He continued working on the book alongside an extensive batch of new songs in isolation until Autumn 2014. He returned to London in October to support Ryan Adams on his UK tour. After the tour he returned to London in December, where he met and commenced working with his manager Sean McLusky.^[6]

Kubrick Recording Sessions (2015)

In January 2015 Leonard was invited to continue work on his upcoming second album at Stanley Kubrick’s family estate in St. Albans, Hertfordshire.^[7] The intention cited by Leonard was to record the material he had developed in LA as entirely 'live' as possible, with his band playing together in the same room and even his lead vocals being laid down 'live' with the track. This now quite unusual approach was drawn from his negative experience of digital multi-tracking in LA and also his desire to capture the heightened spontaneity of records such as Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street.

Leonard immediately released the single "Underwood Milk" on Fierce Panda Records^[8] from this session and in February embarked on an extensive tour of UK and Europe with his friend Father John Misty.^[9]

It was during the Kubrick sessions that Leonard and his band improvised and recorded the fifteen minute long "The Greatest Show on Earth" in a single take. After its release the song was noted in the music press for its satirical tone and its references to current social and political issues. Figures and corporations referenced in the track include Ai Wei Wei, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Amazon, Apple, and Google.^[10]

Saint Leonard's Horses (2016)

At the end of a busy 2015 (extensive festival appearances and many London shows) Leonard left London once again and maintained sporadic contact with his team in the UK. He eventually surfaced in late December in the Mojave Desert residing in a motel near Joshua Tree, where he was undergoing what he describes as a transcendental mystical experience. After this, he became known as Saint Leonard. He cites the experience of the Kubrick estate and several bizarre episodes in the isolation of the desert as the grounds for this shift in artistic identity.

With the start of 2016 Leonard continued to adapt his musical stylings under his new moniker and started performing with a full band known as The Horses. It was later announced that Leonard had signed to prestigious indie Label Xtra Mile Recordings, with the contract being signed on the grave of William Blake.^[11]

Good Luck Everybody (2016)

Good Luck Everybody - the first album under the Saint Leonard's Horses banner - was recorded at Childwickbury Manor in St Albans, the former estate of Stanley Kubrick. The album was released in October 2016 to significant critical acclaim, with Mark Beaumont of NME calling it “a surrealist, mystical odyssey of self-discovery, maximal hedonism and jaws-of-death revelation”. ^[12] Clash Magazine commented that it was “Weird, wonderful and evocative - a broad, cinematic, engrossing piece of work, rippling with ambition”.^[13] The album also received praise from GigSoup who included it as one of their top 13 albums of 2016.^[14] Tom Doyle from Q magazine gave the album a four star rating, describing it as "top notch stuff that draws comparisons with Neil Young and Father John Misty^[15].

On June 2nd 2017 Saint Leonard released Little Girl Scientist, the first single from the album. A music video was released on June 12th directed by Markus Schroder and starring Sophie Kennedy Clark; with Jonathan Meades providing additional narration.

Notable Appearances

• Feis Festival with Bob Dylan (2012)
• The Forum with The Libertines (2013)
• Shepherds Bush Empire, with Ryan Adams (2014)
• The Great Escape Festival Brighton Museum (2014)
• Standon Calling Festival Mainstage (2015)
• Hyde Park British Summertime with The Strokes and Beck (2015)

Discography

Albums

• Out Of Work Astronaut (2012)
• Good Luck Everybody (2016)

EPs

• Scapegoat (2009)

Singles

• Jerusalem (July 2012)
• Hipster Jesus (June 2013)
• Underwood Milk (June 2015)
• The Greatest Show on Earth (December 2015)
• Little Girl Scientist (June 2017)

References