Q&A: Lemonade Shoelace Allows You To Feel Freely In ‘Magnetised’
WRITTEN BY ANTHONY RATCHKOV
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Photo by Aiesha Wong
A magnet can make things move without touching them. A paperclip will move toward one without any visible mechanism. In many cases, a person might not be able to see or understand the reason for their attraction towards someone. However, Ruairí Richman, a psychedelic indie-pop artist based in Belfast, Ireland, under the alias Lemonade Shoelace, argues you shouldn’t drown out those feelings even if they are a little strange and unexplainable.
His new 5-track EP Magnetised is out now, and it explores this exact dynamic. Furthermore, the EP’s visual artwork expands the same idea. As Richman explains, the head is the central point across all the pieces. He mentions that “I felt drawn, I felt magnetized to have some sort of face. I don’t really like putting my face on the front of the music cause I feel like it comes from inside my head, not the front of it.” It’s the perfect visual for this storyline, more focused on seeing where attraction could lead rather than explaining it.
Life on Jupiter had the pleasure of sitting down with Lemonade Shoelace to discuss Magnetised, skateboarding, and everything in between. Read the full interview below.
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LIFE ON JUPITER: Could you first start by telling us why you call this EP Magnetised? Does it have a bit to do with how some of the song titles refer to being attached to someone?
RICHMAN: It’s really about the idea of being drawn to someone or something and letting that be who you are, letting that shine through. Just letting it happen, the idea of being someone’s magnet, it's kind of the idea of the EP.
You wrote “I Want You Around” seven years ago. Why was it ready to be released now?
RICHMAN: I kept that song in my back pocket for a while because I knew that I wanted to release it at a time that felt right. It felt right to put it out more recently than a few years ago. I’ve re-recorded that song quite a few times. It was a hard one to get correct because when I first recorded it, I didn’t even sing, so my friend just sang on the song and we fell in love with that demo. I always loved that demo, and I wanted to kind of capture that rawness to it again, and I couldn’t get it right until a couple of years ago. So I kept re-recording it, but it worked out better in the end.
In general, what do you think even makes a song ready to be released?
RICHMAN: It’s hard to tell when a song is finished. I just feel it, I’ll listen to it and realize there’s nothing I want to do to this, so I shouldn’t do anything to it. I’ve already explored all the possibilities of doing certain things with the song. I would call that finished, but then again, when I listen to some of the songs in the EP now, I’m like, I actually would change that if I still could.
You also helped create your fiancée’s debut song called “Like A Child,” and it is sonically similar to your music. Were there differences in how you approached making this compared to your music?
RICHMAN: I definitely did approach it differently. Leah really wanted to get a Lana Del Rey, Suki Waterhouse kind of vibe. While my music is kind of along that indie line in a way, it’s not as delicate. So yeah, I definitely approached that in a completely different way, but I still think it has my sound imprinted onto it in some way.
You make all the artwork for your music. Where did you get the inspiration for this design, this head as the visual focal point for all the Magnetised artwork?
RICHMAN: That’s a good question. It’s something that I don’t even know what it means yet. I felt drawn, I felt magnetized to have some sort of face. I don’t really like putting my face on the front of the music cause I feel like it comes from inside my head, not the front of it. I wanted a character to be there. I did that with my first EP, and there’s something lonely and confusing about him. He’s kind of lost, but he’s going in some sort of direction.
You’ve repeatedly mentioned that a good bassline is key to laying the foundation of a memorable tune. What are your three favorite basslines from any song?
RICHMAN: “Something” by The Beatles is probably up there right at the top. It’s hard to choose a specific Tame Impala song. I think Tame Impala, in general, has quite a distinct bass melody, and Air. “La femme d’argent” from the Moon Safari album was always stuck in my head as a kid. Similar bass tones to Paul McCartney and Tame Impala, but they know how to write a brilliant bassline.
Does your love for skateboarding and skateboard culture have an influence on your sound?
RICHMAN: I’ve grown up skateboarding. I was sponsored for a bit, and I just really loved everything in skateboarding. I got in through the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Games, as probably most kids my age would have done. Music and skateboarding to me were always the same thing. I listened to a lot of Tame Impala when I was skateboarding back in the day, but also a lot of Cage the Elephant and a lot of hip-hop. It’s kind of melted in there somewhere with my sound.
What can fans of Lemonade Shoelace expect from you next?
RICHMAN: I definitely want to make the release a bit more real in terms of maybe some vinyl, maybe some cool merch drops. There’s definitely a lot more music on the way. My manifesto for the next couple of years is just to put up as much music as I can.