Name: Lipstik Lizards
Formed: 2013
Hometown: Belfast
Genre: Rock ‘n’ Roll
Line-up: Matthew Duly – Lead Vocals | Eoghan Johnson – Guitar/Vocals | Daniel Thornton – Guitar | Martyn Garbett- Bass| Dean Ward – Drums
What They Say: Impressive young newcomers with tons of energy, a sleazy edge and a decidedly in-yer-face delivery. -SONI
◀ Q & A ▶
▶ What’s the story behind your stage name?
It was an accident really, we were originally called “The Guilty Pleasurez” for a while, but thankfully came to our senses and decided to search for something else rather than sounding like a middle-aged cover band! haha We found Lipstick Lizards, took away the “c” and that was that!
▶ When did you start playing music and how would you describe your sound?
We’ve all been playing in different bands around Belfast for a while now, myself (Eoghan) 10 years and the others just under. We found each other on a music course two years ago, started writing/gigging, but were busy with other projects and really quite lackadaisical about it until the start of this year.
We would describe ourselves as a Sleaze Rock ‘n’ Roll band, with Celtic undertones. We all collectively have different influences, and I think that shows in the music, I like that we aren’t stereotypical. We aren’t trying to be Zeppelin, ACDC, or Thin Lizzy, we’re trying to be Lipstik Lizards. Our music sounds new, youthful and we aren’t forgetting our Northern Irish roots, which I think too many bands from here do.
▶ What music have you put out so far?
We’ve put out a Demo(Single) of our track Please Me, Tease Me, which is on Soundcloud for free. We’ve also just recorded a four track E.P under the same name at Einstein Studios, which was released on July 1st.
▶ Is there a particular live show which stands out amongst all the rest?
We played the LG Arena in Birmingham last year, we stayed for a week and played two other big Showcases for a Skills Competition that same week. It was the biggest crowd we’ve played to yet and it really showed us that we have a market for our music outside the Rock/Metal community.
We also had a really good E.P fundraiser in Voodoo last month. We pretty much expected no one to turn up and to lose money, but were greeted with a supportive, lively crowd and the money needed to get the E.P done!
▶ What has been the highlight of the journey so far?
The trips overseas have been a really good experience for us, just to see how people outside of Belfast react to our music. We’ve really just loved the fact that our music has brought us over to great places and great people already. Also, Lipstik Lizards material has been sitting around for 2/3 years now with no one to hear it, so getting this E.P recorded was an extremely fulfilling experience.
▶ You are in control of forming a 4 piece ‘super group’ – who is in it and what do they do?
Haha! In a band where everyone’s music taste is extremely varied this is a hard compromise. If it were my choice you could happily throw me in Zeppelin or Sabbath and I think that’d be pretty super!
But,
Jeff Buckley-Vox (for Matt)
Jerry Cantrell-Guitar/Beaut Harmonies (For Martyn)
Geezer Butler-Bass (For myself and Daniel)
Luke Holland– Drums (for Dean)
▶ If you were to go on a world tour and you could pick any 3 acts come along, who would they be?
Crashdiet, Motley Crue and Sabbath.
▶ What would be the 3 strangest things on your rider if you were able to make any demand?
A Sega Mega Drive, Jellybabies and Buckfast.
▶ Who has been your biggest inspiration as a musician?
I think we’ve all obviously been inspired by different people when we started out, but I think the music inspires us itself. We could go through a really lazy period, but as soon as we dish out a new song or we get gig offers it gives us a push to get the ball rolling. We’ve been gigging pretty solidly since the new year, and it has probably been the most exciting/inspiring for this band so far.
▶ Is there a particular aim or goal which you hope to achieve through music?
It would be lovely to get “famous”, but ultimately all we wanna do is play and hopefully make a decent living out of it.
I really hope this band continues solidly and goes places, but we’ll all still be playing regardless!
◀ LISTEN ▶
Facebook ▶ /LipstikLizards ⁞ Twitter ▶ @LipstikLizards
