Emerging from the depths of lockdown, Oxford-based singer LZYBY (George Cobb) has made light work of spelling ‘Lazy Boy’, and even lighter work of establishing a name for himself. Not only did his debut single, ‘When the Rain Stops’, land him an interview on BBC Oxford, ‘Frustration’ has featured on articles with slightly more relevance than this one, and he’s got a six-track EP, Lazy &Waiting, dropping later this month.
As we sit down for a chat over a
beer in my Cowley-based kitchen, he tells me that LZYBY encapsulates how he’s
not “an overly serious person”. As to why he wanted a stage name? “George Cobb
is quite dull as names go. It’s just two syllables: George. Cobb.” I can’t
argue with that.
For transparency and Covid’s sake,
I have to admit that my kitchen is also his kitchen. He may be Oxford’s hottest
new Singer/Producer, but he’s also my housemate and, I suppose, quite a good
friend. But don’t you worry: while I value our friendship, I value my integrity
as a student journalist far more. What follows is a completely unrehearsed,
authentic interview between an up-and-coming artist and his up-and-coming
friend.
I get the ball rolling with a few
icebreakers. Slightly surprised to see him take this seriously, I follow suit,
asking how this all came about. Was LZYBY born in lockdown, or bred by it?
“I’d say [lockdown] gave me the
time and space to pursue it. I mean, everything’s that’s being going on this
year has been…” he proceeds with caution, “…pretty dreadful. But as a silver
lining, it did suddenly give heaps of time. I’d always wondered, what if I
taught myself to produce music? […] But it was one of those things I thought
I’d never actually pursue.”
I ask how, as a self-taught
producer, his creative process has developed since those early lockdown
days.
“Wow that’s a good question.”I
nod in agreement, impressed by his perception.
“I think that I have simplified
things more. When I first started, I went quite over the top with it […] but it
got very complicated and it made it sound worse. […] I ’d keep thinking I’ve
got to use entirely new instruments otherwise people will notice, and it would
be less original. But actually, finding your sound and binding all your songs
together is having those similar building blocks, but using them in different
ways.”
We both murmur a knowing “less is
more”.
LZYBY’s soon-to-be released songs
feature powerful and intricately layered violin arrangements. They are coming
to shape LZYBY’s sound, bringing an atmospheric moodiness that’s beautiful, yet
at times melancholic.
“Basically, I’m a huge fan of
Kelsey Lu. She performs live with her cello and I always thought that was so
cool. Then I thought, hang on, I play the violin. […] It’s nice to be able to
record a live instrument. You can get
that similar degree of emotion and sort of rawness playing an instrument live
as you can singing live.”
We talk about his upcoming gig at
the Moustache Barin Dalston this November. While he’s not sure it will
definitely go ahead, he says it’s an exciting starting point. I’m reminded of
the constant uncertainty we’re facing at the moment, and ask what are the
biggest challenges that he’s faced starting out as an artist in a
pandemic.
“Performing is one of the big
things. [University] would’ve been a really great way to ease myself in and get
comfortable performing. I could have performed at student-run societies and small
venues in Oxford where all of my friends could’ve come […] Whereas right now
it’s as if I’m doing this all on my own, almost in secret in my bedroom. Then
one day suddenly it’s like, oh god, now I’ve got to perform it all.”
I probe him as to whether he felt
anxiety in putting his songs out there for everyone to hear. Was
there anything that nearly held him back from releasing that first song, ‘When
the Rain Stops’?
“Well
I hadn’t sung for a while because I’d had a vocal injury when I was eighteen. I
didn’t actually sing until my third year at university.”
“Nodes?”
I exclaim incredulously, thinking Pitch-Perfect had made it up.
“Mmm,
correct. I lost a lot of my confidence. […] My friends at university were aware
that I sang but had never heard me sing, so there was definitely that
anticipation of throwing a blinder on everyone. [‘When the Rain Stops’] is also
written about someone, quite, you know, um, a very, like, special person; I was
aware he would hear it and it might be quite strange for him. But, at the end
of the day, I was really proud of the song. I put a lot of work into it, and I
wanted people to hear it. That took
priority in the end.”
The conversation moves on to his
upcoming EP and the inspiration behind it.
“It was all written when I was
21, that time of your life where most people are becoming adults […] When
you’re crossing that line, you’re faced with all these questions of, like, What
do I want to do? What do I want to be? Who do I want to be?”
He adds there’s definitely an
uplifting side to it. “I learnt a lot about myself through writing this EP. I discovered so
many personal quirks that I had either not been aware of before or had been
embarrassed about. I think I learnt to embrace them and express those
qualities.”
I ask
about the role that queerness plays in his music, knowing George to be openly
gay since I met him. “I definitely want to embrace a lot of queer culture into
my music. It’s something that I’m trying to embrace more into me as a person.
Again, it’s one of those things that I almost feel l turned a blind eye to.”
I
express surprise at this since he’s always seemed, at least to me, completely
confident in his sexuality. I remember how he made the whole process of coming
out at university much easier for me in our first year.
He
explains that while he felt assured enough to come out to his parents at the
age of eleven, and to his friends at sixteen, “I was at an age where people
weren’t as accepting as they are now. I
still had a good time of it and didn’t get bullied, well pretty much, and I
still had really strong friendships. But, I almost think part of the reason for
that is I subconsciously buried some of those elements of my personality to
make myself more palatable to the society I was growing up in. […] There are
probably so many more parts of me that would want to engage with [queer]
culture way more than I have thus far.”
We
discuss how coming out early brings with it with a different kind of cost. “There’s
a small print: you can come out and it can be fine, but don’t be too gay”,he
adds jokingly. But I realise that LZYBY clearly means something far more to
George than just the music: it’s an unashamed exploration and celebration of
all aspects of his identity.
As to his plans for after we
graduate next year? “Fully commit to music. I love
my degree and my university, but I’m excited to start the next stage of my
life.”
I end
by asking how we can support up-and-coming artists like LZYBY during an ongoing
pandemic.
“To be
honest, there’s more of an issue right now with the wider music industry in
general, especially the live industry. […] So if you can, donate to your local
live venues. There are various charities that have been set up to gain funds
for them. Or, write to your MP and encourage them to get the government to put
together some sort of a grant to look after these businesses that are probably
going to be the last ones to come out of this.”
On such a poignant note I stop recording, thanking him for his time. He laughs and suggests we have another beer and watch some Schitt’s Creek.
LZYBY’s debut EP, Lazy & Waiting, is out on all streaming platforms on 6th November 2020.
