His Lordship on exploring new flavours of rock, discovering Dick Dale, and meeting Nick Lowe
Infused with the restless energy of unfiltered, untamed rock and roll, His Lordship have deconstructed the 21st-century post-rock complexity, revealing a stripped-down, high-octane framework that is both reminiscent of a hot rod and an aggressive onslaught.
Comprising just two members – James Walbourne on guitar and vocals and Kris Sonne handling the rhythm – His Lordship are most at ease when delivering their music with unbridled intensity. Their veins seem to flow with the spirit of Jerry Lee Lewis while they channel the essence of unfiltered rock sensibilities, the wildness of backwoods rockabilly madness, and exude an unmistakable aura of whiskey-soaked rebellious sound.
“It’s like being Gilbert and George,” Walbourne says, “Where they’re in the Turkish restaurant, and then they become Gilbert and George, the artists. We leave our normal lives and get up on stage and become this manic rock and roll band. We play that fierce music for an hour, and then we stop. We inhabit two worlds.”
The essence of His Lordship initially took hold of Walbourne in 2015. He had grown weary of the world and, in an attempt to amuse himself, started performing Sunday lunchtime gigs at the Boogaloo pub in north London. During these performances, he played renditions of classic rock tunes, the very ones that his father had introduced to him long ago.
Fast-forward to now, and His Lordship have made their long-awaited debut, yet their progress seems to outpace even the swiftest movement through time and space. The beauty of being as unrestrained as His Lordship is that they’re not confined by anyone or anything. For now, however, Walbourne and Sonne are basking. “Our record was made out of the necessity to keep our sanity,” Walbourne explains. “We were deep In lockdown. We wrote and wrote and kept honing the songs until we were happy. The actual time spent recording was very short – a day here, a couple days there…”
In crafting the inaugural album, His Lordship enlisted help from musician and mixer David Wrench and prolific producer Tchad Blake — both of whom they deem an “artistic genius”.
“We owe Tchad Blake an awful lot for helping us get this thing off the ground,” Walbourne reveals. “We sent our first recordings off to Tchad; he mixed them, and they came back sounding huge. He really is an artistic genius – as is David Wrench. With David, we actually got the chance to go into his studio and record live with him.”
Joining forces with Wrench resulted in the tracks ‘Buzzkill’, ‘Pixelated Polly’ and ‘Joyboy’, all of which have a “slightly different flavour” compared with other tracks on the album. However, even amid the sonic explorations of experimentation and boundary-pushing, every track maintains its true rock and roll edge as intended.
In celebration of the debut album, His Lordship are currently in the crux of a promo tour, which concludes with a special show at London’s Garage on November 17th. This venue was selected by the duo on purpose following a personal connection with it: “It’s close to my heart as I saw a lot of shows there as a teenager,” Walbourne explains. “Link Wray and Dick Dale, in particular, were both big influences on me, and both those shows inspired and deafened me in equal measure.”
Make no mistake, His Lordship will not slow down any time soon. Their world is expanding, as is their fanbase, which is already home to some big names. “We met Nick Lowe at our last London show,” Walbourne recalls. “That was pretty great. I spotted him in the balcony as we were playing- there was that unmistakable white quiff! He’s one of our heroes.”
Currently, His Lordship is immersed in rock and roll, but that might not always be the case. Perhaps their next record will draw inspiration from different sources – like Sun Ra or Captain Beefheart. It could be infused with the energy of James Brown and the Famous Flames’ live performance at the Apollo or echo the experimental sounds of Sonic Youth at the Knitting Factory, Love at the Whiskey a Go Go, or the White Stripes at the Boston Arms.
It doesn’t matter because wherever music thrives in its most raw form, wherever it breaks free from conventions, and wherever musicians play solely for the sheer joy of it, that’s where His Lordship can be found.
