Acoustic soul singer/songwriter LAIN once sang with Nu Colours and then sang on a hit Wookie single. Now he's released his own album, as Mike Rimmer reports.
In the beginning, you might have heard of Lain because he was a member of the gospel R&B group Nu Colours who had a few minor skirmishes with the charts in the '90s. It may be that you've heard his voice in the background of other mainstream pop hits but never knew it was him. Or maybe you remember his bone fide hit with Wookie called "Battle" that went top in the summer of 2000. These days he has a solo independently released album called 'Brother Soul'.
In the beginning Lain joined Nu Colours but even the story of how that happened has its own unique twists. Lain remembers, "Lawrence Johnson (founder member of the group) was actually calling me down for auditions. He was saying he was putting some band together to do a big rock tour somewhere around Europe. He was just really hyping it up saying, 'This is really big! We need to see you more and more!' Right near the end of the auditions, he said, 'Oh, just in case you don't get this, would you be interested in being involved with Nu Colours?' I was like, 'Ha! Yea-ah!'"
There was no rock tour, it was just a way of sussing out Lain! So he was in. For a few years in the UK, Nu Colours were THE gospel group and looked likely to make a cross over into the mainstream. The group signed with Polydor Records via Wild Card and worked really hard to get the right songs and the right sound.
"Desire" was their biggest hit but it only got to number 31. Lain observes that things have changed these days in the music business. "It's strange, you look on that now and anyone coming out with something that goes to number 31 would be axed! But back then, thank God, they were really committed to Nu Colours. We had about seven singles and I think that was about the sixth or the seventh single that we had with Polydor. They were really committed."
When he hears a song like "Desire" now what does it make him think of?" Lain remembers, "Well it was actually one of the last tracks that we did as a single. So it was right near the end of the whole Nu Colours experience, which was just such a learning curve for me, and I really appreciated the whole experience. I'm still in touch with the guys. It just makes me think of times that were a bit more 'safe', you know? Because the other guys were around. And now, a few years on, you've got to do things for yourself. Make your own decisions and strike out on your own. But they were good times."
In the end a whole set of issues led to the group disbanding. Without digging up all the dirt, Lain shares, "I always say it was like a cake; there were a lot of ingredients that came to the splitting of Nu Colours. It was inter-group wranglings and record company wranglings. And between the record company and the management, there were people in there that were great friends and they fell out and we were kind of the pawns of that falling out. So at that point a few of us had aspirations to do other things and do solo things and so we just decided to end it."
Lain has a strong set of pipes so it wasn't hard for him to continue to make a living in music through session work and live tours whilst wondering about developing his own projects. The Lighthouse Family were on the same label so he ended up singing backing vocals on the 'Ocean Drive' album and touring with them. He worked on their second album and also did sessions with Robbie Williams, Gary Barlow and others.
Eventually Lain hooked up with Wookie to work on the "Battle" single and a few other tracks. When he's out there working, do people know that he's a Christian? "Yeah," he smiles. "They know who you are. They know what you represent. A good example of that is the Wookie experience. He had this really energetic, quite different track that he brought to me. We'd been working whilst I was touring. I'd go in and do stuff with him once every two or three months. He came up with this particular track. It was just so different. I wrote the lyrics so quickly that they could not have come from me. So many people would come up after a PA or being in a club and they'd say, 'Oh, my mum had cancer and that song really brought me through.' Another friend of mine says, 'I visit my friends in prison and they're just playing your song all the time.' That's when you realise there's something a little bit more special than it just being a standard track. And that didn't come from me."
He remembers the writing process for "Battle". "While writing the track with Jason [aka Wookie], there's one line in it which says, 'God is never failing', and he was like, 'Well, couldn't you just put, 'He is never failing'?' And I was like, 'This song is about me. This is about my testimony so I have to say 'God'.' And he was like, 'What about alienating other people that don't believe?' And I said, 'I'm sure if they were writing the song they would want to put what they believe. It's not about alienating anyone, it's just about telling people your experiences.' And he was just like, 'Oh okay. Fine.' And then that was it. We never had a problem. The rest of the track was done and he loved it and everyone else loved it too."
He continues, "I think in a situation like that, sometimes you have to relax. In a manmade situation you think that you have to fight, that you have to make things happen. But when you pray and you ask God to go before you then the doors just open for you. That's really what happened with that track. I think that happens a lot if you know who you are and you stand up and say, 'God, go before me', then it doesn't matter whether you're in a session, whether you're in an after-party, God is with you and people do just know who you are about. People will come up. A quite well-known DJ talked to me and said, 'I know the truth and when I hear your song I feel it, it does something to me. I know the truth and I know who you are.' It was almost like a confessional in the middle of this club! I was like, 'Okay, thanks for that!' I guess we're all given the choice whether to hold up the light or not and that's what I'm trying to do."
These days Lain continues to work in the business but also has his own solo album, distributed through Spirit Music. 'Brother Soul' has been a labour of love and allowed Lain to make an album completely free from outside constraints. This is Lain as he wants to be heard. It's an acoustic soul album where his faith is implicit rather than explicit, emerging through the worldview of his songs. Talking about recording the album he says, "I was going to do it with the same people that did the Wookie thing but I could see where it was going and it wasn't going to be how I wanted it to be. So I just thought, you know what? I can take this and I can do this. I've got friends and I can record it all myself and get it out there. And then I can just sleep at night knowing that I've done this the way I wanted it to be done. If there are mistakes, if anything goes wrong, I'm not going to turn and look at anyone else, I can just look at myself and go, 'Oh, I should have done this. I should have done that.' But if I didn't do it then I'd have been, what if?.what if?.what if? So I just thought, do it! Go for it!"
In the meantime Lain is working on a mainstream project under the umbrella name of Marsk. The project mixes a huge number of rock and soul influences together to create a catchy fresh blend, all topped by Lain's distinctive vocals. He's teamed up with a small group of mainstream movers and shakers who've been involved in music for a while in both creative and business ventures. He has mainstream interest in the project already although the only place where you can hear tracks is on the band's Myspace account. He explains, "It's like night and day with my project because with my thing it's a labour of love. It's exactly as I want it and there's no bowing to what the industry would like or what the industry would think. And one of the guys I'm working with, Jamie Binns, has got a record label called J-did and he's involved with V2. He knows how the industry works. He's very much on that side of it. We ended up having that involved in how we wrote the project. I guess that's why publishers and labels are all clamouring for that right now - why they want the project because it's made-to-order. But then from my side of it, I just kept my side as I always do; as true to my heart and soul as possible."
So would he describe the 'Brother Soul' album as a gospel album? "If you want it to be!" he laughs. "I've had this conversation a few times. I'm a musician who has a faith and as such, I try and reflect that in the project. And that's how it comes across. There's nothing in that project that people can't relate to. I think that in my life, I've had relationships, I've been down on my luck, I've been skint. Just like everyone else, there's certain things that happen in my life that will happen in everyone else's life, whether you're a Christian or a non-Christian. I just didn't see a need to try and separate the two. I'm sure there will be times where I'll just want to do a nice praise and worship album. I know there's only a certain select few people that will buy that and that's great, but with this I just thought, well this is me. This is what I am. This is what I'm doing. This encompasses everything. I'm not hiding anything in my life. There it is, on a CD!"
As a kid, Lain missed
watching a lot of football matches on Match Of The Day because his
family would have their devotions on a Saturday night. "That's how we
were brought up. You get to get into your teens where it becomes your
choice. A lot of my friends in church decided that it wasn't for them
but I decided that it was for me and this is the life that I was going
to lead. Thank God for that. I know that there's a lot of things that
could have happened if it wasn't for God. Just as an example, a very,
very good friend of mine was involved in music just like me. I had Nu
Colours and he was solo. I see myself as being blessed that I had
other Christians around me when I went into the secular market-place.
Sadly he didn't have that and fell into the wrong crowd and ended up
with the drugs and all that kind of thing. The guy had a voice that
would make people cry. And now he has no voice. He can hardly talk let
alone sing. God is a jealous God and he can take away what gifts he
gives you. I realised that and now it's just for the grace of God.
That could have been me."
Desire is amazing!!!