Lewca is the professional name of multidisciplinary musician and artist, Lewis Cuthbert-Ashton. Originally from the UK, the singer, rapper and songwriter has spent much of his life in France where he currently resides. After years of creative exploration, playing in multiple bands and living life he decided to embark on a solo project. Lewca was born.
“3 Kids & a Mortgage” is the debut EP from Lewca, released December 4, 2020. The five song collection is a wild mix of genres from Hip-hop to Indie Pop. With a groove of sampled breakbeats, live guitars, synths and found sounds the production brings to mind similarly adventurous, genre-bending UK groups.
In the late 1990’s and early 2000s, artists like The Streets, M.I.A., Cornershop and Gorillaz created a distinctly middle class English style of music that mixed the multicultural sounds of their home with Alt/Rock and Hip-hop of the day. Lewca takes the same approach, with the added influence of his adopted mainland home and his own unique wit.
On songs like “What Went Wrong,” “Hollywood” and “Back from the Dead” the singer mixes autobiographical stories of youthful excess and middle aged ennui with healthy doses of cynicism and humor. He sings and raps over organic beats that borrow freely from 80’s New Wave, 90’s Alternative and modern Lo-fi Indie Pop and Hip-hop.
“Doing My Thing” is the first song and current single from “3 Kids & a Mortgage.” Over an infectiously catchy fist-pumping track, Lewca delivers an anthem in praise of age inappropriate drunken debauchery and generally belligerent behaviour. It’s funny, a lot of fun and it will get stuck in your head long after the last “NA NA NA NA” fades to black.
Check out the fantastic video for “Doing my Thing,” below. You can also hear the song on the Deep Indie Dive playlist. Lewca has a follow-up EP titled “Walking the Hedgehog” due everywhere on March 19 (don’t tell anyone, but you can actually get it early here). We had a chance to chat with him (virtually) about his music and life. Read his answers to our 8 questions below, and follow the links at the end of the article to connect with this exciting and versatile talent.
Photo by Mathilde Galis @mathildegalis
8 Questions with Lewca
The Static Dive: Where are you from?
Lewca: I was born in Brixton London in the UK, at age 11 I moved to the south of france with my parents, I left home at 15, went to a experimental school, lived in a squat in Paris, moved back to London to study fine art, dabbled in film, started making music, long story… I currently live on a farm on the outskirts of Paris with my French wife, we have 3kids & a mortgage and a semi-domesticated hedgehog named sonic
SD: How long have you been making music?
LCA: First band at sixteen, 2 serious band endeavours since (EP, modest touring and such), it never worked out because of day jobs, babies and whatever. For this project I decided to take full creative control.
SD: Who are the musicians involved in your project?
LCA: The EP was recorded in a studio in Paris with DJ sonofapitch as the recording sound engineer, it was mixed by Rémy Laurençon, and we were lucky enough to have the EP mastered by Antoine Chabert “Chab” (of Random Access Memory 3 grammy fame – #ripdaftpunk). instrumentals were composed and performed by Ben Samama, Rémy Laurençon, DJ sonofapitch & Lo_Swing. Lyrics written & performed by Lewca (that’s me).
SD: Who are your biggest musical influences?
LCA: The Clash, Ian dury, Gorillaz, The Streets, Audio bullys, Viagra Boys, Leg Puppy, Baxter Dury.
SD: What is your greatest non-musical influence?
LCA: Wow, that’s hard, oft top my head, Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, Early Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, expensive rum
SD: What inspired you to create this project?
LCA: I suffered from a bit of nervous breakdown a few years ago, before that I would write songs that tried to sound like “songs”, afterwards I decided I wanted to express my everyday life and started writing about the drama of mundane life experiences, music wise it’s a bunch of influences from my youth, all in all it’s a bit of a musical diary I guess. That’s the idea behind the project;
SD: What are your plans for the future (musically)
LCA: World domination, but if that’s a stretch, playing live outdoors to a crowd that stinks of beer & sweat sounds good to me. I have a new EP coming out in March, & a bunch of new tracks in the works.
SD: Is there anything else you would like to say?
Lewca: Hope you like the tunes 🙂
Connect:
Lewca on the Deep Indie playlists
