Interview: Lucy Francesca Dron Chats About Her New EP, ‘Leftovers’

Brisbane-based artist Lucy Francesca Dron is on a bit of a roll lately, with the release of her moving single, Liquid Numbing Pain and the recent release of her brand new EP, Leftovers. We recently had the joy of sitting down with Lucy to get behind the writing process, inspirations and more!

We’ve absolutely loved your previous releases leading up to this EP so we’ve been eagerly waiting to get our hands on ‘Leftovers’. Congratulations on making such a stunning set of tracks! How does it feel to finally have it out?

Thank you! It feels very relieving to have the EP out and I’m so happy people are connecting to it. It also is making me very excited to start recording my next projects.

Can you tell us what the EP means to you and what it is about? Why ‘Leftovers’?

The title came because these tracks didn’t fit into my other album concepts and were the leftover tracks but still all quite strong songs, so I decided to put them all together and start recording them as an EP rather than jumping straight into a big album.

I wrote these tracks quite cohesively from the ages of 18-20 and they really reflect the growing pains I was experiencing during that time. Transitioning from a teenager to young adult was a really chaotic and alienating time for me and this EP captures what I was going through.

What was the process like for you and your band, from writing the tracks to pre-production, recording to finally having it out? 

When I bought the songs to the band they transformed heaps. I write alone but always hear other instrumentation and when I finally was able to find the right band everything started falling into place. I wrote a lot of notes for extra layers, instrumentation and references to bring to my producer during the studio sessions. We pretty much live tracked the songs a few times until we had the take with the right energy and first layer instrumentation and from there it was a lot of experimenting, mostly with Tom (bass) and Steve (Producer) on layering the other sounds, instruments and ideas. After each session I spent weeks listening back and taking mixing notes and forming more ideas to take back to the studio. There was lots of reflecting and refining to get it sounding how it sounds now.

Did it turn out as you had planned?

Yes, I am really happy with how it turned out. There are always moments where I think I could have worked on something more or sung something better but for my first proper recording project I’m really happy with it.

Were there challenges throughout this entire process? 

When it comes to music, all I can do is write and perform. I don’t understand music software or music theory but I am very strong-headed on how I want my music to sound. This is a challenge I always have because I will hear something strongly in my mind but struggle to understand the technical ways to achieve that sound or clearly communicate it to who I am working with . Learning to communicate with my producer was tricky but he was so amazing at understanding what I was trying to express which I think is what makes a talented producer and I’m learning more and more ways to communicate my ideas which is great.

What has been some of the highlights for you leading up to this release?

Filming the music video for Liquid Numbing Pain was probably the biggest highlight. And as I said before, communicating what I envision is sometimes really difficult but working on this project developed that skill even more as I was bringing a visual concept I envisioned for this song to a team and we all worked together to bring it to life which was surreal.

Playing a sold out single launch for What Is Next? Was also one of the best experiences of my life. The energy in the crowd was something I’ve never experienced .

What are some of the take-aways that you want listeners to have after listening to the EP?

I just hope people enjoy the music and that it can inspire people in any way and help people reconnect to their emotions.

Lastly, when will you be gracing the stage again?

I’m playing next with Noah Dillon at Fellons Barrel Hall on July 3rd!

Leftovers is available now, everywhere.