Mild Horses is the new-ish incarnation of Matthew Leuw, who was previously involved with Norwich noise-poppers Crest, skronky Brighton art-punks Coin-op and was the guitar playing half of the lo-fi electro pop group 2 Hot 2 Sweat.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Mild Horses about the latest music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I live in a small town just outside London and make music which is a kind of smorgasbord of psychedelia, dream-pop, noise and electronica.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
This all started in Norfolk in the early 90’s when I made the fateful decision to spend my 17th birthday money on a guitar rather than the driving lessons my parents were hoping I might spend it on. II started making music of my own on my friend’s 4-track which I borrowed (these were mostly experimental doodles with bits of obscure television dialogue taped off late night tv).
I ended up writing more song like things and formed a band called Crest with some friends and was kind of gobsmacked when John Peel played one of the first things we recorded on Radio 1. We put out a few 7” singles on the Noisebox Records label got in the music press and then I scuppered the whole thing by moving to Brighton.
Crest continued in Brighton for a bit with a whole new cadre of musicians until one of them asked me to join his band. This was Coin-op who very quickly got some singles and a mini album released by Fierce Panda records, supported some up and coming bands of the time (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rapture, Deathcab For Cutie), played SXSW, recorded a Peel session, toured with a reformed Inspiral Carpets on their greatest hits tour and generally had a good time all the time. Until we didn’t.
I legged it back to Norwich and formed another band called Cortez, made a couple of records with them, released an album under the name The Matthew Project then moved to London having just formed another band called 2 Hot 2 Sweat with my then partner.
Mild Horses then started around 2011 which flitted between being experimental soundtrack-y home recordings and a band who briefly existed to near universal disinterest. I took some time out to look after my young children then suddenly got the bug again in 2020 (ironically after getting the Covid bug) to start making music again and made this record (Ignorance To Enlightenment And Back Again) over much of the next year.
I did eventually learn to drive.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
I think the most important thing with creating this record is that I felt like I had the time to get it right and really put a lot of thought into every element as I didn’t feel like I was working to any external deadline and didn’t feel the pressure to get it out straight away whilst it still felt relevant.
In a lot of ways the aesthetic is quite similar to when I was making records when I was younger, but I’ve just got better at realising it.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented times? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
Weirdly this has coincided with one of my most creative periods, but I think it’s probably more likely that is because my children are a bit older and I’ve got a bit more mental bandwidth available again.
What was the last song you listened to?
C.R.E.A.M. – Wu-Tang Clan
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
Vinyl followed by MP3s. I haven’t really embraced streaming platforms as I resent paying to rent records I already own and obviously the remuneration to artists is pretty risible.
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
And despite everything I just said about the streaming platforms, Mild Horses are on all the streaming platforms.
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Always buy the guitar. The driving lessons can wait.
