Hiya LPMC, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
Tell us about LPMC and your career in music?
Hi, I’m Lee McMahon, a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter and I play as solo artist LPMC, which is my initials (Paul is my middle name). I decided on LPMC rather than my actual name because I thought it was a bolder stance and that I could have more fun with it when marketing the brand. Also, my surname doesn’t roll off the tongue easily for many and I’ve had some weird variations over the years!
In addition to that, when I was working through artwork templates and themes for my first album ‘Providence’, the front cover is split into quadrants and each split is dedicated to each of the letters with an image to represent them. L is something I Love, P refects Power, M is Money and C is Control, so there is some artistic depth to it too.
I am totally independent and everything you listen to and see are all my own creative efforts. I play all instruments on the studio recordings but have recruited a full 5-piece band when playing live. I released my debut album Providence in July 2022 and now in the process of releasing material for what will be my second album.
The second album is called ‘Lonely Boy Bar’ and the release strategy has been to put it out in 3 parts, with the first part being released last year, part 2 this year and the 3rd part will complete the saga next year.
I’ve been writing, performing, and releasing music for years now, although I had a break from it all for a while before starting LPMC. I have been in a few different bands with the most successful one being ‘The Tivoli’ between circa 2005 and 2014. We developed a strong momentum in that band, got an independent deal with Shiva Records, released an album called ‘National Service’ and did a multitude of sold out shows across the country in wonderful venues like Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Sheffield City Hall, with plenty of exposure across local and national radio.
Back in Sheffield, we were the first unsigned band to headline the O2 Academy main stage to over 1000 people as part of Joolz Vernon’s Soundclash nights as well as playing in every other venue in the area at the time. We were a great band, with good tunes and the lads in the band were fantastic players.
After the Tivoli split, that’s when I stepped away from music for a long time – I’d lost the love for it, the record label dropped their interest in us, and I think the endless effort to grow what we were doing had ground me to a halt and I felt exhausted by it.
We did work hard to do it ourselves in the aftermath, but the flame wasn’t burning as strong, and we didn’t really develop any strong rhythm in our work from there in. I think collectively the appetite for some of us had gone. Consequently, I didn’t pick up a guitar or try and write for the best part of a year and when I did it felt like I’d never done it before. It’s almost like I couldn’t remember how to play – it was a very strange feeling.
After a while I had a shift in momentum due to significant changes in my day job, and that made me realise that I needed music in my life because it made me happy and with the way The Tivoli ended, I had an overwhelming feeling that I’d had unfinished business. I started to write new material alongside rewriting some of the Tivoli tracks that never really saw the light of day and decided to try recording again.
That started a 6-year period due to both self-funding, self-confidence issues and ultimately COVID. It was during this time and through the production process that momentum gathered, and it became my resurrection as a solo artist. It has taken a lot of grit, determination and faith in myself to get up and start again.
What’s the live music scene like in Rotherham right now? Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
I think Rotherham is thriving in terms of new music and new bands/artists. The Reytons are the obvious flag bearers at the minute and what they and their team have achieved is phenomenal for what they are. They are inspiring people young and old to have something to believe in and that’s a special relationship to have.
There is some other really good stuff going on too, whether that be new bands or upcoming bands like At The Arcade and The Tivolis (not my old band), to bands coming around again after sitting it out for a long time like Indra, who recently released a charity single for Rotherham Hospice.
Alvarez Kings have just announced they are playing a show again soon too which is great! Our town is great and deserves to have a music profile!
It seems like being a social media curator has become added to the many jobs of a musician, how do you feel about this?
The list of jobs as an independent artist is endless and it’s not for the faint hearted. You must be the artist and the artist’s support network rolled into one. Apart from the music, none of it comes natural to me nor excites me, but I’ve tried to embrace the process and learn new skills on the job, so to speak to make it work, because it’s now a way of life now for musicians unless you can afford industry experts to do it for you, which I can’t.
Whether it be curating social media, storyboarding, directing, and editing videos, co-producing, being my own live promoter, trying to be a press officer, merchandise, marketing, recruiting and creative director of a live working band or managing artist development (the list goes on much longer!), it’s a very intense process and can frequently feel like suffocation.
These aspects of the process are constantly pulling me away from creating music, meaning I’m at war with them! Being a solo artist, I don’t really have anyone I can offload any work to.
Therefore, I make the conscious decision to get my head down and learn how to do it all myself, and although I’m no expert that’s for sure, I’ve gotten stronger and feel more equipped to tackle whatever the next single is, or the next show at every instance.
It will all just continue to be an ongoing process in where I’m learning to manage everything and keep all the proverbial plates spinning in a time efficient manner to the best of my ability. The whole process is a monumental labour of love and I’m almost certainly at my capacity, if not beyond it for what I can manage, but I’m compelled to do it because I love trying to be a songwriter and developing as a musician.
How has your mindset changed now then compared to when you were in the Tivoli?
The younger version of myself had the same drive, passion, and work ethic but I was naïve too. I didn’t realise what it took daily to grow a band/artist, mainly because someone else was doing all the leg work and heavy lifting for us. What I’ve learn to respect is that you should never take for granted how far you’ve come, how hard you’ve worked and what you’ve built, no matter at what stage that is.
I just try and move the needle a little more each day and each week. Even if I can only dedicate 10 mins in a day to it because of other life, work, and family commitments, I do, because every action in everyday matters.
The younger version of myself was content in throwing that away back in 2014 and showed no spirit for the fight once the decision was made. This version of me is strapping up his hands everyday ready to keep giving it a right go for as long as I feel I want to. I have always been very proud of what I’ve achieved and the memories me and the lads made in the Tivoli, but the achievements I make as LPMC mean more simply because I’m having to work much harder each day for each small win.
How do you manage engagement on your socials?
As mentioned above, I do it all myself. I just try and interact with what I like and create what I feel is interesting content. I seem to get more engagement with reels I’d say.
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
I’m under no illusion, I am smack-bang at the bottom rung of the proverbial ladder. Right there with many others who have great material and working so hard to grow their brand. I’m just doing the same trying to climb my own mountain.
What’s the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
To keep writing songs and producing them in a way that satisfies me and to be ruthless about what I want without compromising my vision. Ultimately, it’s my body of work and when I’m older I need to look back at whatever career I’ve had and be proud of what I decided to represent without regret. If that can also be recognised by others, then that makes it all the sweeter and reinforces that in the end, I probably did a good job to move people’s emotions and to be held in some esteem by them.
What was your best experience on stage?
I have many, but my first show with a full band of the LPMC era was only just over a year ago in May 2024 at Gorilla Beer Hall, Mexborough. I was apprehensive about how it would go as I had been away from the live scene for 11 years since the last Tivoli show, but the 200+ sold out crowd was amazing and put me at ease instantly.
The lads in the band were immense that night too, which is a testament to their skill and comradery. That night flicked a switch in me that made me feel like I’d taken a significant step forward and arrived somewhere mentally in this long and arduous journey. It gave me so much confidence to catapult from, because it showed me there still was interest in what I was doing, and it felt incredibly satisfying.
What was your worst experience on stage?
Back in the Tivoli days I did a solo show at a place called Junction 7 in Nottingham. I got that pissed that I fell off stage mid set and smashed my jaw on the barrier at the front. Not my finest moment. There was about 12 people in the audience. That was a reyt laugh!
Tell us something about you that you think people would be surprised about.
For the last 15 years my day job has been as sport scientist with the 1st team at Sheffield United FC. I’ve held many different positions there and the competitive culture of football can be a highly emotional environment to work in. I’ve had some incredible experiences and worked with amazing and inspiring people across the whole club throughout the years. I’ve also had numerous heart-breaking experiences too, including a very recent one, but I love my job and it’s given me a unique heartbeat and satisfaction in my life.
My current role is Rehabilitation Coach, which means I work with players in mid-to-late rehab of all pitch-based training. I’m incredibly proud and privileged to have had the opportunities to do the job I do for so long.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
I’m returning with the first track from the second instalment of my Lonely Boy Bar saga. ‘Jennifer’ marks the inaugural release from my forthcoming EP ‘Lonely Boy Bar: Part 2’, which is the follow up to last year’s part 1. The track picks up where its predecessors left off with big synths and guitars, muscular drums, and an emotional storytelling angle. The track is sequel to ‘Jenny’ from my album ‘Providence’ (mentioned earlier), which is about a thirtysomething woman who works as a midwife but can’t have children of her own.
I wanted to give Jenny a happy ending in my head and thought this would be the perfect opportunity on this record because she couldn’t be left haunted by emptiness for eternity.
Her courage and bravery to face the world every day and help others realise their own dream of having families, despite her own private anguish, needed to be recognised and overturned so to restore the strength in her heart. Good people deserve good things, and I’m pleased her dreams come true. Jennifer is out May 30th across all streaming platforms.
In the bigger picture all these recent tracks will form my second album – Lonely Boy Bar – but as I’ve mentioned earlier, I’m releasing it as 3 EP’s, with the first part released last year, the 2nd part this year and the final part of the trilogy next year. The premise of the record is that each song is entitled with someone’s name and the songs explore each character’s backstory, sometimes interweaving, and typically one’s of struggle and resilience.
This is where the theme is heavily weighted to having faith in yourself to get up and starting again and is the common thread through each track. Ultimately, the bar acts as a backdrop where hope can spring eternal and is a sanctuary to celebrate overcoming hard times.
All the stories are fictional, but the bar is real and co-owned by an ex-work colleague, Ben Osborn (ex-Sheffield United player now Derby County). The bar opened in May 2023. At the time I was looking for new material to write about and Ozzy mentioned he was opening the bar. Suddenly, I had an idea to write a track for him for it.
I came up with ‘Lonely Boy’. We both loved it, him, and his business partner that much that they had the main refrain from the song ‘This is the place you will be loved’ made into a neon sign which has been emblazoned across the wall in the bar ever since. After that I said I’d write a whole album based on the bar and that’s what I’m currently doing in this staggered fashion.
What was the recording process like?
I record everything on the fly, mostly at home in a makeshift studio. Sometimes I’ve even recorded tracks or various parts at the training ground at work. Once I have all the parts, I’ll then send it off to be mixed and mastered by Robin Junga at Sirkus Studios/KJAMM Mastering in Nottingham, yet still heavily involved as co-producer with him.
I play all instruments myself, which doesn’t come easy, because traditionally guitar is really the only instrument I have felt comfortable playing in the past. I have tried to up-skill myself in all aspects of the recording process and improve my playing on the keys, piano, organ, synths, saxophone, bass guitar, amongst others to a convincing level. Hopefully I’m pulling it off!
Ultimately though, it’s given me a much clearer perspective and understanding on the principles of musical arrangement and composition. I certainly approach songwriting, composition and production with much more maturity, thought, care and attention than I used to, which I’m delighted about.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
Couple of things really.
The first one is that I have a relationship with songwriting where I get to a point where I feel like the song tells you how it wants to be written and how it wants to sound. I tend to throw tons of melodies, vocal and instrumental, at a song in the first instance.
After working through it and filtering out most of them to find the best moments I get to a point where I find myself sometimes dropping my favourite parts, or what I feel are great performances, to serve what the song is trying to be about and then I just try and follow that path to the end. In the past I would try to find a place for every part, which would end up sounding like a mess.
Secondly, I’m a perfectionist in denial. In the past I would agonise over small detail, that in the bigger picture is irrelevant to the energy of a track/production and the impact it will make on the listener. I would cost me time, money, and sleep! So, I’m trying hard these days not to be too attached to minor detail that only I would recognise, but I can’t say I’ve mastered it yet!
The reality is that I can’t afford the time or money to endlessly procrastinate over the process, because I’m not young anymore and trying to hold down a full-time job and being there for my family. I became a father to my beautiful Daughter 3 years ago, so priorities have changed, and I just can’t dedicate the same amount of time to the production process that I used to, or would like to, and that’s a good things because it forces me to be more decisive.
What have you got coming up?
As I mentioned, the new single Jennifer is out on 30th May across all streaming platforms and then beyond that I’ll be staggering three more single releases this year to make up the Lonely Boy Bar Part 2 EP, which will be a vinyl release like last year’s part 1.
Then on the live side of things, I have some summer shows that I’m looking forward to, including Wentfest 25 and Rother Live Supporting Skinny Living in the next few weeks. After that I have a support show with At The Arcade at Network in Sheffield, and I’m delighted that you guys have invited me to play at your pre-fringe Tramlines show at Frog and Parrot on July 24th. Later in the year I’ll be doing a live show to celebrate the Millermen 25 project I’ve been involved with at the Cutler’s Arms in Rotherham and then at the end of the year I’ll be doing an EP launch for ‘Lonely Boy Bar Part 2’.
You mentioned Millermen 25, which you have been heavily involved with – tell us about it.
Millermen 25 first came about when I played solo at a Rotherham United ‘legends’ evening in June 2023 at the New York Stadium, which is an event ran by local fundraiser Kev Johnson to raise money for Rotherham Hospice. I included a rewritten version of the old club anthem ‘Millermen’ in the setlist as a token song for the fans because those nights can be tough to get the crowds attention.
Afterwards, I had an idea that I initially discussed with Kev, which was to record my version of the track and then get as many fans as possible back to the old ground ‘Millmoor’ to sing on the chorus before pressing it to vinyl to sell and raise money for Rotherham Hospice. It didn’t really take off until I got taking to ex Rotherham Player and Assistant Manager and Rotherham Hospice ambassador, John Breckin on a charity walk we were both doing last November.
Myself, John and Kev then got together again and began putting a wonderful team together with some amazingly generous sponsorship from some fantastic local businesses and got 1000 fans back on the Tivoli at Millmoor to sing along with my version and the original version which was then remastered after we played Bolton on 11th January this year.
We asked for a minimum £20 donation from each person, and that secured them a place in the stand, on the record and a vinyl when pressed. The event was incredible as I conducted the crowd through the songs. It brought back some treasured memories of standing on the terraces and that unique sense of community that supporting a football club brings. Mostly it made me think of my Uncle Royce, the ultimate Rotherham fan, who sadly passed away in November 2022 of cancer.
He would have loved it, and he was my inspiration to want to do it and also do it for the hospice. The vinyl is now ready and looks and sounds incredible and most importantly we’ve raised more than £20,000 for Rotherham Hospice to support their unbelievable work as a pillar of support and care in the town. Being Rotherham fan’s, we are also using it as an independent fan initiative to celebrate the football club’s centenary year celebrations which have recently begun.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Go and visit www.lpmcmusic.com for all the latest news and updates regarding what I’m up to and I hope you enjoy my new single Jennifer. Thanks for speaking with me, I appreciate it.
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