My Blog
25.10.11 - First blog in years & new look to my website
Hello viewers of my website, apologies for my online elusiveness. The last time I wrote a blog was for the Mathew Street festival in August of 2009 so it’s been over 2 years. As you can see my website has been recently pimped..it was well overdue! Anyway now it’ll be more interactive with more of my music & videos. I’ll be able to update you on the album I’m writing & any gigs/events I’m involved in.
A lot has happened in my career & personal life since then. Last year I toured Europe playing the role of Slash in tribute band Guns II Roses & did some very high profile gigs with them such as playing on a barge sailing around the river Liffey in Dublin (upstaging the real Guns N’ Roses also playing in Dublin that evening). We also made the news in Slovenia in April when we drove a 1000 miles to perform there after our flights were cancelled due to the volcano ash. We played Mathew St. again last year in Liverpool as well as the famous Cavern Club there twice. I was used for the flags around Liverpool city centre for the festival (well me dressed as Slash) which was very flattering. I can’t tell you how overwhelming it was to enter the city & see flag upon flag of me.
I also worked with an artist called Cathy JJ who was on 4 music’s Evo Music Rooms & featured on her music video for her track “You & No One Else”.
I also got myself an extra’s job on Eastenders for a few months playing a builder working on the Queen Vic after it burned down plus I played a Muslim who wouldn’t allow Syed to enter the mosque after it was discovered he was gay (yes that was me who was the menacing guy at the front door of the mosque). It was only for a short period of time but there was something very cool about going to the Eastenders set in Elstree every day. Here’s some footage of me in the show...
I’ve had to deal with a few tragedies in my personal life. In 2009 both my old man & my uncle Sonny passed away. Despite having to carry on touring whilst my dad was in a coma for 5 weeks I spent a lot of time with him at the hospital & was at his side when he passed. My uncle Sonny was also a guitarist & one of the main reasons I become a guitarist, he died 2 months before my father.
Through my grieving process I realised that I wanted to write music again for the 1st time in seven years. Last September I started messing about on a few ideas & what started out as nothing serious turned into writing a concept album.
The story of the album will be my personal journey in the year 2009. It’s got a Blues feel to it with elements of Hip Hop & Rock. So far I’ve got about 8 songs finished & another 8 songs that are work in progress. The album has some cool tracks, there’s definitely stuff you can dance or nod your head to but there will be songs that deal with the loss of my dad & uncle, I’m even writing a song in tribute to Michael Jackson. The album will be called “Everything Happens 4 A Reason”.
At the moment it’s therapy for me but once it’s finished & I think it’s got potential I’ll think about doing something with it :)
07.11.11 - Leo Playa on Whohub
Alright bruvs & babes how you all doing? Well unfortunately my day off has been taken up dealing with my car crash last nite, my poor Peugeot might have been written off. Anyway I’ve stumbled across a website that I did an online interview for a few years ago on WhoHub so thought I’d post the link here for you :)
14.11.11 - New Music Video
Ok so I decided to make a music video for one of the tracks on the album to put up on YouTube. It ain’t state of the art or anything like that but I think the end result is quite effective.
The track I’ve chosen is “Gotta Move On” and I plan to release it for free download this Christmas.
02.05.12 - Eastenders
I’ve been back on Eastenders playing a builder again for the last few weeks. I’ve been building the new Bed & Breakfast this time (I was builder on the Queen Vic a few years ago) and was on tonight and yesterday’s episode a fair bit.
Hopefully they’ll need a builder again as I do enjoy being on Albert Square :)
03.05.12 - Guitar Lessons in North London
Ok so I’m now giving private guitar tuition to anyone in the North London area. I will be teaching guitar for beginners or technique to more experienced guitarist. Over the past 10 years I have learned and gained a lot of experience playing guitar in various bands and want to pass on what I’ve learned.
If you are interested or know anyone looking to get guitar lessons e-mail me at info@leoplaya.com :)
04.05.12 - Album Update
Most of you know that I’ve been writing a concept album for the last year based on my personal life in 2009. So far 10 of the 15 tracks are finished and my friend and brother Smiley is playing drums on 4 tracks (hopefully he’ll do some more).
I’ve been recording guitar parts and vocals for a new blues track with a funky hip hop beat. This will be the 2nd track on the album and is called “The Gambler & The Blues Man” which is a song about my dad and my uncle Sonny.
I also have started work on a cover for the album which is a photo mosaic made out of about 2000 photos of my dad, uncle, photos of myself of tour or onstage and other photos from 2009.
I’m hoping to get the album finished by summer and plan to release it at the end of September. A few tracks are on my Sound Cloud account and I also uploaded a few tracks onto my Myspace page too which also includes the opening track “Bullshit & Drama”.
Also my old Digress band member James Lane is adding keys & a string section to track “A Time 4 Us” which feature singer Narmz Addo-Gyamfi singing the chorus and middle 8. I’m really looking forward to listening to the finished product when it’s ready and hopefully you all like it too :)
15.07.12 - First Seven tracks from the Album
I’ve uploaded the first half of my album to Sound Cloud. This is the first seven tracks in order along with a few skits :)
23.07.12 - Eastenders Live Episode
Some of you know that I’ve been an extra on Eastenders for the last 2 years. Well this year’s live episode (well the last 10 minutes of the episode) was to do with the Olympics and I was on the square as one of the council workers.
I’m used to being on the Eastenders set but this was a lot of fun to do as the energy was high and everyone was very excited, do love my part time job on Albert Square.
31.08.12 - Heavyweights Gig
So this month for my best friend’s stag do a bunch of the guys I grew up with met up in a rehearsal studio and had a jam before terrorising Camden. What came of this jam was myself plus my old friends Richard Forbes (aka. King Jacks), Jesse Thomas & Noel Martin forming a band to do a short set at our friend’s nan’s 80th birthday.
We performed a few rehearsed tracks and jammed out a few other tunes. All in all was a great gig as we all grew up in Palmers Green together and all have pursued music as our careers but have never really performed together.
15.09.12 - Robbing Williams Swing Gig at The Troupadour, Earls Court
It’s been a few years since we’ve played as the Swing band with horn section but what was particularly good about tonight’s gig is that is was the venue that Jimi Hendrix did his first ever London gig. That alone got me really excited as he is one of my heroes and I was really made up that I was performing on the same stage that he once played on. Could may well be one of the biggest highlights of my career.
19.09.12 - New Music Video: LIVING THE DREAM
Ok so while I was in bed for a week recovering from a chest infection I started messing around with some new software I installed on my laptop. What started out as making a mock Star Wars intro turned into a brand new music video for my track “Living The Dream”. The song is has all the rock n’ roll cliche’s of being in a band as I wrote this song based on my experiences of being in Guns 2 Roses. Here’s the video I hope you like it.
20.09.12 - Rock & Roll Fuck N Lovely Movie Launch Party
Tonight was the launch of my best friend Spencer “PJK” Leven’s movie. For those of you who remember I started off my music career as a rapper as part of PJK Urban Entertainment. Well in the last 10 years Spen has become a movie producer & film editor. This is his first official movie based on life on the road.
Was good to finally see the movie on the big screen and good to also watch my pal Shreevesy’s band “The Kubricks” playing at the movie launch plus catch up with a lot of old friends. Mainly spent the night have a joke with my pal King Jacks at the bar. Check out the trailer:
31.10.12 - “GOTTA MOVE ON” Single Release
So as the album’s getting close to being completed I’ve decided to release a single. For me the obvious choice is “Gotta Move On” as it’s ready to go. I’m in the process of writing a Press Release and sorting out how to release it on iTunes but it’ll be available soon and the link will be available for you to buy it. I’m hoping for a Christmas Number one so don’t let me down haha.
Here’s the music video for the track for those of you who haven’t seen it yet:
12.11.12 - “GOTTA MOVE ON” OUT NOW ON iTUNES & AMAZON
I have released the first single from my album (and the debut single of my career) on iTunes now. ‘Gotta Move On’ is now available for download and costs £0.79 ($0.99USD) and can be found by clicking on the links below the artwork for the single below :)
01.01.13 - HAPPY NEW YEAR
Hey everyone happy new year I hope 2013 brings you all much happiness. I’m having a few months off from gigging and touring. It’s been 7 years of non-stop gigging and as much as I love my job I need a bit of time out and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Anyway in the next few months I’ll be working on mixing, mastering and FINISHING the album. Also I’ll be starting private guitar tuition and getting into my new hobby of video editing.
08.03.13 - CHARLES AND THE PRODUCER
What’s happening online people, this is my first blog in months. Today I had a performance for a new show by Julia Charles Events Management who put on bespoke performances at events.
The performance was a 10 minute show where I started it off by looking corporate and playing guitar solos, then I strip to reveal my usual “Rock” attire and play guitar over track by Dubstep group “Charles & The Producer” with dancers joining me onstage for the performance and to end the show off a fire breather joins us. The show was in the Hilton Hotel at the MK Dons Stadium in Milton Keynes for Business Expo 2013.
The show was a success and I’m looking forward to working more with Julia Charles Events and also Charles & The Producer :)
09.03.13 - NEW SINGLE
So as the album is close to being completed I’ve decided to release another single. Some of you will be aware of the music video I’ve done with the STAR WARS intro, well this will be the new single.
It’s called “Living The Dream” and is a Hard Rock track. The single cover has been done by an old school friend of mine called James “Cereal Geek” Eatock who does artwork for Masters of the Universe comics.
The single will be released in a week or so but here is the artwork for the single cover, hope you like it:
26.03.13 - “LIVING THE DREAM” OUT NOW ON iTUNES & AMAZON
So the second single from my album is now on iTunes & Amazon. ‘Living The Dream’ is now available for download and costs £0.79 ($0.99USD) and can be found by clicking on the links below the artwork for the single below :)
