Insta audition leads to UK tour
Tuesday 11 June 2024
Music student Loz Riley was invited to join The Voice UK singer Kira Mac on tour after her band saw clips of him drumming on Instagram.
The second-year has just completed 12 dates across the UK and we caught up with Loz on his return to LIPA to see how the tour went and to find out exactly how he got the gig.
So, how did you end up joining Kira Mac?
I just got a message from their guitarist on Instagram after he’d seen a couple of clips of me playing. They sent me a couple of the songs, I played through them and sent them back and they really liked them and asked me to go on tour with them. It all happened in the space of about two weeks. Then three weeks of rehearsals and then we were out for 12 shows.
What was the first gig like?
I really didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t heard of Kira Mac until they’d contacted me and it was a new line-up with me on drums and a new bass player. We were also playing new unreleased songs, so we were a bit hesitant, wondering ‘what are they going to think?’ But it was fantastic, the crowd were really up for it and really supportive. It was a hometown gig for me in Leeds. It was one of my favourite nights.
Looking back at the tour, what’s the most important thing you learnt?
Pacing yourself. You really have to look after yourself on tour. It’s so easy to end up going to McDonalds so I tried not to do that and made sure I ate something nutritious, and I only drank water and electrolytes - no alcohol. It’s also about learning to pace yourself within the performance. The set was an hour and half and it’s no good me going full blaze on the first six songs and then being knackered. It’s about pacing yourself in the set and then doing that consistently throughout the tour.
What have you learnt at LIPA that proved useful on this tour?
Being at LIPA has taught me to accept opportunities when you get them. If this had been offered to me two years ago, I don’t think I would have said yes because I would have been too nervous or scared. I think working with so many different musicians here means I can go into a room with a guitarist I’ve never played with before and work with them, which I had to with Kira Mac. I also feel I can now work quite quickly on the fly, which you need to if you’ve got a 16, 17 song set list to learn in two or three weeks. Working with like-minded people here has helped with that.
Top image: Kira Mac band, Loz third from the left. Photography by Alan Maxwell
