Lucius And Milo

Where does Lucius and Milo come from? Davide Scarpignato: Can we be honest for once? Theo Stone: Me and Dom don’t know. Charlie Pelham-Lane: We made a list of band names that we would put forward, and I thought it would be a good shout because it comes from a Roman story about a guy who gets turned into a Donkey. Milo is the husband of a witch. Lucius stays at his house and spies on the witch making concoctions, and she sees him and as a punishment turns him into a donkey. Then the rest of the book is about his adventures as a Donkey. The title is commonly translated into English as the Golden Ass.

What are your influences - who would you say informs your original songs the most? CPL: My songs don’t get influenced by anything to be honest, I get a tune in my head at 2am in the morning and then sit down at the piano later and write it out. But if I were to say a band I like, I’d go for Coldplay. DS: I’m really into U2 and REM and a bit of post-punk revival such as Interpol, I’m into that pop/rock genre. But most of my songs were composed when I was in another band so my taste is changing, and so is what I write.

How have you found the heats and the bands you’ve performed against? Dom Ford: I think we’ve all had quite different experiences, this is my third battle of the bands but the first time I’ve been to the final, so I know how it all goes but its still really exciting. TS: The competition has been really fierce, Joker’s Gamble and Allergens are exceptional. DF: The first heat was Charlie’s first gig. CPL: Yeah, the first time I played on stage was the first heat. DS: But I think we’re comfortable on stage, we have a really good relationship with the audience. CPL: Yeah, the audience has been fantastic, I’m really grateful to Campus Bands, it’s great time to perform together for the first time in such a great atmosphere. TS: It’s been great. Having played last year, this year the audience has been much bigger and the atmosphere has been far more welcoming.

What can we expect in the Final? DF: We like to have a surprise cover - last time it was Watercolour by Pendulum. Because it is such a quick turnaround between the semi and the final we won’t change the set too much, but the cover will be different.

What are your plans for after the Final? CPL: Recording is the next step, but we don’t want to give up on the gigs so we’ll take what we can get over the next few months.

What are you listening to at the moment? DF: While I’ve been studying I’ve been listening to Heilung, which is the old Germanic word for healing. They only use recreated sounds to create very viking sounding songs - it really gets me in the zone for working. TS: I love a Russian duo called IamtheMorning, who are chamber progressive. I highly recommend their album. DS: I’m really looking forward to the new LCD Soundsystem Album. CPL: Definitely Snarky Puppy.