“A new model located in a past era idolised by the alternative fan base. Is this the future?”
The Brundell Social Club, an obscure venue for what held an eventful evening with Kasabian guitarist Serge Pizzorno and the release of his debut album ‘The S.L.P’.
I had arrived in Leeds, and walking through a picturesque estate found a long line of keen fans waiting to get into the social club – a dying breed of establishment, especially in the south.
The sign on the doors read: “No pictures with Serge!” there goes my chance, heading in and a disco-ball lights up the spacious room.
Enter Serge, a.k.a. The S.L.P, to a massive cheer in a packed venue. Host Dave introduces the Kasabian star and he finds himself already at the brunt of abuse from locals for his Leicester City affiliation.
Opening up with a Q&A, Dave gets deep into the mind of Serge, understanding these solo steps and what led to this change in direction.
A new feeling of an artist who wants to stay busy and be creative, as the songwriter expressed how much he enjoyed this project.
He made it clear it was not the concept of ending the journey with Kasabian, as he mentions, with the band writing of a new album, but to explore his locker and see what he can gain from his influences.
Serge was insightful, but also nervous about how he felt ‘The S.L.P’ (a.k.a. Serge Lorenzo Pizzorno) was going to go down with fans.
But he followed up with mentioning how humbled he was that the public took the opportunity to buy his album.
One highlight from this Q&A was the story of his track ‘The Youngest Gary’. Hearing a story from a friend, a misheard one at that, that the youngest Gary was 28 and the Gary’s were dying out. Later realising this was a mistake, as one Gary in the audience mentioned.
(We were later informed that it was in fact that no baby was registered as Gary in 2018)
We then moved on to ask the audience. Oh boy, strap yourselves in here.
“Who has been the best band you have seen live?” Well, that was not so bad.
Serge: “Rage Against the Machine”
Next question; “If a sparrow and an octopus had an arm wrestle-“
How long did that take?
Plenty of questions followed ranging from that goal he scored on Soccer AM, Leicester City winning the league, Kasabian’s gig at the King Power with also diving into how he attained influences from German trance.
A special mention was how over the moon he was with the collaborations he set out for. Featuring the likes of Slowthai and rapper Little Simz in his track “Favourites” – a debut single.
Overall, the whole evening was a real experience through time.
The working-class social club holding an evening with Serge Pizzorno discussing his new album and the reasons why he has gone out of his way to branch out into new areas.
A new model located in a past era idolised by the alternative fan base. Is this the future?
But with a new Kasabian album in the works, would Serge be considering a second solo album?
S.L.P was different from his days with Kasabian, but you can hear influences from their early work (Kasabian and Empire), in segments of this album.
If Serge was to head into this direction again, it would be interesting to see whether he would stay with similar aspects of trance, heavy beats and collaborations.
When focusing on the Brundell Social Club as a venue, it was everything you wanted, and album launch nights are definitely worth the money spent. Q&As, a live performance and a signed record. You cannot go wrong.
Evening with THE S.L.P
The Brundell Social Club