Just last week, Lucas Watt took centre stage at The Deaf Institute in Manchester for his headline show—a milestone reminiscent of his idols, such as The 1975, in their early days. Building on the success of his sold-out Gullivers Manchester headline show earlier this year, The Deaf Institute marked a significant step forward in Lucas's journey. Not only did he rise to the occasion, but he also delivered a standout performance that fostered remarkable crowd engagement and interaction.

Before his show, I caught up with Lucas to ask some further questions about him as an artist.

AB: So how is it headlining in Manchester at The Deaf Institute?

Lucas: Really good. It's a bucket list venue for me, so I've always wanted to do it, but we were just saying I'd never been in until we walked in earlier, so it was a scary thing. But it's going to be an amazing show, obviously. There's people that I like, like The 1975 and stuff, that did their first kind of big headline gigs here, so I wanted to do it, to kind of say I've done it, basically.

AB: Yeah. Like you say, it's quite iconic. There's been a lot over the years. So you're going on fairly soon, aren't you?

Lucas: I think, yeah, just under an hour, but I'm feeling pretty chill. It was a long drive up from London, so I got all my stress out of the way this morning and the M6 traffic and now I'm feeling pretty good about it.

AB: Yeah, because I believe you were playing in London last night?

Lucas: Yeah, I played The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch last night, which is a really good show. It was a nice kind of warm up for tonight, but it made the day today stressful but the sound check went really well, which is always good for chilling you out before.

AB: Yes. I was listening - it sounded really good.

Lucas: Yeah I appreciate it.

AB: You've toured with some big names like JP Cooper?

Lucas: I saw him the other day, actually. I went and watched him in Leeds, so it was good to have a bit of a catch up. But yeah, JP's amazing. That was an amazing tour. A lot of the people that saw me at the Manchester & Leeds shows are the reason people come down to my own shows here, so I'm really appreciative I got the opportunity for them.

AB: Yeah, that's great they come down. You've done some other support acts that's been quite big as well.

Lucas: Yeah, I supported my mate Tim, who recently signed a record deal just over a year ago, and he did some really good touring. I managed to get over to Ireland and play over there as well, so did some really, really good stuff last year, which kind of led on well to doing my Gullivers headline in Manchester in January and then a couple of London shows and now onto this. So it's been a really good couple of years, really.

AB: Yeah. It sounds like it.

AB: You've got a new single out, I think?

Lucas: Cruel Estate, yeah. It came out last Wednesday, so we debuted it in London last night and it felt really good. So I'm looking forward to playing it again tonight. But we're also playing another one that's coming out in November, so I wrote two in Kent a couple of months ago and I just knew they were the next two songs. I got them recorded really quickly and got them out. Yeah, they feel good.

AB: You mentioned earlier about The 1975. Who are your influences then?

Lucas: To be honest, back in the day it was a lot down to my dad so it was a lot of rock music. We liked people like Linkin Park, I was lucky enough to see them live and my dad took me to Leeds Fest every year from when I was like eleven years old. So, I was lucky enough to see My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds To Mars, Foo Fighters, Chilli Peppers and they were my original influences. And then when I got a bit older I started listening to pop music and indie music and my main influences are indie music. I love Sam Fender. I do like The 1975, I like Holly Humberstone, but a bit of everyone really. I love Royal Blood, which is another complete tangent offering. I get influenced by everything really.

AB: Yeah, I remember with Royal Blood fairly recently there was a bit of controversy about them.

Lucas: At The Big Weekend, yeah. Being a bit of a diva, but I feel like you can be like that if you're a bit of a rock star.

AB: Oh, definitely, yeah.

Lucas: If I was like that it wouldn't go down well. I mean, I don't think it went down well with what he did but he's a rock star so you can get away with it a little bit.

AB: Well, so you've got a new single coming out, are there any more gigs?

Lucas: No. So it was these two together. These are kind of just to round off the end of this year really, and then back into it again next year. So these two singles and these couple of gigs.

AB: So have you got a message for your fans who come out and watch you?

Lucas: Yeah, I obviously appreciate it a lot. I say we try and play every now and again. I was so appreciative that we managed to sell out Gullivers. And we're always getting like, every show we play, we're gaining new fans and new people. And I know I've gained a few through social media and stuff, but people that make the effort to come out and see an artist as small as myself, I always appreciate it because it's difficult for people to gain a following at this young stage, like this young stage of a career. It's the people that come early on that are the important people. I just appreciate anyone that comes.

AB: With being around all day today, I can see the effort that goes into the setup and sound check.

Lucas: We always try to put on an arena show in a small venue. That's what we're always aiming for.

Lucas: I'm lucky to have a lot of friends to do lights and sound and all sorts, so I can bring it all together and try and make it look like we're playing a massive show when we're playing in a small venue. So try and show people that maybe one day we could do it in a bigger venue.

AB: Have you got a dream venue you'd like to play?

Lucas: I always said that you've always got to set realistic goals. Like, people say, I want to play stadiums, but I'd love to do stadiums. However, my realistic goal is, I'd love to headline the O2 Academy in Leeds, because that's where when I was 15 or 16, that's where I used to go and watch bands.

Lucas: When I was 15, 16, 17, and starting to go and watch bands on my own without my mum and dad for the first time, I would get the train to Leeds from Skipton with a couple of mates. We'd go watch a few indie bands. I mean, I have played at the Academy in Leeds. I played it for a battle of the Bands, like, five years ago. But I've always said my biggest aspiration is to headline that. That'd be a proper hometown show for me, where it put things into perspective of how far things have come. So I've always said that's my biggest goal. That's what I want, because I watched an interview with Ed Sheeran, who said the same. He never aspired to play stadiums, he aspired to play his local big venue. And I say I'm the same. I want to play that venue because of the memories I have there, and then anything other than that would be amazing. I'd love to headline a lot of the venues I've done as support, to be honest, because I get very attached to the places I've played. So I'd love to headline Heaven in London, where I did my first ever London support spot with JP Cooper.

Lucas: I'd love to do Academy Two in Manchester, I'd love to do the O2 Institute in Birmingham, I'd love to do Gorilla in Manchester. There's a load of venues where I've been there and I've supported and I've seen my friends or people that inspire me to headline them, and I'm like, I'd love to do that.

Lucas: So we'll see how it goes. This is a great start.

AB: Yeah. And I'll look forward to hearing your set.

Lucas: Yeah, thank you very much.

Author: Andrew Braithwaite

Andrew is the founder and Managing Director of Music Talkers. He's also a keen music enthusiast and plays the guitar.