Suzi and Lewis Cook are buying winter clothes for a show in Iceland this weekend. “For some reason it didn’t even cross my mind that it would be cold,” laughs Lewis. “The clue is in the name”.
Suzi and Lewis, partners in music and marriage, make up Free Love together – an unassuming musical pairing where the clue is in the name. Hailing from Glasgow’s south side, Free Love celebrated their first SAY Award nomination in 2018 for debut album, Full Ashram Devotional Ceremony under the moniker Happy Meals.
Since then, they wed and changed their name to Free Love before releasing 2018’s Luxury Hits. Their new stage presence, and name, reflects their vibrant, chaotic, energetic sound, which will be on full display at the Glue Factory for the Great Western Festival on November 23.
“It’s going to be our first Glasgow show in a long time,” says Lewis. “It’s been three months,” notes Suzi. “It’s going to be a special night, because we don’t often play in Glasgow.”
The festival will be putting over 60 acts on in different locations around the city, mixing local acts like Free Love with UK-wide ones like Art School Girlfriend and Big Joanie. It’s perfect for a band like Free Love; a unique and experiential party.
“I think it’s going to be a special one,” says Lewis. “It’s in the Glue Factory, which is a really cool space."
"It’s like a blank canvas in there, which is really cool because you have your space to do your own thing,” says Suzi. “It’s so great that the festival is using all these places around Glasgow that aren’t really well utilised. I’m looking forward to go to shows in a space that I wouldn’t usually be in around the city.”
The festival will also be a chance for new audiences to become acquainted with Free Love, perhaps having only been aware of Lewis or Suzi in their past musical lives. Although they have known each other for more than a decade, Suzi and Lewis only started making music together five years ago.
“We did a course at the analogue-only Green Door Studio in Finnieston,” said Suzi. “They were running courses called NEET courses, for those out of education and employment, and we were able to use recording time. We only went in with track names, started jamming and then thought we should make something out of this,” said Suzi.
The Great Western Festival will be one of the few shows that the pair play before they wind down, in preparation for their honeymoon. They’re going to spend some time in Thailand, bumming around and eating plenty of pad thai and enjoying each other’s company. I float the idea that being married and writing together could potentially influence one or the other – the sentiment of their sound, or their relationships.
“Our relationship is complex in so many ways” says Lewis. “Any artist that works closely with another has a relationship together."
"In Glasgow, we never have to take ourselves too seriously” adds Suzi. “There is a great sense of anything goes with music, and the idea that a level of musicianship is required to make something sound unique goes amiss here which, of course, resonates with us.”
“A lot of what we’ve done has been influenced by chance,” said Lewis. “It’s quite funny sometimes how these events synchronise. Most of what we’ve done has been based on instinctive decisions. We were together for years before we made music together and that’s how we got started – by chance.”
I’m sure many people will come across Free Love in a similar manner on the 23rd. They, just like Suzi and Lewis, will be equally as lucky.
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