Liam Doyle has unveiled his new single ‘Same Mistakes’.
The singer-songwriter from Glasgow penned his recent track surrounding mental health.
Speaking of the single, Liam explained: “‘Same Mistakes’ was written at a time I was going through a dark depressive period and feeling it was a constant uphill struggle with my music career as a whole. Working in the music industry means I’ve had to develop a thick skin as performing on stage or busking is putting myself, my singing abilities and emotions out there for all to see and I was finding it difficult to stay focused and positive. There’s the constant fear of rejection, the criticism (from others and
yourself) as well as financial worries to deal with too.
“I had an overwhelming sense that I wasn’t working hard enough to get where I wanted to be but at the same time had no idea WHAT to actually do about it and spent many late nights lost inside my own head on a downward spiral. This song is about all those feelings and negative thoughts and
how we have a tendency to repeat the same self-destructive behaviours instead of learning from them.
“Having lost two friends to suicide at a young age, I am a strong advocate for people to speak out and share their problems with someone they trust. I notice more and more, especially in young men, we have a fear of speaking up about our emotions through fear of being ‘not manly enough’ or chastised. I’m incredibly proud of this song and how honest the lyrics are.”
With his new single out now, as he gears up towards his next EP release, we caught up with Liam to discover 5 tracks that influenced the release.
Active Child Ft Ellie Goulding – Silhouette
When writing ‘Same Mistakes’ I was listening to a lot of stripped back music with a synthy/electronic feel mixed with a raw singer-songwriter sound. I love the fact that you don’t need a full band to create a big sound and just felt like this song washed over me. I could feel the emotion in the vocal which is the major selling point for me. The pulsing electronic drums were something I really wanted to incorporate into the single.
Amber Run – I Found
I’ve listened to this song on repeat since I first heard it. I love a good reverb and that feeling of the vocals being almost floaty. I previously had a producer who told me that the reverb was too much and I was adamant to not compromise on this single. With ‘I Found’, I like the fact that the song builds and sticks in your brain without being upbeat.
Kodaline – I Wouldn’t Be
This is a beautiful song that is quite sparse until the bridge. Initially, before it was produced, ‘Same Mistakes’ was pretty sparse throughout and at one stage when I was thinking of doing the song in a different vein, I had even thought about putting bagpipes in there at some point like ‘I Wouldn’t Be’. Ultimately I decided to go a different way, but I did take a lot of inspiration from this song initially, not in terms of lyric subject matter but more for the feel of the song.
Brandi Carlile – The Joke
I do tend to listen to a lot of folk/Americana music and Brandi Carlile is one of my absolute favourites. You feel every emotion she is feeling when singing. I had listened to this song a lot around the time I wrote ‘Same Mistakes’. I was feeling incredibly down at the time, lower than I had ever really felt, and I resonated with the lyrics a lot. Although they’re open to interpretation, it instantly made me think about choosing to be a part of this crazy ‘music industry’ and constantly having to deal with the knocks and put-downs from other people. Little things, like when I’m asked what I do, I tend to say “I’m a musician” with a sort of awkward laugh. A lot of people just don’t understand and it’s almost like I’m apologising or making a joke about something that is pretty much my whole life. Then comes the “Yeah but do you have a back up” or “Yeah but what’s your REAL job?”. The line ‘Let them laugh while they can’ stirs up a feeling because it says to me; people are going to laugh and put you down and ‘kick dirt in your face’ but if you’re creating music you love and making a living by following your passion, the joke is on them.
Gabrielle Aplin – My Mistake
This song was actually released after ‘Same Mistakes’ was written. I’ve been a huge fan of Gabrielle’s music since her YouTube days and really admire the way she has kind of curated her whole career. She has one of those velvety voices that could sing literally anything to me and I would enjoy it! I remember listening to this one and feeling shocked at how similar the content matter was. The lyrics described exactly how I was feeling, jaded, fed up, not really sure of anything I was doing. It was like she had peered into my brain when writing this song. Like much of the music I listen to, the production of the song was quite sparse and centred on lyrics and vocal. ‘Same Mistakes’ bridge was initially different, it wasn’t really a ‘moment’ in the song but more of a filler. Once listening to this song, I realised how important it was for me to have a moment in the song that really hits and changes pace so I rewrote it and it’s probably some of my favourite writing to date. I’m grateful I heard this song when I did or I probably would have left it!
You can listen to Liam Doyle ‘Same Mistakes’ below: