Only three days after the release of his debut solo album, Serge Pizzorno of rock group Kasabian performed live as THE S.L.P. for only the third time.

Before his performance at London’s ‘Rough Trade East’ record shop, Serge took to the stage with music critic Will Hodgkinson for a conversation about his new record. Serge spoke eloquently and thoroughly about his creative decisions and the logic behind creating a solo project instead of just another Kasabian album; expressing his desire to experiment and do something different without having to stick to the expectations of the rock group.

The experimentation was also evident as Serge discussed the unexpected records he’d been listening to during the album’s creation: citing rapper Mac Miller‘s final release, ‘Swimming‘ as being a primary inspiration, as well as Tyler, the Creator and Italian composer Ennio Morricone. Listening to Serge discuss his reasoning and inspirations for the project gave me a further respect for him as an artist. It was evident that he knew ‘THE S.L.P.‘ wouldn’t be to the taste of all Kasabian fans, but he didn’t seem fussed – he’d made the record he wanted to make and that was success enough for him.

After half an hour of conversation, it was time for an acoustic set. Serge had previously discussed that he was careful to make sure his solo live performances were different to any Kasabian gig – feeling like it would just be strange to look to his side and see anyone other than Tom Meighan, lead vocalist of Kasabian. Obviously this performance was different from Serge’s headline shows that start next week, mainly as this was in a record store in front of only around 50 people, but also the set was stripped-back and acoustic. After opening with a piano rendition of the track ‘Lockdown‘, Serge moved to the acoustic guitar for the rest of the set, with his supporting musician taking to the piano and drum machine.

Serge only performed four tracks in total, but in each one his voice sounded incredible, as it echoed throughout the small record store. On the album, most of the songs have a lot of different instruments, sounds and synthesisers, which works great – but to hear the songs stripped back to just the acoustic guitar, piano and vocals, truly showed off the quality of the Serge as a musician and performer. The highlight of the show was easily his performance of lead single, ‘Nobody Else‘. After starting the track Serge made his way off the stage, walking down through the crowd dancing with fans, stumbling over handbags and feet, all whilst holding a vinyl copy of his record over his head and still hitting every single note. The experience had already felt more intimate than any gig I’d attended before, but despite the status and fame of the Kasabian rocker, he managed to create a truly unique concert.

After the gig there was a record signing and I asked Serge if we could expect another solo record in the future. He didn’t give much away, but said he had some collaborations in mind that he couldn’t sort out for this project, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see. For now though, I’d be sure to give this album a listen, and seize the opportunity to see this unique live experience before he returns to stadium tours and festival headline slots with Kasabian.

Setlist:
1. Lockdown
2. Nobody Else
3. Meanwhile… in the Silent Nowhere
4. ((trance))

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Artist: The S.L.P.⁣ Date: 2nd September 2019⁣ Venue: Rough Trade East, London, UK⁣ ⁣ Fresh off the release of his debut solo record, I was lucky enough to catch Serge Pizzorno of Kasabian (under his stage name The S.L.P.) performing an intimate acoustic set at Rough Trade East.⁣ ⁣ After a brief Q&A with a journalist, in which Serge revealed his fondness of Mac Miller and Tyler, the Creator, he took the stage with one another musician, who alternated with Serge, either playing acoustic guitar or piano.⁣ ⁣ It was only a short set, comprising of 4 tracks from his debut album, but what was most noticeable in the acoustic setting was the sheer talent of Serge. His voice truly carried through the small venue and the crowd was hypnotised as his voice echoed through the record store. ⁣ ⁣ During the single, ‘Nobody Else’ Serge left the stage and walked through the crowd, dancing with fans whilst still hitting every note. He joked with the audience after that he’d fallen over someone’s purse a couple of times as he walked about, but that didn’t stop his showmanship in the slightest.⁣ ⁣ Of course, it wasn’t anything like a Kasabian gig, but the whole point of this side project isn’t to mimic Kasabian: Serge is experminting with genres and styles with great success, and to see such a talented singer and songwriter up close and personal, was a great experience.

A post shared by Gig Archive (@gigarchive) on Sep 3, 2019 at 10:54am PDT