THE PETAL FALLS – INTERVIEW & ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

The Petal Falls have an interesting backstory. Originally they were a five piece band that began in the mid 90s. The group was comprised of Keith Leahy (Singer/Songwriter), Robert Harpum (Guitar), Dave Richards (Guitar), Marius Ryndziewicz (Bass) and Robin Tucker (Drums). Early on they signed a record deal with an intermediate record label, The Petal Falls seemed destined for success. But that signing ultimately led to their undoing. After years of unfulfilled promises and tons of frustration, the band dissolved without the opportunity to release a single track.

Surprisingly, several year ago The Petal Falls‘ entire catalogue became available for release. Keith Leahy jumped on the chance to finally put out the ensemble’s illustrious music. Working with friend and producer, John King, Leahy was able to re-master the original recordings into four albums. The first one was released in 2020 entitled Workin All Night Workin All Day. The record received critical acclaim from both the music industry and the fans. So much so that Leahy felt the need to rekindle The Petal Falls as a solo musical endeavor.

The Petal Falls‘ newest full length is the appropriately titled All These Years. Released in 2021, these songs are also re-mastered versions of the original tracks with additional instrumentation. Once again, John King (Legacy, White Lightning) assisted in the ambitious production.

The album is brilliant. The songs are vibrant and full of catchy hooks. The vocals are dynamic throughout and the musicianship is outstanding. Even though, recorded in the 90s, the tracks still feel fresh and adventurous. They ring with rock & roll vitality and have an anthemic charm. Standouts include the hook laden “I Won’t Be There” and the rocking “Take Me Home”.  The beautifully orchestrated “All These Years” is another extraordinary composition. All These Years is an exceptional piece of music that deserves high praise and major accolades.

Keith Leahy was kind enough to give AMP this extensive interview.

AMP: The Petal Falls has had a frustrating beginning. Can you give the readers a brief history of the band?

LEAHY: The Petal Falls history stretches back to the mid/late 90’s in Kent, UK. My intention was to form a band that could act as a performance platform for my music and I eventually got my wish. There were the inevitable changes over the early years but the most productive version by far was the following line up:
Keith Leahy – Vocal, Guitar & Keys
Robert Harpum – Guitar
Dave Richards – Guitar
Marius Ryndziewicz – Bass
Robin Tucker – Drums
We had some early success with this line up that led to us signing to a mid tier UK label but as it turned out it would ultimately stifle the band’s creativity and stall its career for a number of years leading to a great deal of frustration and the eventual demise of the original band, after really never being given the opportunity to publicly release the wealth of rich material that had been built up over those year.

AMP: The new album, All These Years consists of never released tracks from the 90s. How do they sound so current?

LEAHY: I spent a long time with a good friend John King (Producer/Engineer/Drummer) piecing the albums together and we did some extra tweaking regarding additional parts with guitar and keyboards and that has given them even more polish, on songs that already had a very high standard of production on them. Each song has been re-mastered individually using the latest digital technology and all this work has given the songs a feel and sound that is pretty up to date. And once they were all placed together into their albums and final running order, they had even more love showered on them with the final mastering by John. So it’s very pleasing that you have mentioned the sound as it proves that all the effort and work has been worthwhile.

AMP: The single, “I Won’t Be There” is both hard hitting and extremely melodic. What have been the fans’ reactions?

LEAHY: I am simply blown away by all the attention The Petal Falls music has garnered over the last couple of years and with songs like “I Won’t Be There” (which was a real no-brainer to release as a single because it has always been a favorite of mine) TPF’s songs are getting some fabulous attention.
Both singles from the album have proved to be firm favorites with both DJ’s and fans alike and that’s really satisfying and considering the music has only really been getting heard on smaller radio stations and I have had no real promo budget to get the music out to a bigger audience worldwide in the way that a major label could. I think it’s astonishing that TPF’s music is getting such fantastic recognition and coverage and I hope it continues as there’s a lot, lot more to come!

AMP: You worked in the studio with John King on the remastering . How instrumental was his input?

LEAHY: It has proved absolutely crucial as he provided a clean fresh set of ears and ideas as he was never involved in the original recordings. So his outlook on the songs was much more objective than say mine or any of those involved in the original recordings and that has been the key to achieving the final polish on the songs that has made so many people sit up and listen to TPF’s music.

AMP: What is your favorite song from All These Years?

LEAHY: That is such a hard question for any song writer to answer as we invest so much of ourselves into each song but in our hearts we also have to be fans of our own music, so whilst I love all of my songs, I inevitably have favorites but not in any kind order if you know what I mean..lol. So for this album I would say the following – Liberated, I Won’t Be There, All These Years, Second Sight, In The Shadow Of The Clan and My Brother And Me are all songs I like for various reasons.. But I have to say that it is very fine margins as my choices are usually affected by a particular lyric line or how I have sung something or how an individual section was played etc, etc, but I love the entire album and am pretty proud of that fact that so many other people do as well!!

AMP: What Is the status of The Petal Falls in regard to a full band and is there any possibility of a tour?

LEAHY: The popularity and critical acclaim so far for TPF’s music has made me seriously re-evaluate my original plans and to that effect I have decided to resurrect The Petal Falls like a “phoenix from the ashes” ..lol..as a wholly new project. I am currently writing and recording brand new music in collaboration with John King which will be released after all the legacy stuff has been done, of which there is another two albums worth still to come! I hope that all this existing and new music can grow a big enough fan base and that can lead to an eventual realistic option to tour with a new version of the band. Fingers crossed it’s all moving in the right direction.

AMP: What does the future hold for The Petal Falls?

LEAHY: There is a new album later this year that’s looking like a late summer or early autumn release.
More videos for that in the coming few months. Then I have the final legacy album to sort for 2023 then I have two new Petal Falls albums to follow on from that and they are being worked on now. That’s the workload right now and somewhere on amongst all this I have to find time to look into the touring option as well So there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming years from The Petal Falls and I hope that people will enjoy and support the music that’s coming.

I would like to thank Jeff Archuleta from the Eclectic Music Lover website for this incredible find.

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To learn more about The Petal Falls, check out their website

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Stream music:  Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud

Purchase:  Amazon 

 

 

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