More about: Billy Lockett

It’s strange wandering round a place I've spent weekends my whole life with a photographer and radio sensation in tow. Taking a tour of the places that set the scene of his upcoming album, our shared hometown of Northampton has had a big influence on Billy Lockett. Much like me, he grew up on these streets, spent Saturdays touring the same haunts, and spent Sundays with his family. One of those key places - Abington Grove - the title of his debut album and the street he lived on with his Dad. Written on the piano in the living room after his father passed away; he’s keeping it close to home and even closer to his heart. Honouring the sentimentality, we both took a tour down memory lane…

Northamptonshire is the shoe-making county: famous with punks, indie kids, and manual labour workers for hosting the headquarters of Doc Martens. Given this, it’s no surprise that the shoe museum is still up and running on Guildhall Road - we’re traipsing the museum and discussing how much it’s changed while being in the same building. Northampton feels like some kind of time capsule of our whole lives.

“I don’t think I’d miss Northampton if I didn’t spend those years in London,” Billy muses, “It’s like you need to escape, have a chance to actually miss it, to appreciate it.”

“It is a bit of a shithole, isn’t it? But it’s ours - I would never let my friends from London say that.”

Our next stop is Abington Park, which is self-proclaimed to be Billy’s favourite place. You can tell why, as it’s this beautiful green space in the middle of the town. We’re walking with Trevor, his English bulldog, and chatting about the excitement of a debut album.

“Not even for my ego, but I love the promo now. I’m so proud of it and love being able to say it’s my debut album - that felt impossible for so long.”

There’s a lot of importance in celebrating something like this with the people who mean the most to you, especially when it has been a work in progress - Billy is open about his struggles making the record, having been dropped by labels twice and struggling to keep hold of the album he wanted to make.

He tells us that it’s become “a reassigning of my goals – it’s like I’m finally doing the right thing, it’s working how it should. All you need is instinct and perseverance.”

It is definitely one of those days where it feels like Spring is on the way. The sun is out, and we’re all feeling ready for sitting down after a loop of the park.

“There seems to be the lowest of lows right next to the highest of highs in Northampton … is it like that everywhere? Maybe it’s because I’ve lived here in different parts of my life and seen it from all sides. Abington Park is like, there’s these huge million-pound houses and then some of the most deprived parts of the town down the road.”

Naturally, our next stop is one of the finest pubs: The White Elephant, a two-minute walk from Abington Grove. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the name of Billy’s debut - named after the road his late Dad’s house is on, where all the songs were written on the grand piano downstairs.

The White Elephant is also, notably, the place of Billy’s first ever gig aged sixteen. Coming full circle in such a way is enough to make anyone nostalgic.

“Being back in Northampton is definitely all about the people. I have so many friends here from all parts of my life, all the people here make it what it is. I never had that in London.”

“The album is all about embracing failure - it’s nice to live somewhere with the highs and lows and a constant good support network because it means I’m always moving in the right direction.”

It seems obvious then, that we make our way up to Abington Grove, for Billy to show us the piano, the birthplace of the album.

“My Dad was an artist. He taught me that I don’t need a 9-5 to make a life for myself, there was always the option for that creativity to be nurtured. It’s definitely helped me learn that making it in this industry is only like, 10% talent. The rest is being a nice person, for the most part.”

“Releasing the album now feels like the best time. Music is a changing culture - people are giving a fuck about its quality again, I’m doing something bigger than making songs.”

Abington Grove is out on February 17th

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More about: Billy Lockett