Interview: Lemon - How Can You Rhyme That Shit?

QAnon believers are not going to like the lyrics of the new Lemon single How Can You Rhyme That Shit? that was released on the 6th of January 2022, the day that Lemon was once again support act for the legendary Stereo MC’s from London. The new single is the first release after two singles Lemon released this year, in collaboration with Stereo MC’s lady singer Cath Coffey. Both singles “Love Can Take You Places” and “Shiiine On” collected raving reviews.

By Kamil Bobin

Discovered via Musosoup

Kamil) Hello Lemon, it's a pleasure to speak with you. What first got you into music?
I started taking classic guitar lessons when I was about 15 and after a while a friend of mine asked me to start a band with him. He played bass guitar. We asked another friend to play the drums and started a kind of Latin Funk band called Pure Joy, hahah.

I'm curious about how you got started in music, and if you knew from the start that this is what you'd be doing for the rest of your life?

The classical guitar lessons did not do much for me, but the music grabbed me from the first day I started playing in that band. Not that I thought I would be doing this for the rest of my life. That came when I started writing my own songs. I then realized that music was a part of me. In the meantime I have released five albums and a bunch of singles with Lemon. Check the best of Lemon out on Spotify: https://op…IIALX08ZcL . The sixth will be released this year!

'How Can You Rhyme That Shit?' is your most recent single. Can you tell us about its history and whether anything remarkable happened during its creation?

This song is much more of a protest song than our previous releases. It’s born out of frustration about the whole QAnon lunacy. I just don’t understand how people can believe human beings are capable of hiding such a weird worldwide scheme. Pardon? Reptilian humanoids??? Get away please! The lyrics say it all: "I think it’s vanity, I don’t see us pull that off”.

Tell me about the biggest difficulty you've ever gotten yourself into.

Given the polarization that is happening all over the world and the aggressiveness of conspiracy thinkers, this song may get us into trouble!

You live in Netherlands, Amsterdam. What do you enjoy best about this location?

I can talk for hours about the things that I like about Amsterdam, but first comes the freedom this place offers its inhabitants. I have been to many places but I have never seen a place that offers so much freedom as my hometown. Maybe I should just say: as my country. Next to this any international act that is at the start of its career, always stops by to do a show in Amsterdam, so you always get to see great gigs.

Does your family share your interest in music? What are their thoughts on your work?

Yes they do share my interest in music. In fact: my brother Paul is Lemon's drummer! My mum and dad both used to sing in a choir, my sister sang in a band.

Can you describe your finest performance in your career? How do you recall it?

That was back in February 2020, when we were the support act of the legendary Stereo MC's. The venue was just great. The sound was superb and the audience went bazurk. On the same day we went to the studio and recorded two songs with Stereo MC's lady singer Cath Coffey. We would once again play as their support act this January - twice actually - but the shows were cancelled because of COVID-19 measures. Of one I know it will be postponed to a later date. Hope that also goes for the second.

Do you have any interests outside from music? If so, could you please introduce us to them?

Well, first and foremost it's music. Next to that I love muscle cars and I used to drive several, but the gas guzzling V8's made me feel kind of guilty. The best was a '68 Mercury Cougar, but that did not only make me feel guilty, the gas usage of 1 liter for driving 4 kilometers made me poor at the same time!

Who is your dream musician with whom to work, and why?

One dream already came true when Cath Coffey joined us in the studio. We still hope to work with Stereo MC's Rob Birch or Nick Hallam one day.

What are your plans for the future?

As said: our sixth album is on its way. And we hope to be able to play all shows that have been cancelled during the last year because of COVID-19 measures. AND we plan to become the biggest band in the world :-p