LOCAL musician, Leander Morales, spent the recent Glastonbury weekend wowing crowds with five shows on four different stages at the festival. He joined hundreds of other performers including headliners Sir Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish.
Playing songs from his own repertoire and some well-known cover version hits, Leander was also joined by Chapmanslade violinist, Katherine Brewer, for one of his sets.
Speaking to Frome Times at Glastonbury, Leander said, “I’m honoured to play here at the festival which I first attended when I was 16-years-old.
“My dad gave me and my friend tickets after my GCSEs. I imagined it being like a local carnival until I arrived on site and realised that I was going to one of the most incredible festivals I would ever attend.
“It inspired me as a musician and to work in the events industry. I remember being bright eyed and completely blown away by the whole experience.”
Leander’s five Glastonbury shows started with two on Wednesday and Thursday at an exclusive Glamping location, opening shows for Jaz Delorean from touring band, Tankus the Henge, plus an acoustic show with Gary Stringer and Jack Bessant from UK Chart topping rock band Reef. He then went on to play The Avalon Café, The Secret Stage and The Greenfields Mandala Stage.
“The majority of my set was made up of my own songs,” he added. “Glastonbury is an opportunity to perform your own music and really put your work to the test. Having taken so much time out from being ‘on the circuit’, I’m pretty much an unknown. I always put a couple of covers in the set, as people often like to hear a song they know. The covers I choose though have some kind of connection to my own life…and something the crowd can connect with.
“Whilst my music is designed for a full band set up, including orchestral arrangements, I performed a stripped down acoustic set for Glastonbury. My actual style varies from a mass of influences ranging from folk, blues, soul, indie and elements of pop.
“I’ve been working with Katherine for a few years, so it was great for us to work together at Glastonbury.
“I have performed before at Glastonbury, under the band name Gm3, a name that inspired the name of my event organisation, Gm3 Music. We performed as a 4-piece indie/rock band back in 2002 and I also performed in 2015.”
To follow Leander’s musical journey, you can follow Leander Morales on Instagram and Facebook. @leandermoralesmusic
