While football fans are gearing up for this year’s FIFA World Cup, others are thinking about how to contribute to the hype. For English musicians Luiza Lale (of LAZA!) and Jim Pinchen, the answer was writing a football anthem, something for people to sing aloud while cheering.
Red&White was born: a catchy, friendly and accessible song, boasting an empowering character and an exciting bubbliness. Waiting to discover whether the record will bring England any luck, we caught up with its authors, to find out more about the project and their perspectives.
Interview below!
Hey Luiza and Jim, how is it going? First of all, let’s start with an important question: are you both football fans? 🙂
Absolutely! We support different clubs (among which there’s Crystal Palace FC)
How did the idea of writing a world cup anthem come about?
It’s been on our individual bucket lists forever, so it was great for each other to meet a like-minded soul!! We also wanted undying admiration from our kids 😜
If you had the opportunity to pick any artists in the world for a guest appearance on the track, who would you choose?
We did think about approaching people, and thought hard about who is a great artist and also famously a football fan- as Ed Sheeran sponsors Ipswich Town he would have been our top choice!
‘Red & White’ is obviously aimed at being sung aloud in pubs all around the country this November. How did you approach its creation? Was there any particular criteria or rule you had in mind?
We wanted there to be a catchy chorus and a big “woah” section that you can sing easily from the stadiums. Further to that, we wanted a really positive upbeat message, not just a mindless chant, about us all being one England. No matter where you’re from in the country, no matter your background or what you believe, we are a gloriously multicultural England and we are all rooting for, and celebrating, our team.
Do you feel more confident writing music alone, or within a team?
I really enjoy collaborating, as someone else can challenge you and pull the music in a different direction than maybe you’d do alone, and that inevitably leads to a more interesting and thought-out piece of music.
Let’s imagine the track becoming a national banger – would you be able to handle the spotlight?
Haha!! That would be a nice problem to have! Jim is a very grounded guy, and he writes great music so I’m sure he’d handle it admirably! This becoming a banger would be amazing in every way, not least because the proceeds this year will be going to the charity Kick It Out.
Artistically speaking, what challenges have the last two years presented you with?
During covid musicians, like everyone else, had to adapt. It was almost a metamorphosis for me, personally, as all gigs stopped so turned inwards and started writing music full-time. I was able to zoom with colleagues who then became great friends and do international songwriting collaborations. In this way, we have managed to get a huge body of work out there, which perhaps would not have happened within the fast pace of “normal” life in London.
What are the next steps for your project? Anything exciting on the horizon?
We joked about the next thing on the bucket list being writing the winning entry for Eurovision! 😝 We have loads of new tracks in the works so watch this space!
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