Lleo warns younger singers over recording in ‘bed room studios’ – after Raye wrote about sexual assault in her tune Ice Cream Man
Musicians have warned about the potential dangers of ‘bedroom studios’, saying the rise in technology means artists, particularly females, are more vulnerable to dangerous situations because of them.
Speaking to the Youth Music podcast, singer Lleo, who makes ‘bipolar pop’, said they’d once found themselves in a bedroom studio after meeting a producer on social media.
They told BBC journalist Jameel Shariff it had been a ‘wake-up call’.
Lleo said: ‘l ended up in his flat in this pretty dodgy part of London that I’d never been to before. And I was sitting in his bedroom, like sitting on the bed and we were making a tune.’
They said while the producer ‘wasn’t a creep – it was fine’, the vulnerability of the situation hit home in the room, when it could have been too late.
They explained: ‘I walked in and I was like I shouldn’t be in here, this isn’t safe. It was a real wake-up call.’
Brit-award winning singer Raye has frequently become emotional on stage while singing her song Ice Cream Man, which recounts her experience of being sexually assaulted as a rising star.
Artist Lleo pictured last month in London; the singer told podcast Youth Music that they’d had a ‘wake up call’ after agreeing to record in a bedroom studio
Lleo told BBC journalist Jameel Shariff that they realised after arriving at a flat in a dodgy part of London that they had potentially put themself in a dangerous situation – although the producer ‘wasn’t a creep’, they added
The singer was just 17 years old when she was lured into a studio by a music producer under the guise of it being a recording session but then forced his hand between her legs.
On the podcast, Birmingham RnB and soul singer Madi Saskia also told her story, saying that as an independent artist, previous negative experiences in recording scenarios have left her cautious.
She said: ‘I was 14, 15, 16 in some studios and older men would come on to me, or they would try and touch me and I’m just like “that’s not appropriate”‘.
Saskia added: ‘When you’re an independent artist, there’s a lot of bedroom studio situations.
‘Any studio you go into, or I go into now, I have to gauge this person’s intentions because I’ve had so many bad situations in the past.’
After writing a song about experiencing a sexual assault, the rising star said she’d received a negative backlash online.
Saskia said: ‘There was just a lot of horrible things like: “If this situation is so bad, then just kill yourself”‘.
Raye’s hit Ice Cream Man, on her award-winning album My 21st Century Blues, details ‘the ice cold hands’ of the producer who promised to make her a star.
The star previously revealed that she was forced to find a record deal in America after she hit out at the UK music industry over the sexual assault.
Grammy nominated artist Raye has frequently spoken out about her own experience of sexual assault at the hands of a music producer when she was just 17
Birmingham RnB and soul singer Madi Saskia, left, told the podcast that she’d have older men coming on to her in studio situations when she was just ‘14,15, 16’. Right: Lleo
‘I wanted to sing this song for you today,’ Raye said. ‘I don’t quite know why. Maybe it’s because also, I need to sing this song for myself’
British labels turned their backs on the star after her MeToo revelation about how she was assaulted by the music producer.
Raye – real name Rachel Agatha Keen – told how the attack left her hooked on alcohol and drugs to cope, and came at a huge cost to her career.
The hitmaker, from Tooting, South London, said: ‘Every girl I know in this industry has some sort of story to tell me. The studio is such a vulnerable space.
‘And if you say something, you create an enemy who will spread rumours or blacklist you – and you need those connections to open doors for yourself.
‘Even though the people decide very much what’s consumed on the outside, inside the music industry is still very much a gatekept society.’
Her debut album My 21st Century Blues was released independently last year, and she is now signed to New York-based Orchard Records, a subsidiary of Sony.
Raye broke records at the BRIT Awards in March, winning six gongs during a star-studded ceremony at London’s O2 arena.
Industry sources say that the singer’s revelation that she had been sexually assaulted by a record producer, and then speaking out against Polydor, left music bosses fearful of signing her. One source said: ‘It is absolutely insane that Raye went to America. Now look at her.
