On the Rise
L'objectif

Right now, the four-piece are gearing up to play new music showcase Live At Leeds in the City, a multi-venue event that nurtured Kane and Bullock’s own love of music as attendees, and helped them progress as a local band too. Having first played the event in 2021 at iconic venue The Brudenell, L’Objectif are looking forward to returning to a new stage at The Belgrave Music Hall alongside an eclectic lineup, which features local Mercury-Prize winning band English Teacher, The K’s, Casisdead, ARXX, Willie J Healey and more.

"I think the first ever gigs I went to were part of Live At Leeds when I was like, eleven years old,” reminisces vocalist and guitarist Kane. “I was just absolutely buzzing to go around and see all my favourite bands.” Drummer Bullock shares his bandmates enthusiasm for the festival too. “The first time we played at The Brudenell, that was really important for me, because we’d been going there [to gigs] since we were young. It was just wicked. The people that work at Live At Leeds are either student volunteers or volunteers in general. It’s one day of the year where people who love music in Leeds will just be about it. It’s exciting. It’s just fun.”

Whilst Kane and Bullock now share a stage as musicians, their initial experience of performing together was at secondary school, in a dramatic adaptation of John Hughes’ iconic family comedy film Home Alone. As year seven students, Kane was cast in the lead role of Kevin McCallister, whilst Bullock was cast as Fuller aka the kid with glasses who wets the bed. The pair laugh when they reflect on these character choices. When Kane discovered that Bullock played drums one day during rehearsals, he jumped at the chance to start playing music with him. “That’s how the band formed,” he shares, “Throughout our entire high school experience, a lot of it was just me and Louis in this band, but it was a constant throughout everything. We just played and practised all the time.”

Even from within the confines of their school practice room, L’Objectif knew that they wanted their sound to be heard outside of the classroom walls. “We entered so many competitions,” Kane recalls. “We actually won the first one that we entered, but subsequently, have never got through to a single competition we’ve entered since.” Both lads laugh at that comment. It sparks a memory of them winning a local Battle Of The Bands contest, with the prize being a free session in what they thought was going to be a world class recording studio. “We didn’t realise until we got there that we had been absolutely mugged,” Kane reveals, allowing Bullock to elaborate. “[That memory] is so vivid. We thought it was going to be career changing, but we literally got two hours of rehearsal time in a cupboard. After that, we entered a competition where if you won, you got to play at Leeds Festival, but we didn’t make it past the first round.”

Undeterred by this rejection, the pair took it on the chin, and a few years later, L’Objectif eventually made their debut at Leeds Festival, without the aid of a competition. “We always had bigger ambitions than we should have had at that time. That’s never really changed,” Kane offers, summarising the band’s early beginnings. This zealous attitude has ultimately led the band to sell out shows in their hometown, gather crowds in London - including at The Lexington for The Line Of Best Fit’s Five Day Forecast in 2023 - and they’ve garnered slots at The Great Escape, All Points East and Reading festivals over the past two years too.

During this time, they also managed to release three EPs: their debut Have It Your Way (2021), followed swiftly by their second record We Aren’t Getting Out But Tonight We Might (2022) and most recently, The Left Side. The development between these releases is obvious. Have It Your Way, showcases the band’s post-punk qualities, whereas We Aren’t Getting Out But Tonight We Might marks a significant shift towards indie pop rhythms and some arpeggiated synths. L’Objectif have expanded this element of their sound on The Left Side too, with its soaring electronics and higher production values.

“With the first EP, I’m most proud of being able to say that we did that in lockdown,” offers Kane. “All of those songs have no experience behind them when it comes to production. It was just our first bit of recorded music that we were happy with.” When it came to recording their second collection of tracks, the pair were out of lockdown and playing regular live shows, all whilst simultaneously studying for their A Levels, which meant that the experience was totally different. “It felt like more of a commentary on what was happening, whereas the first EP was in its own echo chamber,” Kane offers. “With the second EP, we’d experienced a bit more of life by then, and the third EP is probably an extension of that. It’s much better produced. There’s loads of songs on there that were really a step up from what we’d done before.”

It’s not just the writing and recording processes that have been a learning curve for L’Objectif. Taking their music into a live setting after lockdown provided them with the opportunity to expand their lineup, with guitarist Dan Richardson and bassist Ezra Glennon joining the fold in late 2020. As a four piece, they had an extensive touring schedule supporting bigger bands in London and Manchester, alongside playing festival slots, sold out local shows, and then a headline run in March this year. Bullock describes the feeling of playing to a crowd of people who have come to hear L’Objectif’s original songs as “incredible” and “rewarding” - but the two twenty-year-olds have had to learn to navigate stacked schedules and lineup changes along the way.

“We did our first tour and then the band kind of came to a halt, and everyone went their separate ways,” Kane shares. “Me and Louis felt very much like we were back where we started. Not in a negative way. It was kind of a crazy experience after everything that had happened. I guess lineup changes have impacted us emotionally, but we’ve taken everything that we did previously and tried to shape it into what we do next. Doing things a bit better and a bit more maturely. The experience of the first four years of being in a band, all it's done to me and Louis is cement the idea that this is one million percent what we want to do. We don’t really want to do anything else. I think with what’s happening next, I feel totally more prepared for it.”

Another factor in making the pair feel confident moving forward with L’Objectif is the support they have received from their new record label. Based in Leeds, independent label Dance To The Radio will be releasing the band’s new single “Goth Kids” at the end of November. Described by the band as a tune about trying to figure out where you fit in, the track marks a “new chapter” in L’Objectif’s sound, acting as a standalone statement piece that cements their new creative vision, with a new lineup too.

“It’s the longest we’ve spent trying to get a song mixed and produced,” shares Kane. “We worked pretty hard on it, we wanted to take control and release something that we’re genuinely really proud of. I think that’s what this song is.” The “Goth Kids” single will also be accompanied by a video, which the pair are excited to share with their fans. “It fits the song really well,” explains Kane. “It’s got a lot of the Leeds arts community involved and we’re loving being a part of that. We feel really connected to the Leeds photography, art and styling scene now.”

Backed by their new local artistic connections, L’Objectif are ready to continue putting in the work to achieve success on their own terms. “It’s so up and down, the music industry,” Kane reflects. “Me and Louis are at the point where we're not gonna sit around and wait for anything to happen for us, because it’s just not the way it works. There’s other people that can help you, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to do it all yourself.”