LEAP

The LEAP story is one of redemption, salvation, and remarkably fine margins. A rollercoaster ride through major label sugar pills and Hollywood dreams, and back from the brink of despair through some of the darkest extremes that life can conjure. From the padded walls of Balcarres Hospital’s psychiatric ward, to family suicide, LEAP have somehow come out the other side into a beautiful world of communal rock and roll therapy.

After signing to Capitol and Sony Records with his previous project, lead singer Jack Scott got a taste of the limelight, both sweet and sour. The false highs of an unsustainable platform soon gave way to unbearable lows, and living with bipolar disorder, Jacky descended into an extended manic episode. Following countless run-ins with the police and ambulance services, Jacky was eventually sectioned in a psychiatric institution. Sedated and incarcerated for months, he was later released to the news that his project had been dropped by all labels, management, and publisher. Empty months of deep depression followed, before his father committed suicide in Edinburgh, plunging Jacky further into unimaginable depths of mental trauma.

It is in the midst of this existential black hole that the LEAP seed starts growing. One of the most electrifying, natural-born entertainers in music, Jacky was never going to do anything else. He owns it with refreshing clarity: “Oh I’d be completely numb without LEAP. Or dead. One of the two. I know that for a fact.”

The name had come from his father. Don’t flinch. Whatever it is, face it head on. LEAP. And so Jacky started writing. Drowning out the incessant mental abuse with poignant lyrics over anthemic instrumentals, it was all he could do to stay sane. As this cathartic process continued, Jacky recruited his 2 closest friends on rhythm section.

Born days apart in the same hospital, Hector Cottam on drums has been Jacky’s best friend since they were infants. A bisexual buddhist, Heccy has been at Jack’s side through all the hurt, and he adds a welcome sense of stability to Jacky’s volatility. Trained at The Drummer’s Collective in NYC, Heccy is a human metronome who idolises rock giants like QOTSA and Jack White.

On bass, from Johannesburg, South Africa, the life of every party, Mr Declan Brown. A man so deeply consumed by the sheer enjoyment of performing that he regularly forgets to play his parts. Too busy cackling with someone in the front row, Deccy is the class clown and one of the warmest, purest souls you’ll ever meet.

The final piece of the puzzle, landing straight from Zelda’s Hyrule, Adam “The Pixie” Mason on lead guitar. Initially recruited through friends of friends, his impact was instant. And not just on the musical side. Baby Mason fit like a pocket-sized glove into the LEAP equation, and he immediately quit the other 5 bands he was session-ing with at the time.

“From the first rehearsal, I just knew these were my people,” Adam explains. “The music is so powerful but the vibe in the room, the connection with the baes, I couldn’t believe how quickly I felt part of the family.”

With the line-up complete, LEAP embarked on their first set of shows around Europe in March 2023.

Expectations were modest, all cities apart from London were places they had zero footprint. Out of nowhere, 200cap shows were selling out in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Already blown-away at the ticket sales, it wasn’t until the euphoric scenes at the merch desk with fans that it really sunk in.

“It was real man, people pitching up with LEAP tattoos on the first tour..” says Jacky. “We genuinely thought we might convert like 10 or 20 new people at each show, but playing sold out rooms and having fans arrive with bracelets or paintings they’d made for us, it was mental”

5 headline tours and 25,000 tickets across UK and Europe followed in the next 18 months, as well as countless festivals, including a main-stage slot at Nova Rock in Austria. Add in support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, Rolling Stone, Virgin Radio, and MTV, editorial playlists across Spotify and Apple, plus endorsements from RayBan, Levis, All Saints, Midas Consoles, and it’s clear that the LEAP wave has spread beyond the fanbase at the live shows and onto tastemaker radars across industries. The sound may be dark at times, the lyrics almost always, but at its core, LEAP is a wholesome message of raucous hope, and people want to be a part of it.

Heccy explains how many people have opened up about their struggles and how LEAP’s music and gigs have helped them through it, “I think people can tell we’re having the time of our lives, because we are. And we’re all so open about our own demons, Jacky especially. So people get inspired to come get lost in this release together and know they’re not alone.”

Jacky adds, “I actually love replying to the deep messages from fans. It gets heavy sometimes, but the thought of helping someone through their trauma just by sharing mine, or knowing that something positive is coming out of the sh*tstorm I’ve been through, i’d much rather that than it all be for nothing.”

Moving into their debut album campaign, Entropy is set for release Oct 3. LEAP are bringing all their individual pain, and the collective pain of the fans together, for a supersonic purge.

Every track on Entropy is based on LEAP’s own experiences. Whether it’s “Messages” about Jacky looping old voicemails from his late father, “Energies” about manic mental spikes, or “Waste Your Love” about Adam rediscovering his passion for life through the live shows, LEAP wear their heart on their sleeve. The aim is for unfounded guilt to be cleansed with every guitar strum, every last parasite of self-loathing crushed with each snare hit, every anguished note in Jacky’s voice another reminder that all is not lost.

“We just want people to understand this is a two-way street,” Deccy always giggles as he speaks. “Fans keep saying how much we’ve helped them, which is amazing, but they gotta know how much they’re giving us as well. All of us feed off this project, it’s a lifeline”.

We all know life can be excruciating at times, and LEAP are not pretending otherwise. But through music, friendship, and an enormous amount of luck, it is possible to manage the wonderful highs and lows of life with grace and gratitude. With the connection to a rapidly growing international fanbase deepening with every moshpit, the universal resonance of this incredible story is only getting louder.