We caught with up with American singer-songwriter Loren Kramar ahead of his Rock City show supporting the legendary Father John Misty...
Loren Kramar released his first album, Glovemaker, in 2024 and is now supporting Father John Misty on tour. Before he went on stage at Nottingham’s own Rock City, we chatted about performance, personality and Lana Del Rey… and then watched it all come to life live on stage.
How are you feeling about the Father John Misty shows?
I’m feeling really great. I’m excited. I actually opened for him a couple of years ago on the East Coast, and after I performed, I’d sit in the audience with snacks and a drink and watch the whole thing. So I am really in the mood to be performing right now.
What are you expecting from the Nottingham crowd?
They’d better be screaming. They’d better be wild and they better be in the mood to just get freaky. That’s my favourite kind of energy for a show, to just be loose and have a good time.
What do you want people to feel when they hear your music?
If they care — and I hope they do — I want them to feel how much I care. I want it to feel like they’re spending 45 minutes with someone who’s fully in it, loving the music and loving the opportunity to have this be their life because that is the feeling. It is a great privilege and a blessing in my life that I have something care about as much as this.
Where do you find inspiration when writing songs?
I feel like it's a privilege to have people's attention for five minutes, let alone 30 minutes or 45 minutes or an hour on stage, so I take that time seriously. I want to use that time to convey what feels urgent and what feels worthy of that attention.
Your debut album Glovemaker feels really theatrical and emotional. Was that intentional?
Yeah — I think I wanted to show all the different parts of myself. I want it to feel playful, humorous, big laughs, and tears. I'm trying to hit all these different emotional beats. People often describe the music as dramatic or cinematic, and I’ve just had to accept that. That’s what I bring to it.
You’ve said before that “we’re all in drag.” Can you explain that a bit more?
Putting yourself out into the world — with music, photos, videos — it becomes a kind of character, an image, and you get to play with it like it is completely plastic. It is a creative art and building, it is about beauty, elements of reality and fantasies. It is like a sculpture and I think that is in many ways, the way that all of us operate in the world, your personhood, your personality, these are things that ultimately I hope we are all just trying to love ourselves, be ourselves and play with what that means. It is about chasing a sense of self-love and you can build the rest of it.
So is the version of you we hear in your music the “real” you?
I’ve actually talked about this with Josh [Tillman/Father John Misty]. I’m not thinking about persona at all when I am making the music, for me, the music is a way of getting to know myself better. What’s there? What am I? What do I care about? What information am I learning about myself when I am making the song? I want total revelation, total transparency in the music. The rest, the photos and all of that really becomes more of the character building.
You released a Lana Del Rey cover earlier this year — why Living Legend?
I’ve been into her music for years, but since Norman F**ing Rockwell* it’s really meant something personal to me. And I just thought, someone’s going to do a Lana Del Rey covers album one day — and I wanted to be the first. Her music feels like something I could step inside and make my own.
What’s next for you?
I’ve started working on my next album — it’s still early days, but I want it to be wild, messy, urgent. I want to go all in.
Some artists walk on stage with a band. Others with a flashy entrance. Loren Kramar stepped onto the Rock City stage with just his voice, a guitarist, and a stare that made everything — and everyone — go quiet.
From the moment he arrived, there was a stillness. He didn’t say much at first. He just looked at us. And somehow, that was louder than any opening track.
His set was a slow burn, but it grabbed you hard. He used every part of his body — his voice, his movement, even the silence between notes — to pull you into whatever world he was creating. At times, he made sounds that felt less like singing and more like connecting with something ancient. Like he was pulling the music out of the ground.
Loren’s setlist included Glove, Euphemism, Slut, Ride, 15 Years, No Man, Hollywood, and Hope — a mix of his own songs and a few Lana covers.
And the audience? They sang with him. Or at least tried to. Especially during I Am a Slut — a track that has a kind of raw, strange energy that hits you in the chest. He says things others don’t. And that’s the point.
When his set finished, the mood in the room shifted. People started filling every empty corner of the venue. If you didn’t know Father John Misty was next, the building wave of excitement would have told you.
And then he arrived.
Father John Misty, also known as Joshua Tillman, doesn’t need to do much to own a room. He just has to be there. His entrance was smooth, almost casual — like he was gliding. And yet, within seconds, the crowd was completely his.
From the very first note, it was clear we were watching someone who belongs on stage. His voice sounded exactly like the records — I dare to say even better. But it was more than just the singing. It was the way he moved, the way he looked out into the crowd like he already knew what we were going to feel.
The setlist included No Shape, JT APT, Being You, Mr. Tillman, Nancy, Buddy’s Rendezvous, Chateau, Mental Health, Old Law, God’s Favourite Customer, Thirsty Crow, Hollywood, She Cleans Up, and Screamland.
Every song landed. Every lyric hit. And then there was the saxophone — which honestly deserves its own paragraph. The sax added so much to the vibe that it might have been the secret weapon of the night. Every time it kicked in, it lifted the whole thing to another level.
He ended with an encore — Holy Shit and Honeybear — after the crowd made it very clear they weren’t ready to say goodbye.
Between Loren’s intensity and Father John Misty’s charm, it was a night that felt both big and personal. A night that reminded you why live music still matters.
Father John Misty performed at Rock City on 23rd June 2025, with support from Loren Kramar.
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