CHERISHING THE ARTISTRY OF LAUREL

By: Jesse Zapatero

PHOTOGRAPHER: IRVIN RIVERA, FASHION STYLIST: MARISSA CHANNING, MAKE-UP: CHRISTOPHER MILES, HAIR: ANDI OJEDA, STYLING ASST: VALERY VERDIN, PRODUCER: JESSE ZAPATERO

When I was around 17, I found myself lost in the depths of YouTube, on a quest to uncover fresh music to soothe the soul. It was then that I stumbled upon a video by an artist named Laurel, belting out a track titled "Holy Water." I was instantly captivated by her distinct voice.

Soon, I discovered that Laurel had an entire EP titled "Holy Water," which blew my mind with its unique sound, unlike anything I had ever heard. One unforgettable memory linked to the song involves a rather dramatic incident of me tumbling down a flight of stairs at my old high school, but that's a tale for another time… shout out to Weslaco East haha

Fast forward to 2016, and Laurel releases the "Park" EP, accompanied by a vinyl record that I eagerly purchased and still cherish to this day. Im 24 now, I've been an avid follower of Laurel's artistic evolution for years. From her debut album “DOGVIOLET” to subsequent EPs, she's continuously has me hooked on her music. One of her standout tracks, "Scream Drive Faster," has garnered millions of views on YouTube and over 30 million streams on Spotify, solidifying her place in music.

This year has been particularly exciting, with Laurel dropping two singles, "Wild Things" and "Burning Up," as teasers for her upcoming album, "Palpitations," slated for release on June 15th.

In addition to her mesmerizing vocals, Laurel's talent extends far beyond the recording studio. She's a true artist in every sense, crafting her own music from scratch. penning heartfelt lyrics & composing intricate melodies, Laurel is the creative force behind her music. But her creativity doesn't stop there. She's also a hands-on producer, sculpting each track to perfection. When it comes to visual storytelling, Laurel takes the reins, conceptualizing her own music videos.

Despite the demands of the industry, Laurel remains consistently creative, constantly pushing the boundaries of her artistry. She's not just writing songs; she's crafting her own story and narrative, infusing each piece with authenticity and emotion. Whether she's exploring themes of love, loss, or personal growth, Laurel's music is a reflection of her journey through life. And through her unwavering dedication to her craft, she continues to inspire and captivate people around the world.

I've shared Laurel's music with everyone I know, from my old roommates in Austin who heard and saw the “Scream Drive Faster” and “Appetite” videos on repeat every morning during lockdown to my friends on set here in Los Angeles.Laurel’s music holds a special place in my heart, and I'm eagerly anticipating the heights she'll reach.

I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Laurel herself, delving into her creative process, her journey as an artist, and the inspiration behind her new music.

Glasses - Giant Vintage, Bodysuit - Frisk Me Good, Boots - KWK by KAY KWOK

Hi Laurel, How are you?

I’ve been great, just super busy in album cycle mode. Putting out the music I’ve been writing for the past 2 years.

Could you share some insights into the album cover for Palpitations, which in definition is a feeling that your heart has skipped a beat or added an extra beat and, in the cover, you’re shirtless holding a lamb. What inspired this choice, and what's the connection between the concept of Palpitations and your image with the lamb?

I wanted something really striking. I loved and was drawn to this dark background of mud, with its natural yet man-made and brutal essence. Life can often be like that, and I wanted something covering my heart to represent palpitations, and the innocence of the heart amidst chaos, destruction, and brutality. For me, it made sense for it to be the lamb because of the biblical nature of a lamb and the innocence of this baby pure animal.

Witnessing your evolution has been truly remarkable. Each of your projects stands out on its own, distinct and unique. What's your secret to staying creatively inspired and consistently delivering such powerful projects?

In the beginning there’s so much self-exploration and all these projects happened over such a long time period. Someone might find my early projects and hear my new music and say wow that’s so different. But all these projects happened in the span of 10 years. I'm 29, and I started in music at 17. Those were truly instrumental years, during which you grow so much, and the world is constantly changing. If anything, I find it hard to stick to one thing. Right now, I'm trying to find my zone. I think I've found it. My task now is to evolve but find this Laurel and to experiment within this Laurel as supposed to throwing everything out of the cram and starting again. There’s a tendency to do that as artist because were inspired by so many different things.

Can you walk us through what your creative process is like?

With music, I don’t draw inspiration from other records; I like to zone in on my own thing. I’ll play with the piano or guitar and record some chords. Then I turn the mic on, put autotune on full, and sing random things. Whatever feels right, I’ll keep that, and I end up with a song structure and add lyrics to it. That's really how my songs form. With visuals, I’ll do a lot of mood boarding and just look through imagery, pulling what I'm attracted to.

Earrings - Studio Cult, Ring - Ivy Jewelry, Dress - Alabama Blonde

You came onto the music scene full throttle. You started out with the Holy Water EP, then went on to do the DOGVIOLET album, and they’re both so different from each other. How did you get drawn into music, and where did you start?

When I was 4, I saw a Britney Spears music video, and I said I wanted to be a pop star. I'm not sure anybody ever believed me, but I spent my life trying to prove them wrong. I honestly saw that and said I wanted to do that. Always known. Then obviously, my ambition and type of artistry I did evolved as I got older. When I was 14, I saw a video of Laura Manning playing "New Romantic" on the guitar, and that was the moment I decided I wanted to write songs, I wanted to write music. I had already written songs on the piano before then, but it was all very young. It was that moment I wanted to play the guitar and make poetry.

Shoes - Nike x CDG , Earrings - Studio Cult, Ring - Ivy Jewelry, Dress - Alabama Blonde

You just shared with the world your new single “Burning Up”, please tell us what that song is about and what you want the world to take from it?

That song was the first song I wrote for this album. It's sort of like the template for the whole album in a way. Style-wise, it embodies everything I wanted to create for the album; it's a quite important track. In terms of the theme, it's very prevalent throughout the whole album. It delves into this big inner turmoil, the struggle between what to do and who you are. What's the right thing? What's the right path for you? It's a lot about being either in the countryside or the city, and for me, I haven't always known where I'm meant to be. Am I meant to be living this quiet life, or am I meant to be in the city? I can't seem to find the middle ground between the two because I'm quite extreme. The whole song is about the two extreme sides of myself that are both trying to win and can't seem to find an agreement.

I love what you said about not always knowing where you're meant to be, trying to find the middle ground between the quiet country life and the craziness of the city. I grew up in a small town and I have these times where I want my peace, but I want to stay in the city.

Exactly… I come from a small suburb in England, so it was shock moving to London but that was exactly what i wanted and i do always long for that quiet. But every time i go back to visit my family i go quite nuts actually, it’s not for me.

I saw you recently went back, how was it?

It was great! I think it's such a fantastic place to visit now, and that's been a fun experience. I lived in London for 10 years, so now I just love to visit. It's a great place to visit, lots going on, busy, and it has a lot of emotional attachment for me, but I've really kinda moved on... My home is really in LA now, and I love the way I get to live here. Every time I go back to London, I get so excited to come home. Just because, like we were talking about in the song previously, London is very busy and full of people, and I kinda forgot that you're submerged in real city life there. Here in LA, I have more space around me, and at this time in life when I'm doing a lot of music and work, I really respect the peace around me. But it's fun to visit now, so when I go back to England, I'm the best version of myself.

Shoes - United Nude, Shorts - Ashton Michael , Jacket - THEO, Necklace - From York

I love that, I find myself in that situation as well, in terms of visiting your hometown as the best version of yourself. And I get shit from my family about not going back home and moving back to my hometown, but it's like... you can't really grow in a place that already raised you.

Yes, I love that. I totally agree. It's somewhere I'll probably go back to 3 or 4 times, maybe more, in a year for work. But I feel like I'm having a growth spurt, and ever since I've been in America, I've been deeply uncomfortable at times because it's a very different culture than I'm used to. And I feel like that's really good for you as a person, and I really want more of that.

You know, these last 4 years have put the world at such a weird place with the pandemic and all these catastrophic events going on. Has that affected you creatively in anyway?

Yes, 100 percent, I was very lucky that when that happened, I had already written "Scream Drive Faster," "Best I Ever Had," my whole first Petrol Bloom EP of this new era. It was a wonderful experience in one sense because I released this new music I've been working on for 2 or 3 years that no one had heard, and I couldn’t wait to share that - and I got to share that during the pandemic when everyone was online, so it was a big moment for me. But the experience of releasing online and not getting any feedback in the physical sense, like I couldn’t really celebrate or play live or experience what people were feeling when listening to the music, was a quite weird sensation. As a result of that, I didn't write any music during the lockdowns. I'm extroverted in a way, and I need stimulation from elsewhere, and I can’t always write when I'm just on my own and I got all the time in the world to just do it. That's never happened to me. I remember I moved to LA and the pandemic just started to loosen up a bit, and I spent 3 or 4 months just living. I had just signed this new record deal, and everybody wanted me to start writing this album, but I didn't have anything. There was nothing in me to write because I need to live and be a human for a bit.

Shoes - United Nude, Shorts - Ashton Michael from No Such Agency, Jacket - THEO, Necklace - From York

Would you say you were in a writer’s block?

I guess I could say it was a writer’s block to some degree, but what I think it really was... I felt quite depressed because I get so much energy from other people and traveling, moving around. I'm very hyperactive, and the lockdown forced me to be quite still, which was an experience. But I think when you're a bit depressed or alone because you're not living in line with who you are, you can't write music really. Everyone thinks that you can write when you're really sad, but in my experience, you can write when you're a bit sad, but when you're really sad, you just can't.

How did you rise from those challenges of not being able to write, getting out of the lockdown stage in our life, and going back to normal day to day life? Everything was so different, and our cleaning habits changed…

For me, it came quite naturally... I was ecstatic to go outside again. We had just moved from England where we’d been on a lockdown for such a long time. I was living in a flat that didn’t have a garden, and we weren’t facing the sun, so it was difficult living in a lockdown in a city like that. And then I just moved to LA and I came with a suitcase, and I was in a sublet. It was sunny, I had a garden, new friends to meet. It was the time of my life; there was nothing to hold me back in that moment. I just wanted to live...

Corset - Frisk Me Good, Glasses - Giant Vintage, Skirt - Ashton Michael , Shoes - Yueqi Qi, Earrings - Studio Cult

What would you say is a valuable lesson you’ve learned throughout your career that you think is universally relevant?

You know, there is something I wrote in my studio the other day which is an important saying for me, which is... “leave space for the greatness of life”. I think it’s probably relevant in every area of life; it’s just that I witness myself wanting something so much that I can work myself into the ground and kind of manhandle my life. I want it to be this way, I'm gonna do this… I'm gonna work until this time, email all these people, and just push, push, push, push, push. But actually, the best and biggest things that have happened to me haven't been from me pushing; they've just come to me like lucky stars, you know, they just come. And you're like, how did that happen, that's such an incredible thing... I think if you’re aligned with your energy in life, then everything flows, and it comes to you when it's meant to, and that's something you need space for. That won’t happen if you've filled your schedule to the rim, so you have to leave space for the greatness of life. Let good energy intervene and let God do some work for you.

That’s powerful, I’ll be thinking of that one for sure. You know Laurel, just as a fan, I need to know, what do you think is your best song and why?

Ohhh... interesting, well, it depends, I guess. "Best I Ever Had" was really special to me; that was the first one I wrote aligned with the new music. That was the start of something new, and when I hear that, it brings this bittersweet nostalgia that I love. That's my favorite kind of sonic, I think that one is probably my favorite, but one of my older songs... "Sun King" is a special song to me as well. Because I sat down, turned my recording equipment on, I played some chords, and I just sung. That's it, the whole song came out as it is on the recording of the album. I played it one time, and that’s when it was written… as I recorded it. I really feel like that was sent to me from somewhere in the universe; I almost feel like it's not mine, you know.

That whole DOGVIOLET album is so good, its full of such powerful songs… Recover, Hold Tight, & Empty Kisses were on repeat for such a long time. Those 3 were my personal favorites..

Those songs were pretty emotional, that was the intention behind that I just wanted to get as much emotion out as possible.

Can you please describe your new album Palpitations in 3 words?

I would say… dramatic… heartfelt… and frustrating… but maybe the word is not frustrating its angst. Dramatic, heartfelt, & angst.

What else can we expect from Laurel in 2024?

Everything! I hope. Well, I'm pretty busy right now, doing a lot of video shoots. We have three more singles after this, which all have quite big videos. My main agenda right now is just visuals, which I’m so excited about making, to really show the world what’s in my head. I can't wait to get this music out though. I'm going to be announcing some more touring this year, hopefully in America, Europe, and Australia. I hope to get to some other places as well ASAP. So, I think we’re just trying to get life off the ground again and get moving. I'm also going to write some more songs because I don't want it to be so long for the next album.

Laurel, if you were a book, what book would you be and why?

hmm … well I have so many favorite books this is a really hard question. Are we talking about a specific book that’s written or a type of book?

It can be any book, a made-up book, a book that's written, or a book you're working on. I know you've written a book before!

The most obvious choice would be "The Mutterings of A Laurel," which I wrote and published five years ago. It was my diary... so if I were a book, it’d be that book because that book is me. I love writing, but if I had to choose something that I hadn't written myself, I'd probably choose Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth." I think it's the most phenomenal book in the world, and I believe if everyone read it and could absorb it, there would be world peace.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LAUREL HERE