Ho Ho Hello and welcome to another Beneath The Surface session that I’ve just about managed to squeeeeze in before chrimbo. Call it a Christmas miracle. Todays chat was with the lovely, up and coming electro-pop artist Laurel Smith. She’s set for big things, so let’s get down to it. Grab your festive tipple of choice, park your keister and here we go!
What would you say first sparked your interest in music/who inspired you to make music?
I think the music my parents used to play me when I was little helped form the artist I am today. From a young age my favourite part of the day was being driven in my dad’s car; I would open the glove compartment and get to choose from a case of CDs that included The Police, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Amy Winehouse (to name a few). My mum also used to put on Pink Martini or PJ Harvey and dance with me around the kitchen.
How would you describe the music you are currently creating?
I would say the songs I’m creating at the moment are a kind of music mongrel. I find it hard to put them into a specific genre but I would say they are a jumble of Pop, RnB and Hip hop. I believe everything that goes in comes out and so I try to listen to a wide range (although Lil Tracy and Unknown T seem to have taken over my playlists currently).
What does your creative process look like?
Honestly, it changes all the time. Sometimes if I’m feeling really inspired I’ll sit down at my piano or laptop and just “Vomit out a song” (quoted from Ashnikko). Other times I’ll be on my way to school and a melody will just pop into my head, which I then have to awkwardly mumble into my phone voice notes as I walk through the gates. I have a lotttt of random stuff on voice notes. Here are some of the titles of the recordings: “Knife lil bitch”, “DOLLYFISH”, “This is shit don’t use”.
Who would you most like to collaborate with? (let’s send it out to the universe and make it happen!)
Well if we’re sending it out to the universe then I’ll put a few names in there 🙂 I’d have to say: Charli XCX (baddest bitch), Trippie Redd, Ashnikko (joint baddest bitch), Unknown T and The Weeknd.
What is the one message you would like to send out to your fans?
Do what makes you happy because you could fail at what you hate and that would suck so much more than knowing you tried to achieve your dream!
What’s your top tip to rejuvenate your creativity/get over a writer’s block?
This is something I have really struggled with in the past. The way I managed to get over it is by breaking my everyday routine and doing something new to get me inspired. It’s so easy (especially if you are at school every day, staring at the same four walls and getting told off by the same teacher who definitely just became “behavioural support” for the power trip) to get stuck in a kind of ground hog day where you are just functioning on auto-pilot. Auto-pilot is not a creative guy, so you need to take back control of yourself and your mind by doing something that excites you.
What’s next for you, what do we have to look forward to/ what are you currently working on?
I just made the Pinterest board for my next music video which I’m so so excited for – this release is definitely one to look out for. I’m also really looking forward to when I can start doing shows and finally meet fans in person who I’ve only been able to speak to on DM. I think it will all feel a lot more real then 🙂
Leave a Reply