Laura Loe Interview

Laura Loe Interview

Laura Loe, one of the most exciting singer-songwriters to emerge in Australia in years, is proud to release her impressive self-titled debut EP. The four-track EP, recorded at The Wick in Brunswick, demonstrates an intoxicating mix of high-range pop, neo-folk confessional and deeply funky soul. It is a heady potpourri of music that reflects Laura's own multicultural, international background.

For much of her life, Laura grew up in Borneo, the daughter of a jazz-loving Chinese-Malaysian father and a soul-crazy Texan mother. Then, at the age of 15, with full parental consent, she journeyed to Victoria to complete her schooling. To say that the move turned out to be a good one is a considerable understatement. As well as pursuing her lifelong passion for music, Laura, now 25, graduated from Geelong Grammar and then went on to earn two degrees – the first in political science and creative writing at Melbourne University and the second in public relations and media studies at RMIT. At the same time, she took care to refine her song-writing and performance skills – a thoroughly enjoyable task that resulted in her inclusion on television reality show Australia's Got Talent in 2012.

For many young performers, balancing study and art turns out to be a major source of stress. For Laura, however, the two pursuits exist in perfect harmony. 'I always planned to do music as a career, but I didn't want to throw everything else away in pursuit of it," she says. 'I wanted to understand things. I wanted to study things. I wanted something to back it all up. My education definitely has informed my song-writing. The subject matter involved a lot of research – finding information, studying topics, studying politics. I like politics – I don't want to be in politics, but I like studying it: it teaches you about the world, what's out there, what's important – politics, business, informed writing. I learned that talent is not the only thing you need to be in this business."

Her debut EP comprises two co-writes penned with guitarist Hughie Hanily – including the featured single, the shimmering poppy Loveshame and two more originals, written by Laura, including the emotional folk of Rollin' Dice – the first song she ever wrote.

'I write using keyboard and sometimes guitar," she says. 'But I don't use either on stage. I prefer to concentrate on singing and to fully engage with the song. '

Ask Laura which musicians she admires and she'll tell you that the list of who she doesn't rate would take much less time to recite. Her admitted influences include pop divas such as Beyonce and Gaga and roots artists such as Lauryn Hill and Lana Del Ray. Throughout her life, though, one genre has been consistently fruitful for her.

'Soul music has been a big influence on me," she says. 'I've listened to a lot of it since I was a child. I listened to a lot of my parents' music, back in Borneo. My dad was heavily into jazz and my mom was into 70s Soul Train – it was easy to listen to, with great melodies. I learned that great music doesn't have to be complicated. As a songwriter I went through a phase of, I think, over-complicating things at times. I think everybody does. But I've been writing for two years now and I've come out the other side of that. I try not to over-think a song now. If it's not -vibing', I've learned to walk away and leave it alone."

Thankfully, the songs on the new EP are full of vibe fit to burst and Laura is looking forward to completing her first full-length album in the near future. With her EP already eliciting excited comparisons to artists as diverse as Rebecca Ferguson and Regina Spektor, it seems clear that a major new talent has arrived on the popular music scene.

Interview with Laura Loe

Question: How would you describe your sound?

Laura Loe: It is really difficult to describe my music but I'd say it is pop music with catchy melodies, it is very singer-songwriter as that is the music I like to write.


Question: Tell us about your EP?

Laura Loe: My EP has just been released; it has been two years in the making and I recorded it this year. The EP consists of four songs that I have written over the past two years and I am really excited for it to be released!

Question: Do you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

Laura Loe: Yes. I am always writing music, I never stop! Usually my inspiration is what might have happened during the day or a life experience or even how I am feeling including emotional reactions to certain situations. A lot of my inspiration is from what happens on a day to day basis.


Question: Why was it important that you finished school before perusing a music career?

Laura Loe: It was important to me and my family that I got an education before perusing a music career. Music was what I wanted to do from the get go, it's always been my passion since I was eight years old however I think getting an education is important as well and I believe my education fuelled my music career and it taught me how to deal with a lot of things.


Question: What did you learn from Australia's Got Talent?

Laura Loe: Australia's Got Talent made me more confident in order to peruse my own music and gave me an insight as to what the music industry is like. It was a really good learning experience.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Laura Loe: I listen to a lot of music; I like to draw inspiration from different types of music genres and artists. I am always listening to the radio as well as indie, world and pop music.


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?
Laura Loe: No, not once in my life have I ever thought about walking away from music. For me it's always a matter of time, even one of my songs is called There Will Come A Day and that is what I am describing. There will be a million ups and downs but if you work hard I think that eventually you will be able to get to where you want to be.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Laura Loe: I would definitely say performing live because it is literally the best thing I love about music. I love getting up on stage rocking it out and entertaining people and making them feel happy. I love performing.


Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Laura Loe: I don't think there was any one person, from a young age I have always known because I loved watching MTV and listening to music and I was always thinking to myself that music was what I wanted to do. Even at eight years old I started entering talent competitors and I knew then that I wanted to do it and it wasn't always easy to say that in my home town because music isn't a usual type of career that people peruse, where I come from. Many people were against my type of thinking but no matter what I knew I always wanted to do it.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Laura Loe: My biggest challenge that I faced is recording the EP as it was something new to me however I had great producer, Glenn Scott, and he really he guided me through the whole process and he made it a really lovely experience but it was definitely a challenge to record my songs and then arrange them and hear what they sound like, on a record. You can hope for the best and work hard but in the end recording is what you're going to be about, it was a big challenge but I am happy with the EP.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Laura Loe: My favourite part is knowing that I do have a voice and knowing that there are people who are supporting me and listening to my music. Being on Australia's Got Talent gave me the confidence to really peruse something in music because the response was absolutely fantastic. The response from people has been really great!

Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Laura Loe: My ultimate dream would be to work with Beyonce, I love her. I don't know if we have a similar style of music but her work ethic is amazing and she is a great role model for young and older girls and she is an inspirational person. I would love to work with her one day.


Question: Do you have a website fans can visit?

Laura Loe: www.lauraloemusic.com