In this interview spotlight, we chat with French jazz singer/songwriter Laure Z about influences, challenges, her latest project and more.
Full Q&A along with links and a stream of I Will Follow You.
Where are you from and what style of music would you classify yourself as?
I’m from a small town in North-Eastern France called Strasbourg. It’s at the border with Germany, basically a 20min drive and I’m there!
Style of music… it’s a hard question to answer because I feel like it’s a blend of many genres that makes it pretty unique. I combine jazz, pop, and singer/songwriter storytelling, and the whole EP is orchestrated for 25 musicians.
What led you down the path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
I have basically always been singing, but my mom says that I insisted on getting piano lessons when I was only 5! I then started taking classical lessons at the age of thirteen. I studied science in high school, but, of course, I wanted to further my knowledge in music and I couldn’t really conceive doing anything else than music in my life. So after I graduated high school, I auditioned to enter a jazz school in Paris and studied there for three years before auditioning for the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I was granted a scholarship and got my BA degree. I then moved to Los Angeles, to throw myself into the lion’s den, and I’ve been since then playing gigs, recording vocals for TV and movie works, and I just recorded my very first EP!!
What motivates me to stay the course is that there are so many things I want to achieve in music beyond just singing and writing. I want to do it all and share my story and voice with as many people as possible.
With all of your music education, how has your songwriting evolved over the years?
I think exploring so many genres in music, like jazz, latin music, musical theater, classical, storytelling, has really allowed me to take what I liked it each style, and incorporate it in what I do and my way of writing. It changes with the story I want to tell, my feeling of the moments, my inspiration of the moment also, but I definitely have a broader perspective as of what I can do with all the tools I learned.
Your new EP Girls Don’t Wait is coming out in November, what is your favorite song from the EP to perform?
That’s a tricky one! All the songs on the EP are pretty different from each other. They’re not all in the same style, or about breakups haha So I guess it depends on the mood of the room. Personally, I like to perform “I Will Follow You,” the first single, because the message is positive, there’s whistle, which is always cool, and it’s pretty catchy so it always feels good to hear people sing with me when I play it!
What are the biggest issues you face as an independent musician?
It’s not easy being an independent artist. You don’t have a team of people behind you, experts in their field, leading you on what would be the best things to do for your career. You have way less exposure, everything is basically… harder. But you’re free to make your own choices, and when you achieve something, you can owe it to yourself!
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
I would love to connect with you!! You can follow me at @laurezmusic on Instagram, Soundcloud, Youtube, Facebook, and you can find my first single on all streaming platforms! The full EP will be released in November!
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you 🙂 Keep it classy and jazzy!
Laure Z
