Southern California songwriter and visual artist Leo Lauren has released his newest single “Lovesick” on Apple Music and Spotify. The song had its worldwide premiere earlier this morning courtesy of Zane Lowe and his Beats 1 program on Apple Music. The track is a follow-up to “Supernormal,” both of which will appear on his upcoming EP this Summer.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Leo about the new music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how would you describe the music of “Supernormal” and “Lovesick”? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I’m from Los Angeles. In some ways I could characterize the songs as I would the city I grew up in… there’s glamour, but the content isn’t without a lot of psychological, physical, and spiritual dissonance. These two new songs are gothic, but they’re pop too. I identify with the term “Art Rock”.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Making sound was a big part of it… I’d gotten so accustomed to shutting up the way I felt about things, or what I needed or desired for so much of my early life. Music was a vehicle to be soft, loud, cryptic, or explicit with what I wanted to express. I started writing right before I turned 20. I had no musical education; I’d just piece together what turned out to be chords on the guitar and making melody and lyric to it.. Music also has allowed me to be much more directly expressionistic and narrative than visual art has.
I don’t have to deal with the politics of representation in such a fixed pictorial way… language is liberating. What keeps me going is discovery. New melodies and chord combinations continually set the stage for new lyrical experiences. I discover a lot through songwriting, and I can experience a whole range of exciting sensations performing songs.
How are these two singles different from what you’ve written in the past? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Well… I’ve written more since these songs. But even at their conception, they attacked rhythm in ways I hadn’t before. I started writing bass lines, making decisions I could dance to. Especially laying out the demos in my bedroom… I wanted to have an emotional and intellectual time, but also a really good time.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you thrive?
It is over saturated, and attention spans are short… There’s so much material to parse through, and social capital bears just as much weight (if not more) than content or material quality. It’s an interesting space to navigate, but I think the challenge and the aim is to use digital space as a medium of its own. I like to think about the multiplicity of the internet, there’s so many different dimensions through which to access it; a mythology that be informed by sound, vision, and interactivity. I think one of the biggest downers is corporatization and the sure eventual numbness of it. I do feel like most everything exists in the form of an ad, but perhaps that can be interesting too with a certain perspective.
What was the last song you listened to?
The Dinosaur Jr. cover of “Just Like Heaven.”
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
CDs have kind of fallen through the chasm for me. MP3s are the mass mode and how I discover most music. My dad used to hire me to import his gallons of junk CDS in the early 2000s, I was like 11 or something, and I remember falling in love with a whole range of music, much of it as randomized as my dad’s disorganized heaps. But the songs have far outlived their plastic clutters for me. So many scratched CDs… Vinyl is how I listen to music most sensually. Turn on my lamps, light a candle, etc…
Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I’ve been using Spotify the longest, for mostly circumstantial reasons. I like how social it is… very convenient for stalking which friends are listening to what, and the playlist sharing is easy. But I started using Apple Music recently too and it’s also nice. Apple Music has some stuff that Spotify doesn’t, for whatever reason… Including but not limited to Miyazaki soundtracks and certain classical guitar albums.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
I’m a visual person! You can connect with me on instagram at @1eo1auren. Also, my website is an ongoing art project. WWW.RULETHENIGHT4EVER.COM (or leolaurenmusic.com) There’s digital collages, GIFS, and other fun interactive material 🙂
Anything else before we sign off?
Keep reading, writing, drawing, breathing, walking, jumping, laughing, crying; try to enjoy sharing and receiving in roughly equal amounts… be absurd… remember that listening can be more impactful than talking. Drink a lot of water! And opt for kindness when you can <3
