INTERVIEW: Lauren Ray

INTERVIEW:

Lauren Ray

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FOR my final interview of the year…

I have been speaking with the incredible Lauren Ray. An amazing and multi-talented British singer and songwriter. Following the release of her critically acclaimed second album, Woman in the Arena (released in March 2020), Ray took a pandemic-pause from touring and used that opportunity to build her personal development business, Mind Before Music. Now, we have her wonderful third studio album, Quarter Life Crisis. It is an album I love and feel is her strongest work to date. One of the most engaging and strongest artists in the country, it has been a pleasure speaking with her. Quarter Life Crisis sees Lauren Ray working with producer Kaity Rae on four of the tracks. Ray completed the rest of the album independently whilst splitting her time between Los Angeles, London and Porto this year. By self-producing, this allowed Ray to expand her creative process, bringing in new sounds and choices that really showcases an exciting step forward. If you do not follow Lauren Ray and have not heard Quarter Life Crisis yet, then I would thoroughly recommend that you do! I would also urge people to order a ticket to must-see headline show on 7th February. It has been a real thrill talking with an artist I really admire. Although Quarter Life Crisis suggests an artist looking for direction and focus, it is clear Lauren Ray has…

FOUND purpose and clarity.

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Hi Lauren. How are you? How has your week been?

I am good thank you. My week has been great thank you. I am currently over in L.A. and it’s been a great trip.

Before talking about your upcoming album, can you tell me the artists who inspired your love of music? Were there particular albums of acts from your childhood who have made a special impact?

Ooh, I love this question. When I was growing up, streaming wasn’t around yet, so I was very much influenced by what was on mainstream radio and the people around me. I was always drawn to female voices and in particular those who were incredibly gifted in their lyrics. Artists like Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill), Alanis Morrisette’s (Jagged Little Pill) and early Sia (like her 2004 album, Colour the Small One) were constantly on loop. I was often seeking out artists that could provide evidence that you didn’t need to be a “pop star” like Britney Spears to be a successful musician. Certainly my teenage songwriting was heavily influenced by these artists.

Your previous album, Woman In the Arena, was released in March 2020. Was it strange releasing album at such a strange time? How was it putting an album out into the world and knowing it would make a difference to people when we were all separated?

Thank you for this view point on what the album could do and be for people during that time. It was definitely weird and far from ideal because I hadn’t planned on releasing the album during a global pandemic, but in some ways it was a welcome distraction. I had been on a three-month tour supporting Paul Carrack at the time when the world started to shut down, and when that stopped and we were suddenly all confined to our homes, having to figure out how to promote the album from my bedroom was a fun problem to solve. I was pleasantly surprised by the response, and so I hope that it was a welcome distraction for others too.

I am interested in your personal development business, Mind Before Music. What was the impetus behind starting it up? Mind Before Music is about bringing powerful self-development work to the music industry. That is a very worthy and commendable aim…

Mind Before Music was born out of my two passions: music and personal development. The catalyst for its birth was the pandemic. I had always been super-interested in understanding why humans do what they do - I have a degree in Anthropology. Over the years, I would often have artists come to me for advice, but more and more I realised that 90% of the time it wasn’t information they needed but more confidence, more belief in themselves or to simply see the “problem” completely differently. I knew that how people think and feel is the number one thing that will either propel them forward or keep them stuck and self-sabotaging…so during the pandemic, I took the forced downtime from touring to train in this work. I trained in Life & Success Coaching, Hypnosis, EFT, Timeline Therapy, NLP, Positive Psychology and Human Design (yes, I went all in haha). I felt the industry needed more proactive and preventative support for artists and those in the industry, and I’ve loved being able to provide that and be a force for good

“Ultimately, I realised that whether you’re 20, 30 or 40…societal pressures can really create a feeling of personal crisis”

Can you reveal how Quarter Life Crisis started life? Do you sketch out ideas or song titles or was it a bit more spontaneous for this album?

This album has been the most spontaneous and scattered in its making compared to the first two records. some of the songs on the album were written in 2019, others in 2023, and then some were only written three months ago. The final song appeared when I was in Portugal working remotely in September. During this trip, I ended up in multiple conversations with 28-33 year olds who were feeling a lot of stress and pressure around their age. Some felt they weren’t where they should be. Some were newly-single and this happening in their early 30s. Others were acutely aware of biological clocks. It was interesting to listen to. Ultimately, I realised that whether you’re 20, 30 or 40…societal pressures can really create a feeling of personal crisis. This inspired the title track, Quarter Life Crisis, which is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of this feeling. Once this song arrived, it all felt complete and it changed he album title.

Working alongside Kaity Rae on a few of the album’s tracks must have been a great experience. How did you two link up?

I had become aware of Kaity Rae through some other singer-songwriters I knew and was really impressed with her production choices and strong pop melodies. We wrote the song That Kind of Human together and I asked her to produce this track along with Crying Shame, 24 and Losing Sleep. I was so happy with how we worked together. I was really keen to play with the sounds on this album, and although the piano is present in the album, I was feeling explorative and so I was really happy how Kaity interpreted my ideas and what she brought to the table. What she did with Crying Shame in particular is incredible.

“I’ve had a lot of fun challenging myself in this way”

How important was it to self-produce the album, and what was the experience like of dividing your time between and working in Los Angeles, London and Porto?

Choosing to finish the album (the final five tracks) completely solo and produce myself was a decision I did not see coming at all haha. Before May this year, I had never even attempted to take on this role, so this is a very new skillset for me. Although this wasn’t a conscious decision, it feels like this was important for me to expand my creative skillset. The process of producing for myself allowed me to play in a new way, which brought out different songs in me that wouldn’t have come from sitting at the piano. Quarter Life Crisis is very playful and then Medicine has a completely different energy, so I’ve had a lot of fun challenging myself in this way. Dividing my time between L.A., London and Porto this year definitely added to that creativity. Mixing up my environments, meeting new people and growing as a person through the travel all contributed to this album.

Having listened to the album, I like how it is personal and self-reflecting, but there is also a universality with hope, humour and so many important messages for the listener to consider. What do you want people to take away from Quarter Life Crisis?

I am so happy you felt the hope and humour amongst the deep subject matters - that’s fantastic to hear! I want people to feel seen in some of the topics, to perhaps look at their own circumstances through a new lens and to know that through every challenge in life there is growth, expansion and new beginnings. That’s certainly the energy I was in when I wrote most of these songs.

Before moving on, can you tell me a bit about Crying Shame? My favourite track from the album, what personal significance does that song have?

This is one of my favourite songs too! This one came about in 2019 during a songwriting retreat up in Scotland. It is about holding your boundaries and knowing what you will/won’t tolerate in a relationship…I wanted it to be empowering even through a sad moment of finding out someone has been unfaithful. Although I have luckily never had to have this conversation with anyone, I have always been someone that is clear on my boundaries, and so it was interesting exploring how I might approach this conversation from that position. It was actually originally a more country-dance track that we (the writers) were going to pitch to another artist, but I fell in love with it and asked if I could keep it for myself. I was so happy they agreed, and I took it to Kaity Rae for the new vibe I knew I needed it to be.

You will be showcasing tracks from Quarter Life Crisis at St Pancras Old Church, London on 7th February. What are your thoughts about that venue and show? Are there any other gig plans for next year?

I love the St Pancras Old Church venue. I saw the artist Emilie Nicolas there years ago when I first discovered her, and I’ve been wanting to play at that venue myself ever since. There’s something about church venues that really have their own unique energy that contributes to the performance. I haven’t done a headline show in years, so I am so excited to put the band together and build out the show. It will be the first time performing these songs live in this way too. There are other gigs in the works but nothing to be formally announced as yet (smiles).

We are almost at the end of the year. Reflecting on 2024 and the highlights, how important has the year been for you as an artist? How are you feeling as we head towards 2025?

This year has been incredibly transformative for me as an artist. I’ve grown a lot as a person and then my decision to produce has opened me up creatively in a whole new way. This feels like just the beginning for me which is a weird feeling to have around my third album. I feel really excited about 2025 and what I will create both professionally, creatively and personally. 2025 feels like a blank slate right now, which is exciting.

Finally, and for being a good sport, you can select any song to play here (other than your own) and we will end with that. What shall we go for?

Thank you for all these great questions! I’m seeing MARO perform in London when I am back from L.A. next week, so let’s play one of her songs, because she is incredible and I have no doubt people will fall in love with her with this song.