Laurel's words are home to her deepest emotions and rawest thoughts and she isn't afraid to share them with the world — both through her music and the art of writing. Before she makes her way to Australia to play shows here for the first time, I had the chance to ask her about her new book The Mutterings of a Laurel, finding release and what she plans on doing when she's in town.
You’re currently on tour at the moment, right?
Yes, I am.
How’s it all going?
Yeah, it’s going really good. I’ve been away for about three weeks now and we’re having a stop off in London. So I’m currently at my house and I’ve missed it so much. It’s been really nice.
It’s always nice to be at home.
Oh gosh, it’s so good. I’m gutted to be leaving tomorrow again.
I wanted to talk about your project The Mutterings of a Laurel, which is so cool by the way!! Why did you decide to create a book?
Thank you so much. When I was finishing the album, it became quite frustrating as there was quite a few people involved trying to finish it all up and it was really hard. At one point, music didn’t become enjoyable for me and it was definitely feeling like a job and I was frustrated because I love writing and creating and making stuff, and I didn’t have an outlet for it that was enjoyable and felt like a release. So I started journaling and I’ve always journaled since I was younger, and I picked my pen up and when I was writing it, I realised that this could be more like a book and it could be something that can be read rather than just for me. So I just kept writing it.
The Mutterings of a Laurel is out now! I can’t believe it’s finally happened. It’s available to buy on my online store https://t.co/xuQJH4Kov3 and perhaps you might even spy it in a book shop 🌞 pic.twitter.com/dxMd44VmCK— Laurel (@ClassicLaurel) March 1, 2019
When you were working on the album and journaling your thoughts, was the book something you were thinking about or did you decide to do it after some time of reflection?
I definitely thought about it, I thought it would be a fun idea, but how would I go about writing a book, you know? And then I just loved doing it, every day I sat down and wrote, it was such a release for me and it was very creative and fun. It just became a thing without realising it and then I had a book.
You mentioned that you love writing and journaling, what are some of the reasons why you love it so much?
I’m not sure, I love writing stuff down and I think with my music, a lot of it is expressing my thoughts and emotions and I have a lot of those, so if I don’t write them down or get them out, I get frustrated. For me, it’s all about release and therapy, I guess.
For a future album or project, would you consider making another book?
Yes, I’ve already started writing another one. Obviously, I can’t sit still for a second, but that one is really fun because I’m writing the second record now and I want to release it when the second record comes out and do it with the album, but we’ll see (laughs).
Is it more scary for someone to read your thoughts and ideas, or for them to listen to them in a song?
It was definitely more scary to release a book because the book was very exposing of how I was feeling, it was linked to events in my life and people in the book who are real people rather than my songs that are a bit vaguer and a bit more interpretative than the real-life events in my book, so it was pretty nerve-racking to release it, actually.
The way that you curated and laid out the book, is it similar to the curation process of an album?
Not really, the album I would say is the best of what I’ve written in the last couple of years, where the book was everything in the one thing, both the good and the bad, all my thoughts without a filter.
You’re coming to Australia very soon, which is really exciting! Are you looking forward to it?
I can’t wait! I haven’t been to Australia in about twelve years and I just think it’s going to be amazing.
What will be the first thing you do when you get here, apart from sleeping off the jet lag?
I think that’s going to be a big one, I’ve heard that the flight is pretty intense. I’m actually thinking about coming a couple of weeks before the gigs to do some travelling and meet up with some people, so I’m going to have a bit of a holiday and have a bit of a travel around, so that’s what I’m really excited about.
Written by Amy Smolcic (@amysmolcic)
You can catch Laurel live at the below shows on her tour:
Wednesday 22nd May - Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Thursday 23rd May - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Tickets are available via Live Nation Australia.
Laurel is also set to perform at the Big Pineapple Festival on 25th May. More information is available here.
You can purchase a copy of her book The Mutterings of a Laurel via her website here
Listen to her debut album DOGVIOLET below:
