Laura Elliott Interview

Laura Elliott has quickly become one of my new favorite artists. What stands out to me the most about Laura is how effectively she is able to convey this feeling of vulnerability and nostalgia. Her powerful vocals, introspective lyrics, and haunting melodies create the perfect recipe for listeners to immediately connect to each song. The specificity of her lyrics and sincerity in her voice grab your attention from the beginning to end.

Look, I could rant about this all day. She's good. Just trust me. Listen to her music, or you have to fight me. When have I ever led you astray?? Laura Elliott has the songwriting prowess of someone that has been writing and releasing music for decades. I'm very excited to see what the future holds for Laura, and she is definitely someone you want to keep an eye on.

Rapid-fire questions

1. What have you been listening to lately?

Oh man, my listening has been all over the place but in the best way. So much Dijon. Everything he touches is magic. I feel like my listening always cycles. This time of year is super nostalgic for me, so I’m finding myself listening to music I discovered last year which was a really magical time for me to discover music. A ton of Phoebe Bridgers (obviously), Pinegrove, Bon Iver, Briston Maroney, Samia, Adrianne Lenker. There is sooo much good music out there.

2. You once tweeted that one of your musical goals was to become friends with Phoebe Bridgers. Can I be y'alls third wheel?

Oh my goodness please. That statement still holds true. There’s nobody else in the world I’d rather be friends with/ collaborate with. I feel like I could learn so much from her. She’s a special human.

3. Which cereal mascot do you think you could take in a fist fight?

Well, to start off I’m definitely not a fighter BUT, if I had to choose someone, it would probably be Toucan Sam. I don't know if I could take him, but I have an irrational thing against birds.

4. What are you currently excited about?

Wow lots to be excited about, Christmas, all this time to create new music, actually hearing my songs come to life in production.

5. Which Cowboy Bebop character would you start a band with?

Probably Faye Valentine. An all girl band would be dope.

6. Can you PLEASE write a song about Ray Romano?

I mean if you really want it, I can try!

7. I’ve asked literally everyone that I’ve interviewed this, but nobody has done it yet. Can you PLEASE do a cover of Dancing Queen?

Please tell me you saw my tweet about this. I have been wanting to do a sad cover of Dancing Queen for ages.

8. On a scale from 1-10 how much do you regret doing this interview?

Some of the most interesting questions I’ve had yet. No regrets at all!

9. Who is Caroline?

Who IS Caroline? That's a great question. For me Caroline doesn’t necessarily represent a specific person. At times I feel like she represents me but other times I feel like she represents my friends or people I know. The lyric in the song goes “Caroline’s got a new best friend, she say lately I’ve been bringing her down. Says to sort my shit out, then we’ll figure it out from there.” Caroline just sort of represents that time that you may need away from a pretty draining friendship. Sometimes I’m the one feeling drained, sometimes I’m the one draining others. Unfortunately Caroline was just the name I chose to represent that feeling.

10. Last song that made you cry?

You came to the right girl for this. So John Mayer will always have a special place in my heart. I think he’s a huge reason I started trying to write songs in the first place. The other day I was driving in my hometown at like midnight and Hummingbird from a live record he has came on as I was driving past my family’s old church. It was this weird flood of nostalgia and sadness and oof. That song always makes me cry but it hit especially hard then. One of the first songs ever that made me cry so, I think it's fitting.

Isaac Gutierrez For Born Loser: What pushed you to start writing songs and performing?

Laura Elliott: Although writing songs is something that I’d say is still fairly new to me, I’ve been performing for literally as long as I can remember. Always singing other people's songs or performing in musicals from kindergarten through my senior year of highschool. Then once I got bored with always singing other people’s songs I started writing my own. I had all these feelings that I needed to get out and now it's probably one of the most therapeutic things ever to write. Helps me figure out what the heck I’m feeling. It just sort of feels like something I have to do in order to stay sane.

On one of your instagram lives you mentioned that you’re working on an EP! Are you pretty calm or excited before releasing new music?

I am!! And I couldn’t be more excited or more scared to share it. I’m never calm before releasing music at least right now. Definitely always anxious. I’m a perfectionist for sure, so I always worry and rethink songs even when I already know that they’re perfect the way they are. I hope one day the anxiety stops before a release though. Hopefully I’ll reach that point.

Is there a consistent inspiration or theme for the EP as a whole, or was every track more of a stand alone song?

I think this EP will be a huge representation of just all the ups and downs of my past 2 or so years. I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself and had a LOT of things happen and all these songs are a result of the change that I’ve gone through. They’re all incredibly personal. But I think that’ll always be a theme for my music.

Is there a song off of the EP that you’re most excited for everyone to hear?

Mmmm I honestly can’t choose. I can’t wait for everybody to hear every song. I think people will have different favorites for different reasons.

Is there anything specific that you want your listeners to take away from your music?

Nothing specifically. I just hope to find a way to reach people on a very personal level. I want my listeners to feel like they know me through my songs. I think that's my main goal. That connection.

What do you like to focus on the most when it comes to creating a song?

I always try to focus the most on the words. Songwriting is so therapeutic for me and most of that for me at least, has to do with what's being said. If my words aren’t right, the song doesn’t feel right.

What are your ideal conditions for creating? Do you have a specific place or time? Do you have to be in a specific mood?

You know, I always think there's a specific condition until that changes. I think the most consistent for me though has been, late at night when I’m completely alone, usually in my old bedroom at my parents house. Since I moved out I haven't been able to write a song, but everytime I’m home I feel this flood of nostalgia and I’m just so comfortable. Home still feels like home. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write in a place where I don’t feel that connection.

Do you immediately know when you have something special when you’re writing a song?

Oh definitely. I always know it's a good song when I’m scared to finish it funny enough.

The first song of yours I ever heard was Grass Stains. Can you give us some background on what inspired that song?

Grass Stains is like the ultimate song for the feeling of nostalgia. I had a dream over the summer where I experienced all my favorite moments with a group of people that I’m not really friends with anymore. Reminded me that there were a lot of good moments with the bad and that they forever shaped out my life I think for the better. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for them. So, this song is kind of a song for them and for that time.

I think one of my biggest fears as a songwriter would be if I wrote a song about a certain situation or a certain person and they realized it was about them and confronted me about it. Has that happened to you? How do you not live in constant fear?

I have written a lot of songs about a lot of people haha. Luckily, nobody has directly confronted me about them yet. Probably because I’m way too scared to tell people how I actually feel. I’m a big chicken. I’m probably constantly living in fear (which maybe sounds a lot more sad than it actually is). I’m so scared to talk to people in real life, so I often find myself communicating through my songs.

You have a new single coming out soon called Caroline! Can you give us some background on that song?

I’m so excited for this song to be out in the world. This one is DEEPLY personal. I think I talk about a lot of things that people are maybe a little scared to talk about in music. Basically Caroline is about all the things I’m scared of. My past, getting exhausted in an emotionally draining friendship to someone you care deeply about, my struggle with mental health and an eating disorder.

Are there any artists that you think are doing something interesting in music right now?

So many. I’m always in awe of The Japanese House. Usually I’m drawn to more acoustic-y sounding stuff, but her music makes me feel just as much. Her voice is crazy unique and I love the way she pulls that into her production. She's amazing. Probably also Dijon. Fist of all, he doesn’t have a song that I don't love, and second of all, his production is incredible. It's so unique, I’ve never heard anything like it. His vocals sound like “messy” but in the right way and they’re so purposeful. He combines rnb and a more acoustic folky sound seamlessly. I feel like he's definitely created his own genre.

While doing research for this interview I saw that you tweet about Phoebe Bridgers pretty often, so I guess it’s safe to say that she is one of your musical influences. Are there any other artists that you would consider your musical influences?

Yep I’m the biggest Phoebe stan there is I think. But right now I’m hugely inspired by Briston Maroney, Samia, Del Water Gap, Clairo, Pinegrove, Bon Iver, beabadoobee. They all have such a way with words and sounds. But they're also all different. I think my playlists are almost exclusively these artists.

What do you hope to accomplish with/through your music?

I really just hope to stay true to myself and through that reach others. I hope to make people feel things through music that they've never felt before, help them sort through emotions that maybe they’re struggling with.

Ideally, where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years I hope to have one or two albums out. I think I mostly hope to have done some sort of US tour though. That would be insane. My favorite part of making music is performing it. There’s nothing more special to me than going up on stage and singing your heart out to a song that you wrote and having those words being sung back at you. If I could be touring and still consistently making music, thats all I need.

What can we expect to see/hear from you in the near future?

Expect an EP in the spring! Expect music videos and more singles!! There's so much coming, I can't wait to share.

To wrap things up, do you have any questions for me?

No but thank you so much!! This was so fun for me ! Sorry if there are grammatical errors, I am a little bit of a mess.