FEATURE:
Spotlight
is an artist I have been following for a while now. I really love Lauran Hibberd’s sound as it combines bands like Weezer and some of the great stuff of the late-1990s and early-2000s, but there is some modern-day Phoebe Bridgers. Hibberd’s music, however, is very much her own, and these influences come through now and then; a beautiful mix of the personal and classic. The excellent track, Boy Bye, has just come out, and it seems that Hibberd grows stronger and more assured with each release. She has an expanding and loyal fanbase behind her, and I cannot wait to see where she heads in the future. I shall talk more about that soon, but I want to bring in a few interviews from this year. Earlier in the year, Hibberd spoke with EUPHORIA about a busy 2019 and what it was like putting together a headline tour:
“You spent a good chunk of 2019 on the road, touring with Hippo Campus and The Regrettes, as well as playing Glasto! How do you stay grounded when you’re travelling so much?
Yes! It was a mad crazy year. I think I was too tired to not be grounded, and my band are like my best mates really so we’ve always just rode the wave and had fun but also kept our heads down really. I have a super supportive family, so their encouragement has always been at the centre for me. I just feel lucky to have a great team of good people around me. It makes this process so much easier.
You’ve just finished your second headline tour – what were some of the highlights from that?
WOW! It was amazing. I’m so used to being the support band, so to headline my own tour and sell out shows, and have people queuing outside for me… is just mental to be honest! My highlight has to be Manchester, the crowd knew every word to every song and had stacks of energy. I experienced my very first mosh pit to ‘Call Shotgun’. It was awesome.
There are a lot of great solo artists breaking through, and more interesting sounds than we have ever heard! I like how there is a bit of Pop, Alternative Rock, Slacker Rock and Folk in Hibberd’s music; it works really well, and every song from her is individual and phenomenal! There is a lot of talk as to when a debut album will come out, and I am sure she has plans very soon. I am interested in the songwriter’s start and her influences. Hibberd spoke with The Line of Best Fit this year , and we find our what her (unusual) first job was, in addition to some comparisons that have been levied at her:
“Ask anyone what their first job was, and you’ll probably get a very predictable answer; a clothes shop, a cinema, a cafe... Lauran Hibberd’s first job just so happened to be on a dinosaur farm. “I had to look after and clean the dinosaur eggs!” she laughs. “I thought that was my first proper job, but looking back it wasn’t. They probably just made it up. I enjoyed it though!”
Reflecting on her time growing up next to a dinosaur-themed attraction on the Isle of Wight – the place she still calls home – Hibberd says, “I loved living there as a kid, being so close to the beach. As a kid that’s like the best thing ever! Then, when you’re like 17, you sort of kick back against it a bit. I’m sure I’ll come around to it again when I’m older. Maybe when I’m like 77...” Good thing then that Hibberd’s able to get away a lot now.
Hibberd’s music is perhaps most easily described as a mix between the two bands that her producers introduced her to. “They gave me a couple of Weezer and The Smashing Pumpkins records, and I wasn’t really familiar with either of them, but I just absolutely loved them. Weezer are now my absolute favourite band,” explains Hibberd.
Another comparison that Hibberd has had is Phoebe Bridgers, who she says she’s a huge fan of. “I love Phoebe’s way of telling stories in her lyrics, and her sense of humour.” The kind of music she listened to growing up was vastly different to what she now makes, though — “My friends and I were like the biggest Justin Bieber fangirls! We were into all the boybands and that sort of thing, and had posters on our walls.”
For all the comparisons and similarities, Hibberd’s sound is very much on her own terms. There’s a definite ‘90s and early ‘00s feel to a lot of her songs, which is familiar yet fresh — a far cry from the heavily autotuned pop a lot of other young artists are putting out. Hibberd writes all her own music, with the songs often coming to her through “both feelings and experiences.” She says she can spend “a very long while on one song”, with the need to make sure it’s exactly as she wants it”.
There is a lot to learn and admire about Lauran Hibberd. She hails from the Isle of Wight, and there are not that many standout musicians from that part of the country. That is not a slight on the music scene there, but it is quite a small population and, despite the fact there is a major festival held there each year, I don’t think many of us would associate the Isle of Wight with a wave of great music – maybe I am wrong! Lauran Hibberd is definitely putting the Isle of Wight back on the map. She was asked about growing up there when she spoke with PRS for Music in April:
“How did growing up on the Isle of Wight affect your music?
I’m still here now, representing! You know what, it’s a really lovely place to grow up. It’s beautiful, but I think when you’re my age and you’re trying to make being a musician happen it has its hold ups.
I started off playing gigs on the Isle of Wight. I was lucky enough for one of my first gigs to be Isle of Wight Festival, so that was really cool. People do support local musicians, but there isn’t really that many places to play, so I was quite quick to get off the island and start playing in closer towns and cities like Southampton, Portsmouth and then London and what not.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Butler
But it’s more the travel aspect that’s a bit of a hold up, the ferry is a pain. If you’re playing in London and then you want to get home and you miss the midnight ferry, you’ve got to wait there until 3am. We’ve done that a lot of times now where it’s become old news to us. We’re like ‘oh god another sausage roll at 4am, brilliant.’
How are you coping in the current circumstances re COVID-19?
I’m fine. I was pretty bummed at the start because I was supposed to play SXSW and that was the first big musical thing to get cancelled. And at the time it didn’t seem like it was that bad, the whole virus situation, so I was like ‘oh my god’ and it was the end of the world and little did I know that three weeks later we’d be on lockdown. It’s a scary time but I’m just staying in, getting my head down, trying to use it to do loads of writing and recording. Just trying to make it as good as I can. But yeah, I’m pretty much fine, apart from the occasional cry but that’s pretty standard anyway”.
Do you have any plans for a full-length album?
I do, yeah. We’re writing, really trying to get the thing together at the moment. It’s definitely something I’m silently working on in the background”.
I love all of Hibberd’s songs, but this year’s Old Nudes got a great reception. Not to compare her to Phoebe Bridgers but, in terms of the humour, character and wit we get in the songs – and a bit of cheekiness that comes through – there are links between Hibberd and the twenty-six-year-old Californian. There is a very bright future ahead for Hibberd, I think. I want to bring in an article from The Line of Best Fit where we learn more about the background to Old Nudes:
“Hibberd revealed, “‘Old Nudes’ is unfortunately based upon a true story. We’ve all been there right!? The track looks back on the ‘mistake’, and almost mocks it using over confidence. It belittles the receiver, and oozes sarcasm and naivety. I keep writing songs about being young because I’m scared of getting too old to joke about these things.”
Armed with the wit and candour of a diary entry, slacker pop star Lauran Hibberd’s satirical single “Old Nudes” is bound to ‘pop-up’ everywhere.
Following on from her January-blues-killer “Bang Bang Bang” and subsequent sold-out UK tour comes Isle of Wight wonder Lauran Hibberd’s latest tell-all anthem, “Old Nudes”.
The 22-year-old turns an all-too-real scenario into gold with the unapologetic artistry of “Old Nudes”, a cleverly spun track that’s steeped in playful charm. Vivacious vocals and fizzing production help to set off the narrative behind this uptempo tongue-in-cheek tune.
Hibberd revealed, “‘Old Nudes’ is unfortunately based upon a true story. We’ve all been there right!? The track looks back on the ‘mistake’, and almost mocks it using over confidence. It belittles the receiver, and oozes sarcasm and naivety. I keep writing songs about being young because I’m scared of getting too old to joke about these things.
“I jumped into a pool of Weezer and found myself confessing my old nude anxieties," she says. "The song resents itself in a laughable way, and hints at how it really feels to hate someone you once loved.”
“The video felt appropriate to self record, not only because of isolation but because it encapsulates the setting in how we all get into this mess in the first place,” says Hibberd. “The webcam on my old laptop has seen some sites in its life, but never quite to this extent”.
Make sure you follow Hibberd on social media, as I think there will be quite a bit more music and news from her before the year is done. Maybe she will bring out a Christmas single, or we might get an E.P. or something else. Every one of her songs is imbued with so much personality and excellence, so I think she is going to be someone we will hear a lot more of as time goes by. If you are looking for a great young songwriter who differs from everyone out there, then go and investigate…
THE wonderful Lauran Hibberd!
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