The Interview: Lauren Pritchard

Lauren Pritchard is what mainstream media would probably call a ‘songstress’ – lots of piano driven melodies and big sweeping, haunting vocals. Although I feel genres can be really restricting sometimes, she produces beautiful piano melodies, pop-like with a touch of soul and rock.

When I sat down with her on a window ledge at Scala in London, I was excited to talk to such a gorgeous and talented artist. But as I chatted to her, I realised that she is ridiculously down to earth – to the point that she still has her MySpace URL taped onto the front of her keyboard. You would not know this is an artist who is signed to Island (the same label as Mumford & Sons; a subsidary of Universal), has appeared on BBC Radio 2 and that she was an Original Broadway Cast member of the beautiful, harrowing, and Tony award winning musical, Spring Awakening. She has, therefore, mixed with some of the most talented musicians and actors today (like Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele of Glee fame for example). As we sit down to chat before her gig, the first thing I notice about her is that she’s an absolute stunner, and then secondly, I notice a very charming British accent slicing through her native Tennessee twang.

Hi Lauren, how are you enjoying your time in the UK?
It’s been really good, I’ve been here almost two years. I’ve been here so long, and I’ve spent so much time with my band, that I have picked up a British twang, without even thinking about it!

Do you feel like a proper Londoner yet?
Yes, I have my oyster card! I do, it’s fair enough, I’ve been here along enough. I feel like I’ve really lived here, like I’m not just visiting, and I love it here. It feels like home. When I come back it feels like I belong.

A toughie of a question, but how does it compare to living in New York City?
I prefer London to New York. I love New York as a city, there is so much going on and it just moves so quickly. London moves that tiny bit slower. I appreciate being able to be in a city where I can still do things and get about, but it doesn’t feel like everyone is on speed.

Where abouts is your home here in London then?
I live in Shepherd’s Bush.

West London is a good place to live for musicians!
Yes, it’s very good, I’ve lived there the whole time since I came over.

Apart from your friends and family what do you really miss about The States?
Peanut butter. It’s different here but I did find a place near where I live that sells American brands.

So can you tell me some of your musical influences please?
My influences as I grew up were lots of 60s and 70s bands. I was really into Marvin Gaye, my mother blasted it at home a lot. We listened to a lot of records on the record player, from Al Green to Candi Staton to Aretha Franklin; they are definitely some of my musical influences. And my dad was a big jazz fan so I grew up listening to such a range of music. I used to go out with my Christmas money and always buy music.

You have such a wide variety of musical influences and I know it’s a horrible question but if you had to put your music into a genre what would it be?
What I classify it on MySpace as is ‘pop-rock-soul’. It is pop music, it is kind of rock music and then the music is really soul influenced. Billy Joel is my favourite artist of all time so there’s a bit of straight forward quirkyness in my writing.

So I have to admit, I’m a Spring Awakening fan.
Are you? That’s great.

I saw it here in London and fell in love with it, it’s such a fantastic show. Did you get to see it at all whilst it was on here? (Controversially, the show sadly closed way ahead of time).
I did, I got to see it a couple of times and as I was the dance captain on the Broadway Show and as I happened to be living here at the time, it sort of worked out. I helped the London cast with choreography and stuff.

Would you go back to Broadway or the stage?
First and foremost, music is my true passion. I won’t go back to the stage any time soon. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I would rule it out forever, it’s something I would like to go back to when the timing is right. I would like to do stage, theatre when I could play some older characters. It couldn’t have been more of an honour to be in Spring Awakening though, it was such a good experience.

So you’re touring at the moment?
I am, we’ve been on and off on tour for four months now. We’ve done about 60 gigs. I think I’ve seen more of the UK than most people.

What’s been your favourite venue you’ve played so far in the UK?
All of the venues in Glasgow I’ve really loved because they’re just really open to music up there. The Cornwall gigs were really good too.

If you could play any venue anywhere, in a dream world, where would it be?
Mud Island, it’s an island off the Mississppi River with an amphitheatre and they do loads of concerts there throughout the summer.

What about realistically if you could play any venue in London?
I’d love to do a concert outdoors in Hyde Park. There’s some kumbayah that comes over people when you see music outside.

If you could duet with anyone who would it be?
Either Billy Joel or Billie Holiday.

Can you remember the first show you ever went to?
When I was 9, I saw Hanson, embarrassingly.

What is the best show you have ever seen?
The Stones at Anaheim Stadium in California.

That does sound pretty amazing. Have you got a chance to see any cool gigs since you’ve been over here?
Camden Crawl was cool, especially the other Island artits, I Blame CoCo and Pete Lawrie.

Because you have a folk side project, The River Kids with Pete Lawrie, can you tell me a bit about that?
Pete Lawrie and I met at the end of March, and we went down to Buffalo Bar in Cardiff and did a residency. We got on really well, and had similar artist influences, so we thought, ‘let’s do some collaborations and we put some songs together’.

Are the songs going to come out on an EP?
No it’s something that’s going to stay on the MySpace. We’re playing Glastonbury next week together.

Are you excited to play Glasto?
I am, I’ve never done a music festival before!

Well that’s a good one to start with.
I’m doing Latitude too.

You should go see Hair at Latitude.
I saw it on Broadway a couple of times, I need to see it before it closes here, Gavin [Creel] is a really good friend.

So getting to know Lauren a bit, if you have a rider what’s on it?
Water, beer, Jameson Whiskey.

What does your tattoo mean? (Lauren has a peace sign made up of letters on her arm)
It’s my family’s initials in a peace sign and I had it done over here.

If you had a day off what would you do?
Depending on the weather, if it was pissing down with the rain I would go to The Tate and then St Paul’s Cathedral. I haven’t had the chance to go recently which has made me bitter. Then I’d finish off by going to see a movie at my favourite cinema on Baker Street, The Everyman Cinema. If the weather was good, I would take the train to Brighton and sit by the seaside or muck around on the paddle boats in Hyde Park.

Do you have a favourite pub or watering hole in London Town?
Yes Ma’am, I have a couple. I love the Lock Tavern in Camden, The Anglesea Arms in Shepherd’s Bush and The Paradise Pub in Kensal Rise.

Five random questions to finish. Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook; there’s more to do!

Winter’s day cuddled up on the sofa in front of a fire with friends or out in the park in the sun?
A little bit of both, it rains here so much that you’re always gonna get the cuddled up time so I say park in the sun.

Tea or coffee?
Tea, definitely.

Beer or Whiskey?
Whiskey, that’s no question.

Playing to a huge arena full of people or an intimate gig where you can see everyone’s faces?
Tough question, there’s something to be said about big venues, there’s a rush. But there’s also something to be said about being right there in an intimate setting when you can see everyone, and at the end of the day I don’t think there’s anything that can beat that, because that’s where it starts.

Finally, what’s next for you musically?
More of the same, rehearsals and touring in the States. There’s an EP coming out, Painkillers, on the 19th of July, and then the album, Wasted in Jackson is out on 20th of September.

Lauren was an absolute diamond to interview and is perfect live. She belted out ‘When The Night Kills The Day’ with such passion. Incidentally, this track is produced by Marcus Mumford, and he and Ted both feature on the recording. Lauren has had a busy few months with rehearsals, touring and promo but she never faltered during her gig; her talent as not only a singer but a piano player definitely showed, and it’s no wonder she’s being compared to the likes of Adele. I’m really interested in the side project, The River Kids – I really want to see them live, so here’s hoping Pete and Lauren can be persuaded to do a few London shows.

Pre-order ‘Wasted in Jackson’ here or get a free download of a Flotilla remix of ‘Painkilers’ here. Have a listen to the song, ‘Wasted in Jackson’ from the ‘Jackson Sessions’ EP below.

Lauren Pritchard – Wasted In Jackson

Photo credits: Charm Factory