‘I’ve been dying to come to the UK for so long’ – Lauv talks his debut UK Show
| 18th April 2018
Californian singer-songwriter and producer Lauv opened his world tour with his first ever show in the UK – at The Deaf Institute, Manchester.
From the release of his playlist I Met You When I Was 18, to the international success of I Like Me Better, Lauv’s UK debut has been a long time coming.
VIVA caught up with Lauv ahead of the gig, chatting all things Nando’s, Coldplay and existentialism.
Photo credit: Alexandra Gavillet
How are you finding the UK so far?
It’s been awesome! It’s actually been my favourite trip so far. I’ve been to London a few times but it’s always been really gloomy. But when we got in a couple of days ago, it was actually one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever had in London. We just walked around a bunch, got Nandos. It’s been great.
What did you order at Nando’s?
I always get the wrap, the chicken wrap, but then we literally got every single sauce – we got garlic, medium, hot, extra hot, the extra, extra hot and there’s one other one – some other crazy one, hotter than extra hot. And I had to get the peri salted chips and the coleslaw. It was really good!
What’s it like coming over to Europe for the first time and knowing that all of your shows are sold out?
It’s really crazy to me. I’ve been dying to come to the UK for so long. I’ve seen friends play shows here, in London more so than Manchester, but I know that everyone here is very serious about live music – that’s what I hear – you’re very critical of live music. You’ve got to go to the UK at the right time. So I don’t take for granted that I’m finally here and that all the shows are sold out – I’m really excited.
Do you feel as though there’s any added pressure playing shows here, as the UK are critical of live music?
Maybe a year or two ago I would’ve been more nervous, but having played cities like New York and LA at this point – especially LA, like it’s such an industry city. But we started the tour in LA. Well, we played a couple of cities before LA but it was one of the first shows. We broke down that barrier so much – and in New York as well, I feel like I’m ready and I’m excited.
Which is your favourite track to play live?
Breathe is probably my favourite song to play live because that’s when the set is most stripped. The show is very dynamic; I have a band and I play a few different instruments, but Breathe is when it all comes down, it’s just me and the keys, so it’s a very intimate moment.
Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Yeah – it’s kind of a combination of things. I try to get a bit meditative and do some stretches and stuff. It’s very important, because I’m a very heady person, so to get myself into my body as opposed to my head.
But depending on the mood, sometimes we’ll put on some Drake or Kendrick or something, sometimes I’m trying to put on some more emo vibes. It always depends.
What do you get up to after shows?
The more I’ve toured, the more I’ve realised that to not get sick, I’ve got to try to get as much rest as possible. Especially because a lot of the time, you play a show and then you’re exhausted, you get on the bus, you go to bed and then you wake up early and you’re doing interviews and visiting radio stations. But, if we have time I like to do one or two things in the city – go to a cool local bar, get good food.
Is it difficult to keep yourself in a routine on tour?
Lauv and Ellie Kemp
It definitely is – especially when you wake up somewhere and there’s not really much time to get a proper shower, stuff like that. I try to just as much as possible let go of control and whatever the situation is, just deal with it. It’s also hard to communicate with people back home when you’re touring a lot. I don’t want to be that person who’s constantly on their phone, just texting my friends back home because I’m trying to soak all of this in. It’s crazy the fact that I’ve played in bands growing up, we used to book our own tours and play for literally zero people, beg our friends to buy tickets for our shows, and I’m all the way here over in Manchester, playing sold-out shows, playing all over Europe, in cities that I’ve never played in before. I want to soak that in. When you’re all over the place mentally it’s easy to not remember anything, so it’s really important.
How different do you think your music would be if you hadn’t have studied music technology at university?
It’s hard to answer, but I feel like the bigger part of it would’ve been not moving to New York for school – moving to New York was a really big part of that more so than school. Just because I was already making music for so long before I went to university, and if I hadn’t have gone to New York or if I’d gone to a different city then I’m sure my music would’ve been way different – my whole story would’ve been way different.
I can’t say it wouldn’t have been as good because everything is just different and not really comparable – but it would certainly be different.
IMYWIW18 is about one relationship over four years – is it difficult to relive those moments when you’re performing?
Some songs – like Breathe – I always feel for whatever reason. Whenever I play it I can always kind of transport back to when I first started writing it and everything that was going on. Some songs I’ve learned to adopt a different emotion live – like when I play my song The Other, which is the first song I ever released over three years ago at this point. Even though it is a sad song, when I play it live, I realise that especially now, it’s such an exciting moment. Everything that’s happening now, I’m just not sad for it anymore – it’s just a different feeling, and to just let that be what it is.
One of the themes of IMYWIW18 is heartbreak – how do you deal with heartbreak?
It obviously depends on which side of the break-up you’re on.
I’ve tried, in the past, to tell friends when they break up with somebody, ‘oh, you should do this to stop thinking about them…’ or whatever, but you’re going to do whatever is true to you.
I’ve seen friends break up with somebody, get back together, and then they break up again because they realise it’s not right, and you can’t say that doing that is wrong – because if you need to do that to finally get over someone, you’ve got to do it.
I just think it’s important to be in touch with how you really feel on something. For me, writing songs helps to process it – but if it’s writing in a journal, or shaving your head, whatever you have to do, just do it.
I feel like a lot of people get stuck and deny themselves feeling. To let yourself feel what it really is that you’re feeling, whether it’s kind of crazy or psycho or if it’s healthy or not healthy, you kind of have to do whatever you have to do.
What can we expect for the next chapter?
I’m still finishing up IMYWIW18 – more songs that I’ve been finishing that I’m really excited about that are actually pretty different from everything else on the chapter. After that I’m trying to go with a totally fresh mindset. It’s definitely going to be much bigger than a relationship type thing. I’m definitely a very existential person and I think that people can see that through my Twitter and stuff like that, but not as much in my music yet. I’m really excited to dig more into that is going on in my head.
You’ve been taking your ‘My Blue Thoughts’ box around the world with you – have you had some interesting finds from that?
Yeah – it’s been a huge range. Some people used it just to write something like ‘great show, I’ve wanted to see you for years,’ but some people talked about battles with eating disorders or relationship struggles or struggles with depression – really, everything.
There’s been some nights on the bus where we open the box and we read through some of it and it’s really intense. But it’s really beautiful.
If you could collaborate with any British artist who would it be?
Chris Martin – Coldplay! That would probably be the biggest one.
What have you got planned for the rest of the year?
I’m going to be releasing more music – I just brought out a song called Chasing Fire. I’ve been announcing festivals, I’m going to be announcing more festivals, and then more tour dates. Then more music, onto another chapter and who knows what else. It’s going to be fun.