BY ANDREA HOFFMAN
PHOTO BY KAIA D'ALORA
Laura Jean Anderson is a Washington-born musician currently living and performing in Los Angeles. Her music draws from classic Americana artists and mixes with elements of elegant modernism to create a dramatic sound that can be heard in her newest single “Silence Won’t Help Me Now.” We were able to learn more about her musical inspirations as well as her plans for the coming future. Be sure to check out her next headlining show in Los Angeles at the Moroccan Lounge, April 19th!
Your new single "Silence Won’t Help Me Now" just recently dropped, can you tell me what it’s about and where the inspiration for it came from?
LAURA: "In a nutshell, it's about feelings of repression and falling subject to people wanting me to be someone I'm not, and the power I felt making the choice to finally speak my truth. When I first wrote it I thought this was one of those songs that I wrote for me to sing alone in my room to give me the power I needed to say what I want to say. But then I thought about how the last thing the world needs right now is to stay silent about our truth."
Who are some of your inspirations when it comes to music and what have you been listening to lately?
LAURA: "My inspiration usually just comes from life itself, but I'm also a deep lover of music, especially early American rock ’n' roll and roots music. Nina Simone, Elvis and Lil' Johnson are three of my heroes that I draw a lot of inspiration from."
I read somewhere that you took a year off of school to travel in South America and I think this is something that can be so beneficial for creatives. Can you tell me about that experience and how it influenced you as an artist?
LAURA: "I think traveling always stirs a different creative energy that can't compare to staying stagnant in one place. Every time I travel, my mind goes places it hasn't gone before. That particular trip and other experiences in life have made me realize how there's nothing else I'd rather do than make music and tell stories through them."
I love the aesthetic of your social media and the visuals for the single! How do you translate your music into these visuals and what do they say about you as an artist?
LAURA: "Haha wow thank you! That's a first. :) As you can tell, I'm quite stuck on the color yellow which has a huge meaning for this record. I fell into a dream a few years back where I crawled out of a rabbit hole onto the top of a mountain filled with golden, yellow orbs and my present self was holding hands with my childhood self and my elderly self. Everything was yellow and it seemed to represent every emotion I have gone and will go through. This new record I made came out of that feeling in that dream— of diving deep into each of these emotions I've felt in my life within each song. So it seemed fitting to present it as yellow."
What are some of your plans for the future? Any new music or shows we can look forward to?
LAURA: "Definitely! This year will be full of new music! A music video coming soon as well and I'll be playing April 19th at the Moroccan Lounge."