Singer and songwriter Lauren Hulbert combines her love of folk, alt-country, and acoustic pop to create her own atmospheric sound. Lauren creates a captivating spell on her audience with her breathy and unique voice, along with her thoughtful and personal lyrics. “Gone in One” captures Lauren at her best; illuminating and shining, yet just enough intrigue to keep the listener hooked in. The video for “Gone in One” adds the same illustrious effect. This is her first “proper” video which presents Lauren alongside three different men, obviously replicant of vastly different relationships with each one. The clip also features Lauren on electric guitar, along with her incredible story-telling and singing skills.
“Gone in One” is also one of the five original songs featured on Lauren’s newly released EP, Superbloom. In her own words, each song on the EP is “reflective of love, longing, liberation, personal demons, and running wild.” Lauren’s cultural experiences have shaped a lot of her music too, as she’s lived all over the world, including Thailand and Ecuador, among numerous other places. Amongst her many joys including travel, Lauren enjoys acting, modeling, surfing, and teaching; in which she teaches her fellow artists in piano, guitar, ukulele, and songwriting.
We had a lovely and insightful chat with Lauren about what kinds of experiences drive her music, filming for and the creative input she had with “Gone in One,” and the writing and recording process for her newest EP, Superbloom.
Your lyrics and music are very poignant and folksy. What experiences do you draw from with your music?
Lauren Hulbert: Most of what I write is about the human experience and social relationships. I feel most inspired to write when I’m going through some intense emotional experience. It’s a way for me to process my feelings and this is when songs are easiest to write for me – it just comes pouring out. So, a strong joyous or sad/painful romantic experience is a usual topic, but also drawing from my relationship with myself or what I may see or imagine someone else is dealing with – like being inspired by a Van Gogh painting or observing someone else struggling in some way. Common themes are humanistic – love, hope, loss, grief, broken trust, break ups, desires and so on. Interestingly, I’ve noticed a pattern in my songwriting – that many of my songs speak my truth more than I’m conversationally willing to at the time I write them. They often end up being a guide for me to examine myself.
This is your first “proper” music video for “Gone in One.”. What was the experience like for you filming the video? Did you have a lot of creative input with it also?
Lauren: I absolutely loved making this video. Adding a visual to my music was so fulfilling. Yes, I had lots of creative input. Other than the actors, it was just myself and Ryan Houchin (director, filmer, editor) putting it all together. I came up with the premise, but Ryan helped me simplify and hone it for time and budget’s sake. My original idea was more complicated and possibly harder to understand, so Ryan’s input was great as he’s very experienced working in the visual arena. He drove up to Oakland from LA, we scouted locations that evening and filmed the next two days. It was a lot of work coordinating everything, from wardrobe, schedule, and the other actors. In fact, I was scrambling until the day before to find the third guy to act in it – I eventually convinced a guy I’d previously met on Bumble to do it! The whole process was stressful but exciting. Being adaptable in the moment in that sort of project is an important skill. I learned a lot and had so much fun filming it. It all worked out great. I’m really happy that I trusted myself to do it the way that I had envisioned that felt true to myself, rather than working with other people who wanted to take it in a different direction. Finding the right people to work with took incredible patience and hard work but it was worth it. I keep dreaming up ideas for my other songs – I can’t wait to make more music videos.
The music video follows you in three varying relationships; were these reminiscent of your own experiences?
Lauren: Not exactly the same, but yes. The fun, light-hearted guy, the intense, dramatic intellectual and the good-on-paper but wrong for me and controlling man. It was emotional to act out these relationships but ultimately healing, I think, like one more way to process things, which is why I’m so drawn to acting.
“Gone in One” is also featured on your upcoming set, Superbloom. What is your writing and recording process like?
Lauren: I wrote these 5 songs at very different times, some years apart in fact. The oldest one, “Demons,” I wrote like fifteen years ago! It’s been dying to have justice served in the studio. The other four songs were written at different times, 3 of them inspired by a long-term romantic relationship. They were all written on guitar, with the guitar part written first, followed by vocal melody and lyrics. The lyrics usually take the longest to write and I just keep giving it a go until it instinctually feels right. I’m satisfied when the song not only sounds good but that the story is being told well and correctly.
I recorded this EP at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco. I hadn’t recorded in many years and was super nervous, honestly. I didn’t have anything planned for the other musicians other than wanting to try new instruments and styles to make it more pop, and not just folk. I laid down my guitar and vocals first and then we layered each instrument one by one over that. It was very instinctual, creative, and on-the-spot decision making. Compared to my last album, this time I was more involved in the vision for the direction of sound and vibe, and Producer/Engineer James Riotto helped execute it wonderfully. James also played bass and synth and I was lucky to get Andrew Maguire as my drummer. It was more experimental than the last album with lots of different, fun instruments, like different synthesizers, Wurlitzer, organ, a variety of percussion like jingle bells in “Honeydew” and Flamenco clapping in “Gone In One.” I brought in some guest musicians – Helen Newby on cello in “Calling Out to You” and Daniel Mark on mandolin in “Burn.” I especially enjoyed adding vocal harmonies and vocal accompaniment. It was really fun to try different things and bring what I had in my imagination to life and then some!
Taking you back a little bit, when did you first learn to play guitar, and what drew you to it initially?
Lauren: I was 14 at a social gathering. I had a foot injury so I couldn’t go in the pool with everyone. I was bored and looking for something to do and the house had a guitar. I got a friend to teach me 3 chords that day. When my grandma heard she gave me her old Yamaha acoustic and I started writing songs right away, mostly funny ones with my friends to start. I was hooked and spent endless hours alone in my room figuring out how to play songs by ear. What drew me to it was its portability, unlike my first instrument, the piano (I’d had 7 years of piano lessons at that point) so that I could take it to friends’ houses or on trips. I also liked that I could have it in my room alone. That privacy allowed me the comfort and safety to begin writing about personal things. The piano is where I learned theory, technique, artistry, and song structure. The guitar was the instrument that opened the door for my own creativity and songwriting. It was my diary. It was such a blessing.
What are you looking forward to through the end of the year?
Lauren: I’m looking forward to cooler weather, finally taking a road trip to visit lots of friends who live north of me on the West Coast and for my EP Superbloom to be released on October 30!
Fun Questions
Who was your first concert, and who has been your favorite so far?
Lauren: My very first concert was Criss-Cross! A family friend took me and my sister; I think I was about 12 years old. It was epic. The first one that I chose myself was Van’s Warped Tour at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, with Weezer headlining. My favorite concert ever? I’ve been to so many great ones, how can I choose?! It’s a tie between Tycho at Lightning in a Bottle and Sigur Ros at Electric Picnic in Ireland.
What was your first album on cassette, CD and/or vinyl?
Lauren: I’m pretty sure it was a cassette tape of Dookie, by Green Day. And a tape of the single “Mo Money, Mo Problems” by Notorious B.I.G. And a CD of Sublime’s Self Titled album. Man, I loved that album so much. My music collection had begun. I was stoked.
Which five albums and/or artists would you not want to live without?
Lauren:
Andy Shauf
Gregory Alan Isakov
Tycho
Pinegrove
The Bad Plus
Claude Debussy
If you weren’t making music, what do you think you would be doing?
Lauren: I would be something creative, like an actor, a fashion designer, or an Elementary School teacher. Maybe teaching abroad again as I love traveling.
Do you have a guilty music or entertainment pleasure?
Lauren: Sex and the City and Justin Bieber
Although you play guitar, is there another instrument you’d love to learn and/or to play?
Lauren: I play piano as well. I’ve tried drums a few times and it’s so fun – I think taking some lessons for that would be great.
Find Lauren on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Stream/download her music on Spotify, Apple, and SoundCloud.
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