Throughout our lives we will always be presented with choices that can radically alter our trajectory. The frightening nature of which these choices exude is matched only by how exciting they can be to consider. Especially when you already have built a life in one universe, but find yourself being relentlessly pulled toward another. The same goes for Lauren Mayberry. Lead singer and front-woman of Scottish synth-pop trio CHVRCHES, as she finally made her choice to release solo material.
However fans of the band need not worry, as the trio promises to reform and release new material in the future. For now, Mayberry will be exploring new worlds and depths inside herself as she tours her new album, Vicious Creature, swinging through Cambridge on February 11th at The Sinclair. In the days before hitting the road, we got to chat with Mayberry about future proofing creativity, being featured in Heartstopper and getting to play Webster Hall.
Allston Pudding: I have to start by saying it’s a privilege to talk to you. I’ve been a fan of yours for years.
Lauren Mayberry: Ah thank you, so you’re the one! [laughs]
AP: Yes! I have a lot of great memories of dancing at festivals to “Clearest Blue” with friends.
LM: That makes me very happy. Yeah, when people don’t dance to that one I’m like, I don’t know what else to give you. That’s the peak, that’s the peak of our creative output!
AP: There’s something really special about that song.
LM: “Clearest Blue”, the little one that could, and I feel like it being in Heartstopper a few years ago…
AP: You gave it a sort of second life.
LM: Yes! I was like, this scene is what I always wanted this song to be for!
AP: It’s the perfect soundtrack for a moment like that.
LM: I knew that it was in the show obviously because we had to sign off on it, but I hadn’t seen the scene. You get sent a one sentence description and that’s it. It’s like “oh, they’re at a party”, cool. But when I was watching it, I’m like *pretends to sob*. I’m not crying about me, I’m crying about the kids, man! [laughs] Yeah, we were very lucky to get on Heartstopper.
AP: In regard to your new album, you had said that you needed to make a record that was worth asking questions about, so I’m wondering in the two months since it’s been out, what has the reception been like?
LM: I feel like I was pleasantly surprised. Anything I make is going to be compared to what has come before, which is obviously a privilege, but I knew that. I think the fact that their response to the record has been pleasant, not that I think there’s a lot of people that wanted it to be shit, maybe there was some of that, but it’s really great. For me this whole time, this record is a proof of concept. Do I have the ability or the right to make any music outside of CHVRCHES and I feel like I was trying to prove that to myself. I don’t know if I’m a confident creator in anyway, but I do feel more assured, like if you’ve only ever done one thing one way there is a part of my brain that’s like, “oh what if that’s the only way I can do it.” It’s like I was trying to future proof my creativity. Everything‘s always up and down, nothings certain, but you can always just invest in yourself. I don’t know what my art will look like in five or 10 or 20 years, I hope it still exists but I’m like, “oh you need to figure out what are you like as a creative person within that project but also outside of that.” I was so young when CHVRCHES started so I feel like it’s exercising. If CHVRCHES is like a triathlon then maybe this is the next part of that. [laughs]
AP: Well, I do think you’ve proven what you set out to prove with this record. It’s very fun yet very emotional which must’ve been difficult but also freeing. You’ve said in a couple of interviews, with CHVRCHES you weren’t fully able to express yourself so having this avenue to go down solo is really cool to see.
LM: I think it’s shown me things that I am good at and things that I’m not really good at, and things that the guys [in CHVRCHES] are really good at and things that are incredibly hard to find. I understand why a lot of people get stressed when a singer goes solo because it, in theory, jeopardizes the existence of a band that means a lot to them. To me, I think the strength of what I do in CHVRCHES is the storytelling, and sometimes it’s challenging to figure out where that sits. So I took a two year journey to work on my ability to tell stories and figure those things out, and now I think taking that back to the unit will be a useful thing. At the end of the day, people just have different tastes. The things that those guys have made in the last two years which weren’t with CHVRCHES, that just wouldn’t fit in the band, and there’s certain parts of my music that wouldn’t fit in the band. So yes, I got to be a little more dramatic and emotional in my own time.
AP: Perfect, we all need those outlets.
LM: You know, a little bit of theatrical stuff on the side.
AP: I know it’s sometimes like choosing your favorite kid, but what’s your favorite song on the new album?
LM: I think “Something In The Air” is probably one of my favorite ones because when we wrote that one, we had 3/4 of the album done and I didn’t really know what I was looking for. I wanted that kind of ephemeral something and I think when we got the chorus to that one, it felt different and exciting. It was fun playing that one live for the first time. You don’t get those things very often where you feel people responding organically and when we got to the chorus, I was like, “oh, we’re good. This is gonna be fine.” But I’m most proud of “Oh, Mother”. That one kind of came out of nowhere. It was the last song we wrote for the record. I wasn’t planning on writing something as depressing as that, but it kind of just happened and I think those are the most exciting songs. You have to turn up every day and look for things, but you can’t force it and that must’ve just been buried in the back of our brains because the whole thing was written top-to-bottom in about two hours.
AP: You have also spoken about the sort of awkward uncertainty, or even guilt that surrounds embarking on a solo project after being a part of a band for so long. What kept those feelings at bay and kept you going?
LM: I guess it’s because I knew that I wanted to do it for long enough. At first, I didn’t wanna do it because I wasn’t sure and I was worried what it would do to the band’s dynamic. After literally years of thinking about that, it’s the only part of that that’s left: the worrying about other people part. I think that’s probably not a good enough reason to not do things. But also once you’ve signed on to do something and you have to do it that’s quite helpful in a way. [laughs] You’ve taken the money to make the record so now you have to make it. Otherwise, so many people are gonna be fucked-off at you. Hopefully I’ll do it again. First time is obviously gonna be the hardest, I think. My manager had a weird analogy where he compared it to moving people’s cheese. He was like, “nobody likes it when you move their cheese. They like to know where their cheese is. So for everyone who is involved in or aware of the band, you are moving the cheese a little bit. They don’t know when you’re gonna put the cheese back and they don’t know what the cheese is gonna look like when you put it back or where you’re gonna put it.” I’m like this is silly, but it works.
AP: Well, I hope you continue to move the cheese because I think it has been successful.
LM: And you know many kinds of different cheese are available… like there’s some cheese over there from before!
AP: As you get ready to set out on your solo tour, what’s been going through your mind and how have you been preparing for it?
LM: What am I doing? Um, I’ve been having a lot of phone calls. Everybody’s learning their parts. This week we’re gonna go in and block out some of the staging. I’m not skilled enough to do full choreography, but I do like to plan it a little bit. I’m not fucking Janet Jackson, I understand that. I wish. Over the course of CHVRCHES it became more important to me, and I think the shows got better for having done that. But I have to work on my face, because when I’m concentrating, I look really upset and I can’t sing some of these songs whilst looking like that.
AP: Because you have such a strong vocal, do you have any trusty remedies that you employ either before or after a performance?
LM: We just sent in the most boring tour rider known to man. It’s just different tea’s. But it’s all about the beer and the wine: not good for the voice. I used to think, “oh I can still go out and I just won’t drink”, but it’s being in loud environments too, so sometimes you just have to live like a little monk. But, I did get a new tool, I haven’t used it yet: a singing straw? I don’t know if you know about these, I guess you just do your warm-ups into the straw? For vocal tension or something, it’s my new little pal. Presumably I’ll be singing like Mariah Carey in two weeks.
AP: Lastly, what’s your favorite city to perform in or your favorite food to have on the road?
LM: Let me look at the list. I’m like, where are we going? I always go, if I have time, to this really old sushi place down a few steps in San Francisco. We always have good shows in DC and I’ve always found it interesting how well CHVRCHES does in Texas. I don’t know why I thought Texas wouldn’t like us. And it blows my mind that I get to play Webster Hall in New York, like that’s stupid. I lived there for a few years and I think about the shows that I saw there and I’m just very honored and lucky to be a part of it. Maybe I’ll grab a little spinach dumpling after the show from Xi’an Famous Foods.
Mayberry continues on her Vicious Creature Tour through the end of March, for more information check out her website here. Follow Mayberry on Instagram and TikTok for more!