“So many times I’ve fallen in love with an electronic artist, and when I look up their live clips, it’s somebody bobbing up and down and twisting knobs - basically doing an elaborate karaoke. That’s where I strive to be different. I use electronic sounds, but blended with real instruments with real people playing them.”
Before Lauren Malyon fell in love with synth-pop, she appeared to be on the path to inhabiting the elite world of a classical virtuoso. She was known around her town as the quiet girl with long blonde hair who played the violin and piano, practically from the time she could walk. But after hearing Chantal Kreviazuk’s cover of “Leaving On A Jetplane” for the first time as a girl, Lauren knew her world would never be the same. “It was so real and full of genuine, raw emotion…it didn’t necessarily have to be accurate or technically perfect to give me shivers or make me tear up”.
Writing songs at the piano was something of a mother-tongue for Lauren, so when she teamed up with song-writer and producer Paul Mayer, it made sense that her first EP “At My Window” (2009), was focused around a more real and organic sound. “What I was trying to accomplish with At My Window, was for each track to be a solid piece of pop songwriting”. Through touring and the support of local business, Lauren sold 1000 copies of her EP and recently had a song placed on an episode of Wingin’ It, a popular TV comedy for teens. In order to get the detailed arrangements from “At My Window” to come together live, Lauren enlisted the help of jazz fusion group,The Restless Age.
Soon after, Lauren found herself in her producer’s basement, developing material to follow the success of her EP. It was there Lauren discovered a keytar collecting dust. The idea of incorporating electronic instruments into her music seemed like an inevitable development in her sound. Channeling the early 80s, Lauren let her hair go back to a natural state of big, blonde chaos. Again teaming up with The Restless Age, she performs her own synthed-out songs, and re-imaginings of some favourite covers. Lauren’s live performances are a combination of carefully crafted electronic soundscape, combined with a desire to create moments of real human spontaneity and emotion. | |
