INTRODUCING: We catch up with L.A. based multi-instrumentalist LAENA MYERS ahead of the release of her debut solo album 'LUV (Songs of Yesterday)'....
After hearing a track called ‘Give ‘Em Hell’ which is lifted from her debut solo album (released 23rd February), we wanted to find out more about Los Angeles based multi-instrumentalist LAENA MYERS. We chat about influences, musical background, festivals, gigs, tours and living with a domesticated gorilla that does her cleaning….
Your debut album LUV (Songs of Yesterday) lands on 23rd February, how does it feel to know that it’s soon going to be out there for everyone to hear?
It feels great!
You’re about to release the 2nd single from your forthcoming debut album ‘Bouquet’, this follows ‘Give ‘Em Hell’ which landed in late 2023, how do you think your fans will react to ‘Bouquet’?
I think that they will like it!
I read that you wrote and co-produced the album, it was recorded, mixed and co-produced by Scott Cornish and it was mastered by Mikey Young, tell me about WHERE the album was recorded?
Most of the basic tracking was recorded in my apartment in Northeast LA! Scott has a whole mobile rig for his rack mounted effects and was just running Pro-Tools from his computer. He's worked mostly as a live sound engineer- touring with artists like Angel Olsen, Big Thief- so he's got a really good ear; he hung up some well-placed blankets and set up microphones in different parts of the room, where sound would bounce off walls etc. It was pretty cool! We recorded drums at a Gaucho's Electronics (RIP) and did additional overdubs and mixed everything in Scott's apartment.
Tell me about some of the highs and lows of being in the studio
Well, it was like 104 degrees in Los Angeles that Summer, I don’t have air-conditioning and while we were tracking, we couldn't have any fans on (because of the noise) so that was kind of rough! Highs were pretty obvious - recording my songs with my friends was a blast all around, even with the heat :)
Your list of musical exploits in the past is very impressive…..
Lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of critically-acclaimed and internationally touring rockers FEELS
Bassist for goth-punk band Numb.er as well as the Motown-inspired pop outfit The Like
Go-to-violinist for myriad of artists from the L.A. music scene and beyond - contributing to released recordings by John Frusciante, Jhené Aiko, Ty Segall, and The Allah Las
Laena also works as a session vocalist and her voice has been featured in the official Netflix trailers for 2022’s ‘Barbarians: Season 2’ as well as 2023’s‘The Deepest Breath’.
What is left (if anything) on your ‘to do’ list?
Thanks! Um lots more of everything! I mean I'm a professional musician, so this is my career and I hope to continue to grow and reach an ever-widening audience!
When you worked with the artists mentioned above, did you get to work 'with' them or did you just turn up and do your thing? If you did meet them, which artist were you MOST star struck with?
Yes, I worked directly with all of the artists listed above, and I wasn't star-struck by any of them! We're all working musicians, and people who find mainstream success in the music industry are just people, just like everyone else!
Assuming that you are going to be touring your debut record in 2024, who is in your band? Will it be the same musicians that worked on its recording?
I'll be doing a record release show in Los Angeles on March 1st at the Philosophical Research Society with a full band, and I'll have a few people who played on the record joining me. But I'll be touring the UK and Europe this Spring as a two-piece, with myself playing guitar and violin and with Cole Berliner playing guitar, bass and some percussion! All of that will be announced soon.
What about festivals? Do you have any booked yet for 2024?
So far, I'm booked to play MOMO festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Of your debut album, you said, “The overarching theme of the album is strength in vulnerability”, “it’s a collection of songs that were too personal and dreamy for FEELS, songs of haunted love, melancholy and hope, selected and woven together with instrumental segues and field recordings into a whole experience.” - Did you have these songs on the back burner whilst you were in the other bands?
Yes I did.
Do you think that fans of your previous musical endeavours will warm to your solo material?
I think some of them will!
I read that you used to listen to bands such as NIN, The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth, which other bands or artists helped to shape what you have become musically?
OMG yeah that was my junior and senior years of high school in a nutshell! But from my whole life? I really can't say- so much music! People tell me they can hear influences of Patti Smith, Mazzy Star, Nico and PJ Harvey strongly in my solo material, and I resonate with all those artists so they're probably right. But really, I don't even know where to begin - thousands of bands and artists, singers and musicians, poets... the music my parents made and the music they listened to, and that of my friends and partners over the years. Everything we hear shapes us; subconsciously I think it's all just swimming around, congealing with everything else, like a blended soup. I don't consciously try to emulate anyone in my music - especially with this record. It's about being my truest self, which is what's so scary about sharing it with the world!
How will you be celebrating on February 23rd when your debut album is released?
I will probably have some champagne and cry tears of joy!
Lastly, would you rather live with a gorilla that cleans for you or a zebra that can cook?
I'll take the cleaning gorilla.
LUV (Songs of Yesterday) is out on 23rd February - Pre -Save HERE
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