It is our pleasure to introduce acoustic singer/songwriter Lauren Rantala! Lauren has a beautiful clear voice and a real and honest feel to her lyrics. We sat down with Lauren (over Facebook) and picked her brain on music.
Make sure to check out and download her single “Lovely”.
The Interview
Ian: How did you get your start in music?
Lauren: My dad had me addicted to The Beatles by preschool. I listened to pretty much nothing else except the occasional song from Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, or my mom singing Karen Carpenter. I’ve always wanted to be a singer. I assumed all singers wrote their own songs when I was little, so figured I would have to as well. I would rewrite the words to little Disney songs or commercial jingles, but I started getting serious about songwriting when I was 13. I didn’t really share my songs with anyone until years later. But when I did I loved it.
Ian: What’s your song Lovely all about? It seems very personal.
Lauren: I wrote Lovely after being very frustrated that all of my songs were sounding VERY singer/songwriter-y, which isn’t a bad thing in moderation. But when it’s all I can come up with, it’s irritating. After stressing out for months about it, “Lovely” just kind of appeared in my head. It seems like my better songs don’t have to be written, just written down. Lovely is about my now boyfriend of over a year when we just met in college. He called me lovely and I was cautious to believe he was as great as he seemed. After knowing him for almost 2 years, he’s still as wonderful as he seems.
Ian: Is there anyone you’d like to write a song with, or collaborate with?
Lauren: Because I’m a songwriting major I have to do co-writing projects in order to graduate. But I can say in all honesty that I hate co-writing. It’s like being naked with a total stranger and then that total stranger trying to teach you how to do the single ladies dance. It’s creepy, and weird, and invasive. But some people like it, to each his own.
Ian: Where would you like to see your career a year from now?
Lauren: I would love to playing out more and have somewhat of a band with me. I also look forward to being one more year more experienced as a songwriter. A fellow student Alena Moran (an Audio Engineering major) is helping me lay down some tracks so I’ll have some legit sounding stuff. And I’m working with my BMI representative to get in touch with publishers. I’m very excited to finally see all of my work gain traction.
Show Lauren some love on Facebook and check out the rest of her amazing tracks!
