Interview by Mark Lacey
Photos Credit: Li Roda-Gil
When Laura Cox first embarked on her musical journey, recording guitar covers on YouTube, mostly for her own enjoyment, even she couldn’t have predicted what would follow. Quickly amassing 513K subscribers and over 105 million views, she is now a widely recognised recording artist, live performer, and a role model among an expanding cohort of female guitar players. Her latest album â€Trouble Coming’ sees her exploring some darker subject matter and reflecting on the mental health challenges of musicians – whilst embracing a more commercial sound.
MGM: Whereabouts in the world are you today?
Laura: So, I’m at home, and I recently moved. I used to live near Paris, and last year I moved to the southwest of France, so I’m 30 minutes away from Spain.
MGM: Before we talk about your new album â€Trouble Coming’, how would you describe your sound and where you fit in the music industry?
Laura: When I started playing guitar, I was really obsessed with classic rock, hard rock and country music. I think my sound was a mix of all my influences, like Angus Young, Slash, and Joe Bonamassa, but now I would say it’s evolved a bit, particularly on the latest album. I think you can hear those influences, but it’s more modern. I have a lot of modern slide tones, if we’re talking about guitar. I’m taking my roots in blues rock, but this time it’s more modern with the effects on the guitar, the effects on the vocals, and I’m trying to take my music somewhere else with this new album.
MGM: When people talk about you, they often refer to you playing rock and blues-based guitar, or they talk about you being a female guitarist. But actually, on the album, whilst you’re playing some amazing things on guitar, you’re using it quite sparingly. The strongest element of your music is the songwriting, and in many ways, it feels more like a pop record than a blues rock album. Do you agree with that?
Laura: Yeah, for sure. That’s something I’m trying to develop more. Before, I used to be more focused on the guitar hero side of my music, and that was more what I was listening to at the time. And now, I’m focusing more on the songwriting because I’m trying to speak to people that are not necessarily musicians or technicians. I wanted to talk to people who like music and not just guitarist people. I’m still in love with guitar, of course. It’s also a real challenge for me because my native tongue is French, and writing in English is not the easiest thing for me. I’m happy with how the album turned out. My goal was to be able to play on a record that I have fun listening to and I enjoy listening to. For now, that’s the case. So, I’m really happy about that.
MGM: What was the catalyst for that shift in your sound? You said you want to go towards this more modern sound, but what was it that drove you in that direction?
Laura: I’m not sure if there was something in particular that triggered that, but I think I got a bit tired of being just a classic rock or hard rock or blues guitarist, and I just wanted to have fun. I think that was part of the process. Also, I knew that I wanted to work with other people this time, at least people producing the albums, because for the first three albums I released, it was just the band playing and nobody producing, nobody arranging, just the band recording and playing and having all the ideas of arranging. And this time I wanted to have other people working on the record. My manager asked me if I had people in mind, and I told her that there’s a band in France called No Money Kids. They have the base of a blues rock sound, but more modern. That’s what I aimed for with this new album. I didn’t know them at the time, and she got in contact with them. Then we met, we got along, and we decided to work together. I wrote the tracks, the music, the vocals, and then they arranged everything and produced the record, and I’m really happy about this collaboration.
MGM: So, the guys from No Money Kids are performing on this album too, instead of your usual band?
Laura: Yeah, exactly. I played all the guitar tracks and the vocals, and the rest; the bass, drums, synthesisers, and keys or anything else was played and produced by them.
MGM: You’d never guess from listening to the record, that this is not an established line-up that’s played together for a long time, because you all gel really well.
Laura: Creating this album felt very good and less pressuring than before because we didn’t have a deadline like I had for the previous albums where the band was locked in the studio for two weeks and we had to record the entire album in those two weeks. For this new album, I recorded the demos at home and sent them to No Money Kids. When I was ready, I went to their studio in Paris and we were re-recording, or sometimes even keeping my demos. I was really surprised by this, but we kept some of my demo guitars and demo vocals. But sometimes when the quality was not good enough, I re-recorded my parts in their studio. Then they just did the rest. It felt more natural to record this way; just record at home or record with just these two people in their studio. Whenever I was ready for a song, we went in the studio, and we did it at my pace. I felt more freedom doing it this way.
MGM: What did you want this album to say?
Laura: This album is mainly talking about the mental state of artists and musicians on tour. I was really exploring this side over the past few months because on tour a lot of artists and musicians are struggling with loneliness, depression, maybe too much alcohol, and addictions because they’re away from the people they love. Sometimes they’re surrounded by a lot of people but feeling lonely overall. And that’s what I wanted to recreate with some of the tracks on this album. It’s the dark side of the mind. Each song has a particular state of mind. I tried to recreate the mental health of musicians. I’m in a good place in my life. But the album overall is maybe a bit dark, but that’s okay because that’s what came out of my mind, and I’m happy about this and happy to talk about it.
MGM: So, is the concept of this album about you, or is it just about musicians in general? Do you feel lonely on the road yourself?
Laura: Sometimes, yes, but it’s one of the dark sides. But in real life, I’m not really focusing on this because there are so many positive sides of being a musician and being able to do what you love. So, this album is about negative sides. But I would say for me, this is not what really marks my life. When I write, I’m starting with details of my personal life, but then expanding the song to a whole situation that could fit to a lot of people and talk to a lot of people because I just don’t want it to be all about me.
MGM: Your song titles include â€Trouble coming’, â€Inside the storm’, and â€Dancing around the truth’. Those titles betray a sense of pain or dealing with struggles. Your next single is called â€The Broken’. What does that signify?
Laura: You know that life isn’t going to be easy and it’s going to be full of compromise, especially for women. We are all facing the same fears. This song is about taking time to take control of your life and stop listening to other people and take off the pressure and try to live your life the easy way. It’s a good message, but it’s hard to really do it.
MGM: You’ve been playing some live dates recently, and you’ve already started to play some of the songs from the new album, including ‘Away Home’, ‘No Need to Try Harder’. But ‘Do I Have Your Attention’ seems to have several different meanings to it. What did you intend that song to be about?
Laura: It’s really liberating to play this song on stage. I think it’s the most fun song we’re playing because it’s quite rock n roll. It’s a musical side that I haven’t explored yet. It’s almost punk rock. I think I’m going to write more songs in this style. But â€Do I have your attention’ is like a call for help from someone who doesn’t know their limits; someone who cannot disassociate fun from danger. And just calling for help.
MGM: Was there any particular person or scenario that you based that message around.
Laura: I would say it’s about all the times I drank too much with my band after the shows and things could have ended up really bad. But in the end, I got lucky!
MGM: Musically, the album has a very pop rock vibe to it. Your sound brings references to Sheryl Crow, Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders, but some of the songs also have similarities to Pink, perhaps because your choruses and your vocal melodies are just so powerful.
Laura: I really wanted to have fun on this record. When I wrote that song, I wanted something that I’m going to enjoy playing live because I know with my previous albums, some of the guitar parts that I have to play while singing, I’m focusing too much to have fun on stage. With these songs, I think the melodies on the guitar with the vocals, everything together on stage, I can see myself having fun. That was the point when recording this album.
MGM: Who do you cite as the biggest female artist influence for you?
Laura: I would say Sheryl Crow. Even though I don’t really hear the connection with this new album. But I grew up just looking up at her and I had the chance to see her several times in concert in the UK and once in France last year. She’s not particularly known for being a guitarist, but I think the songwriting and the melodies, the vocals, all the musicians that she’s surrounded with, everything works perfectly together. I love her world and what she brought to the music.
MGM: There is a rise in female guitarists breaking through in recent years, from the likes of Orianthi, and Nita Strauss at one end of the spectrum. Then you have people like Joanna Shaw Taylor at the other end with the blues. Then you have people like Sophie Lloyd in the middle. Women in music have often been marketed through their image and sexuality, but you’re still rocking a seventies punk chic look on your album cover, with your Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt.
Laura: I wanted this album cover to look like me, as if I was playing on stage. That’s an outfit I’m wearing on stage. I’m happy that I’m recognising myself on the cover and I’m not displaying too much make-up or cleavage or anything. I’m happy that I just feel comfortable with this cover because it’s me.
MGM: Your early career started out through performing on YouTube, and it wasn’t until much later that you started to record albums. With so many modern artists now finding their audiences through social channels, is the conventional music industry model of record label, deal, album, a thing of the past?
Laura: No, but at the beginning of my path, I didn’t really have any strategy. When I started uploading videos on YouTube, I didn’t think that was going to be my job at some point, or that I was going to be a guitarist. When I started uploading videos on YouTube, it was just for fun and just to get people’s comments and help, and reviews and advice on my playing. It was challenging, because at the time, I was spending a lot of time on YouTube just watching other guitarists cover classic rock solos. I thought, OK, I’m going to do the same and see where it goes. But I didn’t have anything else in mind. Then I started creating a virtual fan base. Then thanks to this, I met some of my musicians and we decided to form a band. But I was introverted at the time, so I think for me, it was natural to go this way. In the end, it took me too much time before forming the band. I ended up playing guitar for maybe eight or nine years before my first time on stage, or my first time jamming with people because I was scared to go out of my bedroom and just jam with people. I didn’t do it the traditional way, but it’s my way, so it’s OK. YouTube helped me gather some views and some fans, and then it was maybe easier to find a booker and a label. But you still have to work a lot to gather a crowd who will come to your shows and buy your music because these are not the same people that are just watching YouTube videos for free on the internet.
MGM: Would you still describe yourself as introverted or do you feel that you’ve overcome that fear?
Laura: I’m less introverted, for sure, and I’m feeling more and more comfortable on stage. I think you can see with some artists, that when they’re on stage, it’s their natural habitat. They feel so comfortable. But for me, it was different. It required a lot of work to know what to do with my arms, and how to move. I’m really happy that I always have a guitar on me on stage because otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do. But, after a few years of touring, I finally got to a point where everything feels a lot more natural.
MGM: It looks like the majority of your shows have been in France and Germany. You played a handful of shows in the UK back in 2018 and 2019, and then COVID slowed everything down for everybody. Why have you not really explored other parts of the world yet?
Laura: I’m French and I’ve always lived in France. So, we started in France, and that’s where we have the strongest fan base. Germany always feels like home when we are playing there because our label is also based in Germany, and we found good bookers there. They have a huge fan base for blues rock or classic rock. For the rest of the countries, I would say we’re going once a year, maybe in Spain, sometimes a bit of Italy. We did Sweden not so long ago, but it was just for one show. The last time we’ve been to the UK was in 2019. But I think what’s hard with the UK is that you already have everything; a lot of great bands are playing every day, and every time of the day in every bar for free. So, when you’re coming from France and you want to play music, I think they just don’t need us. But I hope with this new album, we’ll be able to come back. I’m not sure how it works with Brexit. I think it’s harder now.
MGM: It will be interesting to see who you play with if you toured the UK, as whilst some of your music will work well with your blues rock and classic rock past, your new music should pair you with more pop rock venues and artists. Maybe you could play Gibson Guitars Garage in the middle of London.
Laura: Actually, I went there a few months ago. They invited me to shoot a video for the new Epiphone Jeff Beck signature. I just went on my own to record a demo for Epiphone and Gibson. But I hope we can come back with the entire band and give maybe just an acoustic showcase or something. But I’m sure we can do something and work something out.
MGM: Your album comes out on Halloween, on the 31st of October. Was that deliberate?
Laura: That wasn’t planned, but maybe we should have released a glow in the dark version of the vinyl or something. But yeah, it’s on Halloween. Now I’m trying to focus on shooting videos for the next singles and promotion, because I recorded the songs for the album. But now, as I didn’t record the songs with my touring band, we’re going to rehearse to have the songs ready to play them live when the album is out. I’m really excited about this. Before this interview, I was rehearsing the new songs, so I’m really excited about this. We’re going to announce a tour soon.
Laura Cox’s new album “Trouble Coming” is released by earMUSIC on Friday October 31st.
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