We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Auer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Laura, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
This is a really lovely topic that I enjoy discussing, as I am in the middle of a project that has been incredibly meaningful to me. If I were a filmmaker, I would be one of those directors that hides easter eggs and hidden meanings behind everything, because the art is in the details for me, things that may resonate only with a select audience seeking the depth within another’s work. It really gets me going, when I watch a film or listen to a song and make the connection within my understanding to the artist’s motives for adding some specific detail. It’s so much fun to resonate, to share this connection, and to have that moment with another human being on the other side.
During covid, I was reflecting on how time seemed to stop… we were all having the same day-to-day experience, and it was so strange. I was thinking about what moves us forward in life when the things and events we become reliant upon to keep us going suddenly cease. The only thing that seemed to keep moving was nature. The flow of the rivers, the currents in the wind, the sun rising and setting over the world. The changing of the seasons has never become so meaningful to me, so crucial, and I was realizing the magnitude of the impact the seasons have on our lives, from our moods, to our clothing, our routines and activities, our music, our ability to grow and change and become all that we desire.
I became inspired to write down a huge list of all of the songs that I love to sing but never recorded, and categorize them by this seasonal feeling. Some of them I have been performing at my concerts and recitals for over a decade, and continue to return to year after year. I kept narrowing down this list until I had exactly seven songs per season. Seven is the number my grandfather said was the most spiritual number. It is a “leading to” number, which was my intention for this project, I was hoping it would lead me to. And oh it has.
In order to record and fully produce and release seven songs per season, my team and I had to stick to very strict deadlines and it became sort of a “Julie & Julia” thing. Like no matter what went wrong, I couldn’t give up, and I didn’t. Somehow we always pulled through. SPRING was our first release, which included my biggest hit so far “So This Is Love,” and SUMMER surprised us all with its debut at #8 on the US Billboard Charts. Autumn followed while I was performing with an orchestra in Taiwan, and finally WINTER will release later this year in 2023, covering one of my favorite childhood songs as well as several arias I had to learn right up until the day I recorded them.
Some artists really enjoy releasing singles one at a time, but I’m pretty sure I will always be an album artist. I write and create in collections, and I put an incredible amount of time and thought into album order, arrangement and instrumentation, featuring specific musicians to collaborate with, the album art, really everything. It’s of course about making the best art you can make, but also about letting the work reflect as much of you as possible, because music really is our universal language.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Well I will start by saying that most of my audience always knew me by another name, Laura Promiscuo. I toured with my original songs for a while from 2014-2018. I reached Hollywood and lived in my tourbus, the whole thing. I have explored lots of different musical styles but have always come back to my roots in classical music. I grew up in orchestra, playing the viola until college and then I studied opera. After college, I joined a rock band and learned how to write songs. I worked with several producers until I found Tim Sonnefeld, who became one of my dearest friends still today, who really helped me bring out the true uniqueness of my voice through the incredibly saturated music industry out there, and helped me write songs that would honor my authenticity. That’s when things really began to change for me. There are songs that I plan on releasing (in the near future) that I wrote and recorded with him eight years ago!!! So for those of you who are just stumbling upon my music now, know that it’s been a long, windy road and there is so much more to come.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
When someone tells my parents how much my songs mean to them. It’s incredibly special when people tell me, but it’s another when your parents get to have that moment and feel proud, knowing how much sacrifice has gone into the lifelong discipline of becoming a professional musician.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I am calling out to all bars and restaurant owners, anyone that has a venue of any kind, PLEASE open your door to live music. Pay musicians a decent wage. Stop this “pay to play” nonsense, you are doing such a meaningful and powerful thing by supporting the musicians of your town and giving them a platform.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lauraauer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura_auer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauraauermusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Laura_auer
- Other: To check out the “Seasons” project: https://lauraauer.lnk.to/seasons To listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0xVfPlVQIzJ2HzisLaVsSA To listen on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ch/artist/laura-auer/1594464704?at=1l3vpUI&ct=LFV_2721b2b7cbbec017a9ef1ae48109ad5c&itsct=catchall_p&itscg=30440&ls=1 To listen on YouTube: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCu7LYt_8yIcTneNhFg3QT0g?feature=share
Image Credits
Nhan Tran, Anna Montgomery