We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Eddy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

The moon came into reach when I stumbled upon a supportive community in Galveston and also—and this was huge!—affordable, stable artist housing.

Galveston is a beach destination. It’s tough for renters because Airbnbs are popping up everywhere. We had a 50% increase in short term rentals just over the past 2 years. Outside investors have big dollar signs in their eyes.

It’s very eerie to see how many For Sale signs will suddenly pop up in waves. And there are so many vacation “homes” sitting empty, to the point where neighborhoods are short on neighbors.

Affordable and stable housing is huge for any city, and I hope that we can recognize that need and make it a friendlier place for people who actually live and work here.

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?

My name is Lauren Eddy, and I’m a musician first and foremost. I try my best to honor that—even though I’ve gotten into a big tangle of other projects along the way (oops!). My steady bands right now are EL LAGO, Young Mammals, and Raudiver, and I also fill in on guitar/bass/vocals with other bands sometimes, which is a lot of fun.

A big part of me just wants to have a good time with my friends! Just throwing events for people to come together and have fun. So there are constantly things happening!

My husband Charlie and I (he’s also a musician and artist) collaborate with Mel Mo’Black, Jaron Hall, and Sierra Sakel as Third Eyeland, and we put on music events in town, including a big annual event called Third Eyeland Party. Then we do Martini Theater movie nights with our friend Ben Apolinar.

I’ve had to pick up some design skills along the way (mostly graphics and posters) and I also do layout for our free local zine, Wake. It’s a small DIY publication that you can pick up at coffee shops and bars and be like, “Oh hey, there are local events and local artists and bands,” and it’s like a little map to find other people who care about that stuff.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Making art can be so abstract and inward, and then you come out of your hole and sometimes you are just burning to interact more directly with the world. You get jolted by the ugliness and just how cruel the systems around us are. I’m willing to bet most people feel powerless looking at that.

I may sometimes doubt myself but I do believe that music is really important. Even when you are alone, music can offer companionship. It can be an emotion or experience that’s parallel to yours, or it can lift your energy a little, bring something energizing and alive to your space. And of course it brings people together through events! That kind of companionship is really good for us. We’re together on this weird ride!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think artist problems are human problems, earth problems. It’s all connected.

The predatory systems around us are harming everyone, you know? Artists are being reduced to a charity in the same environment that is harming and exploiting workers, animals, and the planet we share. We just need a better world like everyone else.

I do wish we could find or create a legal path to repo the insane excess wealth of those few individuals that are the 1%. The system that allowed that to happen is incredibly broken.

And that we could bust up massive corporations that are monopolies. Curb corruption in our government, like our representatives playing the stock markets and being lobbied by big corporations, etc. Give small businesses and small artists a chance to breathe.

Protect workers and the earth through more supply chain transparency (a prime example is the global clothing/fashion industry).

Musicians, like anyone, need housing, equality, and to be fairly paid. Streaming companies should increase the artist split, and we can pass laws if they won’t do it out of a spontaneous impulse to be fair. We are the people, we make the rules, right? That’s how it should be.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.linktr.ee/laurenshreddy
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/laurenshreddy

Image Credits
Personal/lead image by Graham W. Bell. Third Eyeland Party poster by Jaron Hall.