In Conversation With girlhouse
Credit: Alex Justice
After gaining substantial momentum with her previous single, ‘loaded gun’, the excitement surrounding girlhouse, aka Lauren Luiz, has been obvious from day one. Born in Portland, Oregon, the bedroom-pop artist is also an actress, appearing in the hit NBC series ‘Grimm’.
Following an eight-year stint in Los Angeles, Luiz fell out of love with LA and has recently set up camp in Nashville. Drawing upon her experiences of LA, Luiz decided to articulate these feelings within her music. The end result is ‘the girlhouse ep’, a euphoric debut collection of songs that delve into the mind and soul of Luiz.
Speaking to us via the worldwide web, we caught up with girlhouse to find out more about her debut EP.
Who are you?
My name is Lauren Luiz, I grew up in the PNW (Pacific Northwest, US). I write songs.
Can you describe your sound in two words or less?
‘sad ginger’
How would you describe your creative process?
I usually write out half poems or ideas in my notes app and, when a melody pops into my head, I try to make them work together. Usually two separate processes. I've also collabed with some awesome friends along the way. After the song is produced I usually listen to it a few times, hate it, cry about how I'm not doing anything with my life, and then it grows on me and I put it out.
Your debut EP, 'the girlhouse ep' will grace our ears May 14th - what can audiences expect to hear?
Me trying my absolute best to break up with LA! It felt pretty dragged out but don't most breakups? I wrote all of these songs right before I decided to move to Nashville. I love LA but it was holding me back in a lot of ways, emotionally and creatively. It's nice to be somewhere new with so much rain and nature; also the fireflies are lovely :)
You're also releasing a single to mark the release of the EP, 'pretty girl in la', what were the inspirations behind the EP, thematically?
I think I was binging Keeping Up with The Kardashians during quarantine (obviously depressed), and I noticed myself falling back into a thought pattern I had picked up when I moved to LA. A new term 'LA pretty' kept on floating into my world. People would say I was pretty, but not ‘LA pretty’ and I didn't know what that meant for me. Did I care? Why did it hurt so bad to hear? I definitely started hating how I looked around the time I moved to LA but I've gotten better as I've gotten older and not been on social media as much.
You're an actress as well as a musician, featuring in the NBC series 'Grimm'. We're keen to know whether you blur the lines between the two roles, and adopt a different persona for girlhouse, or is what we're seeing 100% you?
girlhouse is the first project where I get to be 100% me. I'm so happy I've found it. I definitely love jumping into characters for other projects that I have so that part of me is very much still being exercised.
You originate from Portland, Oregon. However, you've lived in Bristol, New York, and Nashville currently. How have these surroundings influenced your music?
I wish I got to spend more time in Bristol, I was only there for a month, unfortunately. I would love to live in the UK for a longer period! I've moved around quite a bit but my relationship with LA is so influential to what I write about. I learned everything useful and terrible about myself in LA. Having the opportunities to travel and live in other places has been exciting, I'm ready to find a home base in Nashville for now, but I'm open to exploring places to live outside of the US down the line.
You performed at The White House during President Obama’s tenancy, as an American, how do you even summarise that feeling? Surreal is probably an understatement?!
I was a part of an adaptation of the musical Spring Awakening through a theatre company called Deaf West. We started in a little theatre that eventually got picked up by a producer that moved us to broadway, nominated for a Tony and a performance at the White House! President Obama wasn't there! So sad! It was an event for the 25th anniversary of signing the Americans With Disabilities Act which was Michelle's domain. I know she saw our performance though! That was unreal.
The White House looks quite a big gaff, did they give you the full tour, or was it an in-and-out job?
It was in and out. We got a nice picture on the lawn though! Honestly, I would have freaked out if I met anyone too important and said something stupid so I'm glad we didn't mingle around too much. Going through security was INTENSE! I can't share too many details but that shit is LOCKED DOWN! I wanna hire the same guys to do the security on my house!
You're back in the UK in the Autumn, supporting Coach Party on some of their tour dates. How excited are you to return to live performances?
I'm very, very excited to hit the road again. I hope things are safe enough here to get out there by then!! Fingers crossed! Please get vaccinated!!
Yuck: We are so ready to be controlled by Bill Gates, don’t worry.
Lastly, can you give us some artists you're a fan of at the minute?
Well, summer is about to return so I'll probably go back to listening to Kacey Musgraves on repeat. I've been listening to a lot of KennyHoopla, Lucy Dacus, and Chiiiild.