Her music is a blend of pop, funk and soul that appeals to both young and old. Her voice has that indefinable quality of an ascending star, creating her own unique style along the way. Laura Loe is one singer/songwriter who knows what she wants and she is shaping her future to reach her destiny. Originally from Borneo, Laura came to Australia about ten years ago to go to school. āI went to boarding school,ā she tells me. āAnd Iāve been involved in music from a very young age. I was always in talent competitions, the high school musical and always wanting to be on stage but the main thing was to come here to get an education.ā Laura attended university here and did everything that was necessary to ensure that she had a well-rounded education to prepare herself for a career in music. āI didnāt want to go into the music industry not knowing about the world. I think going to university really prepared me to start taking on the music industry.ā
āI actually went toĀ twoĀ universities,ā explains Laura. āMy first one was the University of Melbourne and I did Politics and Creative Writing there and then I thought I wanted a little bit more because Politics and Creative Writing werenāt things I wanted to fall back on if my music didnāt take me anywhere so I decided to do Publicity.ā
At the end of last year, Laura had an opportunity to be on Australiaās Got Talent. āThey invited me to come to the audition,ā she tells me. āAnd they really liked me so I made it to the semi -finals.ā
Being on Australiaās Got Talent gave Laura the exposure she needed to get her name out to the public. āI had a plan regardless of whether I was going to win the show,ā she reveals. āI was always going to release an EP and when I did the show, I thought I would hold off a little bit until I start getting exposure and then once Iām finished with the show, I can concentrate on getting the EP out and hopefully give people who havenāt seen me on the show, something to listen to.ā So far, that plan is working well.
Her recently released debut EP features four tracks. The songs are an eclectic mix of musical genres and demonstrate the young artistās impressive writing skills. Two tracks were written by Laura and guitarist Hughie Hanily while the other two tracks were penned by Laura herself.
Laura says that she is like any other artist starting out in the business. āIām still trying to develop myself,ā she says. āIām trying to explore and experiment with a lot of things. The songs on this EP, Iāve had for a while and Iāve been writing heaps of songs since then so itās always going to be a development process. I love all genres of music so itās always going to be difficult trying to figure out exactly what I like. But Iām really happy. I think thereās a song for almost everyone on the EP at the moment and thereās a little bit of a mix of everything but all of it is still me. Iāve written all of that myself and I guess the producer that I worked with also had a bit of an influence with the soulful ones and the funk ones and stuff like that. I think Iāve definitely started to develop my own style and itās definitely getting there. Back in the day, what they used to do is sign artists to labels and they actually developed them before they actually released anything. They called it a ādevelopment dealā. So I told myself āYou know all that. Youāre just going to be a development deal yourselfā and thatās what Iām doing. Iām developing my own style.ā
I wondered if she had any advice to share with other young, up-and-coming artists just entering the world of music? āI definitely would say that Iāve got my foot in the door,ā she explains, āBut Iāve still got a lot to learn, lots of places to go. The skyās the limit for me. I want to be touring the whole globe. Why dream small if you going to be doing something like this? So I guess that would be my advice, to dream big and to always know your craft and know what it is you want to do because talent isnāt everything in this business. You have to understand the business. You have to understand things that you want to do and plan it properly and just keep a good head on your shoulders and whatever you do, know exactly where you stand and what you want and donāt let anyone take advantage of that. At first, you donāt know the industry but as you go along, youāre going to learn more and if it gets harder, then thatās probably a good thing so donāt worry. Thatās what I keep telling myself.ā
For the next couple of months, Laura will be promoting the EP and getting people to listen to her music. āNext year Iām going to try to gig as much as possible,ā she resolves. āAnd maybe do a small tour to keep pushing it as well and getting out to all the fans that voted for me on the show. I think that there are definitely people there that I want to reach out to so thatās the immediate plan.ā
And her ultimate goal? Laura is very determined about her goals for the future. āTo be an international artist who tours the world,ā she declares. āThatās the goal and Iāll hopefully achieve that but I definitely would like to develop myself for a bit longer. If I get signed to any record label or management, Iād like to know that itās because itās something that I want to do and not something thatĀ hasĀ to be done. Iāll just keep working as hard as I can andĀ planĀ the plan,Ā doĀ the plan.ā
Not that it is likely but, if the planĀ doesnātĀ work? āChangeĀ it!ā she laughs.
by Sharyn Hamey
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Copyright Ā© 2012 Sharyn Hamey All Rights Reserved.
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Laura Loeās independently released self-titled EP is out now
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For more information, please visitĀ www.lauraloemusic.com
Last updated byĀ Sharyn HameyĀ Dec 30, 2012.