Discover...Lavaud
/
Image taken by: Christina Nwabugo
Empowerment. That’s the theme of the new release from British-Mauritian Singer: Lavaud.
An artist both carefree and determined, Lavaud set out to create a body of work which represented “Power” and simultaneously allowed women to feel happy while listening to her music.
From a young age, Lavaud was encouraged to follow her passion for music; whether that was singing at church or performing at the legendary Hackney Empire in East London, where she was born and bred. Anyone who grew up there knows how multicultural the area is and this too, helped shape Lavaud’s view of the world.
It was these early steps which no doubt led to her sharing her gift with the world today.
WFA sat down with Lavaud in late April to speak more about the release of her latest single and EP, both named “King Vaud” as well how a trip to Jamaica to shoot a music video, led to a life lesson on dealing with adversity.
———————————
“I would say [in lockdown] I realised I could do a lot of things without relying on other people and that was a beautiful thing.”
Firstly, I wanted to ask how you’re doing? Are you currently in London?
Yes, currently in London and still living in Hackney. I’m loving life and making the most of this situation (lockdown). But I can’t wait to travel.
How are you feeling about coming out of Lockdown as an artist?
I absolutely love it. The fact that I can just go to the studio and have my week filled up; I love it. It was a bit weird at first though because I was a bit like “hmmmm, how do I socialise again?” I felt I was getting really comfortable in my house and doing things at home. But I learnt how to record myself from home and write [music] by myself at home.
You kind of touched on the creative process there but in general, over the last year, how has it been for you creatively to try to make music?
To be honest, there are ups and downs to it. There are times where you’re super inspired and you can pick up your guitar and write a song in 3 mins. And then there are days where you honestly feel so down that you want to go see your friends. Even going to parties and clubbing you can get inspiration from that; like dancing to a song and you’re like “oooh, I can’t wait to write a song that’s similar to this.”
But I would say [in lockdown] I realised I could do a lot of things without relying on other people and that was a beautiful thing.
That’s great to hear. I think a lot of artists were pushed to start doing that because, you couldn’t rely on anyone else, you had to just keep creative and not get stuck in a rut.
So now I want to talk to you more about growing up in East London, in Hackney. Were you born and raised there?
Yes, I was born and raised in Hackney; in Homerton Hospital. I grew up around Stoke Newington (that’s where I went to school). And then I kind of branched out a little bit and went to a musical theatre school in Angel. Then I decided to make a big move to LA and that’s when my music journey really started as “Lavaud”. But yeah, born and raised in Hackney, most of my friends are also the same.
From your perspective, how has living there influenced you as a person and creatively?
I would say a lot of my friends, firstly, are all very multicultural; I feel like I was exposed to a lot of [different] cultures with my neighbours, people I went to school with, places like Dalston market. I would say I was exposed to a lot of culture which is why my music is so cultural. [The people around me] really accepted me for who I was, i.e. being Mauritian. Everyone was about learning about my culture. I feel like everyone has one Mauritian friend; so it was really cool. Also growing up in Hackney, there were so many opportunities musically for me to collaborate with people. [There were also] opportunities for me to sing at Hackney Empire. There was just so much, honestly, I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else.
“I’m thankful for everyone who’s been put into my life; I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Is that how you decided to become an artist or did something else encourage you?
It was my father actually, he’s a musician and music teacher but he was in a Mauritian-African Afrobeats band. When my mum was pregnant, she went on tour with him around South East Africa and I was born into it and started going to church. He handed me the mic one day, I started singing and everyone was like “Oh My God, she needs to sing more!” So that’s how I was encouraged. Then my mum put me in after school drama club and I just started performing everywhere and doing little competitions around Hackney. Everyone just encouraged me to go for it. I’m thankful for everyone who’s been put into my life; I wouldn’t be here without them.
Earlier you touched on your British-Mauritian heritage. Have you ever felt any pressure to represent either or, or do you feel like you fuse both of those together quite well in your sound?
I would say I’ve never felt pressure. When I’m in the studio, I’m very free and I’m blessed enough to be around people who have an open mind and are always open to trying to make a new sound. So we experiment, there’s no rush to get anything done. Even with my new song “King Vaud”, it has a fusion of different sounds in it and it really works. This is what I want to represent; I want to represent as many cultures as I can. It’s really cool that I’m around people who are not close-minded. I don’t think I feel pressure at all.
I would say, it is hard to merge Mauritian music with R&B but I think right now we’re so close to making something happen. So it’s really interesting trying something new.
And on the subject of “King Vaud”, the EP name but also the name of your latest single. What was your initial vision for the EP and did it turn out the way you wanted exactly?
You know what, it actually did. A while ago, I wrote in my journal what I wanted to try and represent and I wanted to be someone that would represent “Power”; in music through the beat and the lyrics; I wanted women especially to feel empowered. And also just dance and feel good and make them happy.
I feel like with this project, everything I bullet-pointed in my journal is literally there in the 4 songs. It’s completely authentic to who I am. I think it represents me well as a person as well as musically. We’ve worked so hard towards it and I’m happy that everything I wanted to achieve with this project has been fulfilled in some way.
And I think that’s the key to being an artist; just being free in the studio and having no expectations: it will always come out the way it’s supposed to come out. Before, I used to put so much pressure on myself and be like “I have to make a banger.” But if you literally just go in there and create, you never know what you might come out with and even if you don’t ever use it, it’s still something that you needed to let out anyway.
And on the subject of creating what you feel, when you were putting together “Oh My” featuring Reekado Banks, how did that come together?
Myself and Reekado had worked together before (the Remix for Rora), as soon as I created it I thought “I wonder if I send to him whether he’d want it.” But I sent to him and a day later he sent it back with his verse and I was so happy! I’m happy I did it and I think I’m gonna do it more with artists that I like.
Speaking of which, who are you currently listening to?
I’ve been banging out Wizkid’s album since it came out — I love ‘True Love’.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Niniola, love her and love Afro-House; when I’m cleaning I used to listen to Soca but now it’s Afro-House. Also H.E.R’s new song with Chris Brown as well.
But I think it just varies especially with the way Spotify is now, they kind of just give you what you’re looking for with their playlists.
Also my best friend released a song called “Closure”, her name is Mychelle. If you want a nice night after work with wine and candles, that is your vibe.
Now I wanted to ask you about your sound, because it’s been described as Afro-Infused and Alternative R&B, but I want to know: what do you think of genres and genre-labels in general?
I think, the way people think, they need a type of structure in their life. That’s the reason genres are there so you know where to fit in. In the same way that Bryson Tiller “created” TrapSoul. I think with genres it’s okay to put artists in a box of some sort because for instance on Spotify, if you’re looking for a type of sound, you know where to find it.
But in terms of the sound I’m creating, I wouldn’t really know what to call it until more of my music comes out. I have such a mixture of what I like to make because I love music so I don’t know where to put myself but for now, I don’t mind being classed as Afro-R&B and Pop-ish.
Within the music industry, you have no choice but to be put in a certain box. And when festivals come, you know where you’re gonna be lined up.
Now, let’s talk about the video for “King Vaud” which you shot in Jamaica. Talk me through your experience, the idea for that as well as having a female director, Christina Nwabugo, and working with her.
I absolutely love working with Christina because she just gets the vision and as soon as she heard my song it was just a connection; it was magnetic. I was like she has to direct the rest of the project! She just gets it. Without even having to explain my vision, she already had it right there.
She added a twist to my vision which expanded everything. Like there’s a tree in the video and she found a picture of it and said “It’d be cool if you were laying on it.”and I was like Yes! So we ended up going to Jamaica (where this tree was) and actually got stuck there because of Covid. But it ended up being the best experience of my life. It felt like a backpacking holiday because, we only planned to go there for a week so we had a week’s worth of clothes. But it just made me realise that materialistic things do not matter at all. You can literally just have a T-Shirt and Denim shorts and go. Or just create something out of nothing which is what I did (I kept making tops out of scarves). So the experience was great.
Being in Jamaica as well, it’s not hard to shoot something because everywhere is beautiful. It also worked with the tropical vibes of the EP.
And now finally, what does success mean to you?
I know this is going to sound crazy, but I genuinely feel successful now. Because I’m so happy. For me, success is all about happiness and where you are with your mental state. I feel like that’s the most important thing and I feel like once you’ve covered that, you’re successful in your own right, you’re rich in your own right and everything else comes with it. For me, success is seeing my family and all my loved ones happy and me being happy. That’s all it is.
—————
Be sure to check out Lavaud’s new EP and video for “King Vaud”, out now.
SOCIALS:
SPOTIFY
APPLE MUSIC
YOUTUBE
Image Credit: Christina Nwabugo