Bustle Mixtape
Lauv, who just dropped his confessionalAll 4 Nothingalbum, tells Bustle about his celebrity encounters.
Count Lauv among the Swifties.
Im in absolute awe ofTaylor Swift.
Lauv has a lot in common with theAll Too Wellsinger.
All the eras of Taylor are just so spectacular and her music videos are like movies, Lauv adds.
I have so much respect for her.
Lauv promises the new 13-track album is more personal, raw, and off the cuff lyrically and sonically.
Its a question Lauv posits repeatedly throughout the album.
Hearing Hey Ari for the first time brought him to tears.
I was just bawling on the floor.
Stranger has earworm potential, whileSummer Nightssets up moments for his falsetto to shine.
On Being A Leo, His Favorite Lyric & Mental Health
Whats on your mind right now?
Whats on my mind right now is that L.A. should be called Lost Angeles.
[Laughs]Im just kidding.
I dont know why that just popped in my brain.
I actually just came from talking with my therapist so Im freshly therapized and ready for my interview.
Whats the lyric you love the most fromAll 4 Nothing?
Ive never even thought about this.
I think this one would be Hey Ari, are you happy?
cause I think thats something thats so important that I ask myself and everyone asks themselves.
Not like, Are you successful?
or Are you this?
but Are you happy?
Whats a song youre proud of?
Bad Trip is one I love a lot.
Thats a favorite of mine.
What has this album taught you about mental health?
I was definitely struggling with substances.
I definitely do not recommend to anyone whatsoever the path that I went down.
I was struggling in different ways and also wanting to experiment with different forms of consciousness and whatever.
How does your zodiac sign influence the way you make music?
Is there a genre you wish you made music in?
Honestly, sometimes heavier metal or screamo because I used tolovelistening to so much of that.
How have you taken care of yourself over the past couple of years?
Meditation is a huge one.
Ive been on medication too just for OCD and a little bit of depression.
Trying to be consistent with exercise.
Im really bad at drinking water, but I need to drink more water.
And I just attempt to be really patient with myself.
So I think just tapping into my intuition more helps me take care of myself.
On Meeting Drake & Stanning Rex Orange County
What is your go-to karaoke song?
My go-to karaoke song would beWhat The HellbyAvril Lavigne.
I love that song.
Whatever space were in Im just running around going crazy, standing on things.
Whos a musician who when you hear their songs think, I wish I wrote that?
Another fave song of mine that I wish I wrote isMotivation by Normani.I just love that song.
What is the song that should play at your wedding and the one that should play at your funeral?
Oh damn, thats dark.
I wanna say Down By The Bay by Raffi at my funeral.
And then at my wedding, I guess it depends on what my partner wants too.
But right now, Im gonna sayPluto Projector by Rex Orange Countybecause I love that song.
Im basically a Rex Orange County stan.
Whos made you the most starstruck so far?
I would say its a tie [between] Taylor Swift and Drake.
And I was like, Oh my god, and I freaked out.
I ran into Drake at a sushi restaurant.
That was so crazy.
I worked up the confidence to go up to him and I had no plan of what to say.
I was really making eye contact and stuff.
I was like, He probably doesnt know who I am.
I have no idea how this is gonna go, but Im just gonna go for it.
And like, umm, I really like…
I was really doing the whole kid trying to pitch a mixtape kinda vibe it was so funny!
What was Drake like?
Drake actually was super chill.
It was so funny.
This was probably six months ago.
Whos an artist whos famously cheesy but you love absolutely unironically?
I think they have some bangers.
Who do you want to collaborate with next?
Its really just stuff that I love and collabs just also happen naturally by meeting people.
So I dont like to overly plan for stuff like that.
Youve also collaborated with artists from different genres like K-pop, Bollywood, and Latin.
How do you approach infusing your music with specific sounds?
Music, in such a cool way, is so insanely global and so cross-cultural.
Do you have any traditions when creating a song or with your collaborators?
I do like to meditate with people when were in a studio if we get caught up with anything.
Other than that, just drinking way too much caffeine.
Whats your go-to coffee drink?
Either cold brew oat milk or sugar-free Red Bull.
On MakingMusic & Forgetting Lyrics
Kids Are Born Stars talks about your eighth-grade dance.
What was the first song you slow danced to in middle school or made out to?
Oh my god, I cant remember!
Probably something by Teddy Geiger or John Mayer.
Was that song inspired by your actual eighth-grade dance?
[It] was just kind of about that whole time.
Do you have a standout memory from that age?
Waking up sunny, living close enough to school to just hop on my bike.
Theres something really nice about that.
Listening to a lot of Owl City in eighth grade.
Whats the song you grew up listening to that you still know all the words to?
I dont know if theres any.
Im actually weirdly, for somebody who writes songs, not that good at memorizing lyrics.
I forget my own lyrics all the time, especially on live streams.
My fans always make fun of me.
Ill literally forget the lyrics so often.
What comes first, the melody or the words?
I would say 60% melody, 40% lyrics.
Sometimes it happens at the same time but slightly more often than not melody comes first.
What moment made you feel like a musician?
That was a moment I can never trade for anything ever.
Was there a moment you felt ready to give up on musician life?
What got you through it?
Even though I get really in my head sometimes, I love this.
