Review Fix Exclusive: Che-Val’s Laura Cash Talks ‘Waterproof’

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Lauren Cash of Che-Val, who discusses the band’s new album, “Waterproof.”

About Che-Val:

Consisting of husband and wife, Kenny and Laura Cash, Che-Val uses retro styles and brings them into the future with cutting edge production. Laura teaches science by day, but writes and belts out emotive vocal hooks by night. Her background in pop and country is blended with Kenny’s ear for hip-hop, funk, and soul in a collaborative songwriting process. Their vision is then furthered through Kenny’s own engineering and production skills as a multi-instrumentalist Berklee College of Music graduate.

Review Fix: What has inspired the sound of this album the most?

Laura Cash: I think that the best thing about this album is that it’s inspired by a lot of different genres, different artists, and different experiences… and that’s something that you can hear upon first listen. The album really represents our musical journey together. Kenny has gotten me to explore and fall in love with his musical influences, like Prince and Stevie Wonder. I, in turn, have made Kenny delve into some of my influences, like Donna Summer, Dolly Parton, and Annie Lennox. And the sharing of these musical adventures is something that we put into each song on the album. We learned and traveled somewhere new on each song.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Cash: The Eurythmics meet Johnny and June Cash… if they did some time-traveling… and were bipolar.

Review Fix: Is there a song on this album with a great story behind it? Can you share?

Cash: I had a really bad experience with a coworker in my past job, where they essentially stole my intellectual property and tried to pass it off as their own. I made a conscious decision to myself to say, ‘You know what? I’m going to rise above and let this roll off of me. I can stay mad, or I can write a hit song about it.’… And that’s what I did! That’s the story behind the song ‘Waterproof.’

Review Fix: How has this album changed you as a musician?

Cash: We used every song as an opportunity to experiment and grow as musicians. For example, as a producer and mix engineer, Kenny wanted to really perfect recording and mixing live horns, so he used ‘My Beat’, ‘Love Still Waiting’, and ‘Oh Darling’ to do so. Whereas Kenny wanted to explore sonically, I wanted to explore vocally and through songwriting. For instance, I got to tap into the emotions, dynamics, and diction of my voice in ‘God Only Knows’.”

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Cash: I want my music to show that you can go wherever your heart takes you… that you don’t have to fit into one category, one box, or one genre. Our album doesn’t fit that. My playlists don’t fit that. My life doesn’t fit that.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this album?

Cash: My goal for this album is to connect with more people… friends, fans, fellow musicians, fellow songwriters, etc.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why should someone listen to this album?

Cash: Because you might learn a ‘lil something about chemistry… pun intended (from a chemistry teacher herself).

Review Fix: What’s next?

Cash: We want to continue our exploration of music and start writing and producing for other acts as well. Especially local artists that frequent the Factory Underground, which is Kenny’s studio. The more artists that we can collaborate with, the more we can grow.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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