Review Fix Exclusive: Leo Lauren Talks ‘Lovesick’ And More

June 1, 2020 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Leo Lauren, who discusses his origin in music and new single, “Lovesick.”

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Leo Lauren: I started writing when I was 20, right after a breakup with a folk singer/songwriter. I had been making visual art all my life and wanted a different kind of artistic experience, and suddenly I had all the time and permission I needed to begin my music practice.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Lauren: It’s different every time. Sometimes it starts with a drawing, sometimes with a lyric. Oftentimes with chords or a riff which radiates fertile ground for lyrical discovery. Some songs take days, some weeks or months… others take years.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Lauren: People I love, art I love, things I hear on the radio or read in the news, movies I see, books that capture me, the weather of a certain day, pain, precariousness, uncertainty…

Review Fix: What does music mean to you?

Lauren: Sound, poetry, and performance unbound by the parameters of space; a time conscious artwork which accumulates meaning each rotation; it means being honest and brazen and sensitive and humorous – potentially carrying the whole array of a cinematic experience in a self-contained 4 minutes. 

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

Lauren: Rock/pop music, with gothic flavors. In the art rock lineage… Lou Reed, Smashing Pumpkins, some dance music/post punk… 

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Lauren: They’re mostly improvisational happenings where I get to perform the material with whatever resources are available. I don’t always have access to the full range of sounds and instruments that are in the recordings, so I must be creative delivering the songs and telling a story, even if it’s just me and an acoustic guitar. It’s always interesting… and fun!

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?

Lauren: I began writing it when I was falling heavily in love with someone on the other side of the world as me. I was in Majorca, Spain with my family, sweating through clothes in palm tree-spotted paradise… yet rapt with yearning, my thoughts often thousands of miles away… The song deals with that almost giddy dissociation, wrought with desire. 

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2020?

Lauren: My goals are to push this EP and begin production on a full length album. Who knows when touring will be a possibility with these circumstances.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Lauren: I’m building a sci-fi set for a Supernormal music video in my garage. And collaborating on the costume with a friend… I’ve been planning out shot lists with my co-director and making scene study drawings. We’re shooting it probably mid June, in my house. One of the themes of the video is domestic space as purgatory… (circumstantially topical I know)

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Lauren: Keep consuming art and making art! Share the art you love and be kind to those around you :)

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14263 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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