A conversation with Rebecca Lou
That the wildness of rock can’t be paired with the brightness of pop music is a stubborn myth. Rebecca Lou destroys that myth completely. She knows how to make trashy punk with doom guitars and heavy leather jackets, but her music also has a strong connection to pop’s aesthetics with mellow chords, elegant melodies and hooks that will stick to your brain like a stubborn pop song.
As in the case of Brimheim some days ago, at the beginning of June Rebecca happened to be in Berlin together with Brimheim and GRETA and I had the opportunity to spend some minutes with her at the office of Better Things, the PR Agency that organised together with the label W.A.S. Entertainment, a showcase with the three artists based in Copenhagen signed to the Danish label. This is the conversation we had back then.
When did you start with making music? Where would you place the beginning or what would be your first memory of it?
Rebecca Lou: “Well, actually I've always sung in a children's choir when I was young. But when I was a teenager I dropped out of school to play music and I realized that I was actually kind of good at it and I really enjoyed. It meant a lot to me. So around my late teen years I decided that music was what I wanted to do with my life and I have been pursuing that ever since.”
We are coming from two rough years. No doubt about that but how did you cope with all that?
Rebecca Lou: “Actually, these last two years actually had a huge impact on my career because I needed a break and time to process and to find out what I wanted to do musically and personally. And I don't think I would have gotten there as quickly as I did if it wasn't for the lockdown. It kind of forced me to do something. Grateful it’s maybe the wrong word to use but I feel like there was an opportunity for me that I took it and I'm happy that I did that.”
I read that you said something like “rock is not only a genre but an attitude” which is something I obviously agree with. Basically no matter the music that you do, you can always stay true to yourself. Besides, pop can also be very rock. In any case, after listening to the music that you do, at some recent point in your career there has been a clear transition of sounds. How do you explain that?
Rebecca Lou: “Well, I guess it came quite naturally. I also felt that I wanted to challenge myself musically and personally by trying to expand how I wrote songs and my perspective on writing music. And also kind of being less angry like I wanted to tell a story in a different way, but still being authentic to myself. I was writing music and the songs naturally just felt more melodic and I felt like it needed a different kind of production. So I feel like this was kind of just a natural next step for me to try to do the more accessible sound and do more melodic stuff. So it's been a fun challenge getting out of my comfort zone musically and personally and doing what I think I'm really good at, but kind of shifting the vibe and finding out new directions creatively.”
How much does your state of mind or self confidence affect or influence the music that you do, I mean, does it respond to the moment that you're going through as a person?
Rebecca Lou: “Yes, definitely. I felt I was ready to show new colours of myself also growing up, learning to get to know yourself better and feeling more confident in doing new things that feels authentic to me and maybe thinking less about what box I fit in or what genre I'm stuck in or whatever. So, yeah, it's definitely as much a personal journey as it is creative. Maybe first and foremost the personal journey.”
So what changed from Skeletons to the moment when you wrote these last songs?
Rebecca Lou: “Well, like I said, less angry. That's really nice. Also feel more confident in who I am as a person. I give less fucks about what other people think of me and the Skeletons EP and the Bleed album, this whole journey is just as much me as it is now. It's just representing a different era of my life. So, yeah, it felt natural to expand my sound and be more playful in my music.”
And how does that feel, don’t you feel anxious of showing so much of yourself in your music?
Rebecca Lou: “Yeah, I get so much anxiety about putting myself out there. But on the other hand, I feel like if I'm not showing who I am or being authentic, then the music is not going to feel credible to others, like the listener or myself. So giving some part of myself and investing a lot of myself in music is kind of important to me.”
You are in Berlin today because of the so-called CPH x BLN showcase that you’re playing at together with GRETA and Brimheim at Privatclub. A great up-and-coming artist based in Copenhagen, signed to the Danish label W.A.S. Entertainment. And precisely W.A.S. seems to be very human and committed to authenticity. How has it been working with them and which role are they playing in your career?
Rebecca Lou: “I feel like they've been very supportive in not trying to change me or trying to mould me in a certain direction. They've always supported me in (me) wanting to do what feels right in my music and honouring where I am creatively . Always putting commercial interests aside, and that gives an interesting kick to the upcoming music scene.”
With the live music scene still in a readjusting phase, have you noticed any changes between before and after this forced shutdown period?
Rebecca Lou: “I feel like the live scene is very chaotic at the moment. I was not established when Corona started but I was maybe more established than a lot of other artists. And I feel that if you were further down the ladder it would have been a very vulnerable place to be because now I feel like everything starts up and people are very focused on selling tickets and selling tours and not taking too many chances because the economy and the live scene is vulnerable. So you need to have tough skin and if you're a totally new artist, then that's maybe some life lessons you haven't done yet so that's a hard place to be. I fear that maybe there's a cycle in the industry we've skipped because we don't have the same focus on smaller acts. But I hope that the music industry has the stamina to pick up on all these smaller artists and make room for them when everything's settled.”
Out of personal curiosity, I wonder how Berlin is perceived from a city like Copenhagen?
Rebecca Lou: “I feel like it's very free minded, very creative, very multicultural. I love that there's like this punk vibe, especially in Kreuzberg that has more room and people listen to a lot of rock music and there's a lot of punk venues. That's kind of one of the things I really love about Berlin. Because in Copenhagen everything is so sub culturally small. So it's nice to experience it at a larger scale.”
And when it comes to the crowd, how's the German audience as compared to the Danish?
Rebecca Lou: “I feel like the German audience really likes rock and roll music. They're very positive and they love a good song. Sometimes in Copenhagen everything has to be very cool, very aesthetic and very hipster and I feel like here in Germany there's more chill.”
That was indeed interesting to hear. We’re about to finish but before doing so, what upcoming plans do you have?
Rebecca Lou: “Well, after tonight’s show I'm going to drive to England and play two shows there. Then I have some shows this Summer and after the Summer I'm going to write a new album. So I'm very excited about that!”
