Lauran Hibberd talks lockdown boredom, ‘How Am I Still Alive?’ and her favourite Michael Cera movie

Indie-rock tour de force, Lauran Hibberd came back last month with a punchy, powerful new single from her upcoming EP ‘Goober’. There is also a feature from the frontwoman of The Regrettes, Lydia Night, who matches Hibberd in terms of her badass vocal ability on this top class track which delves into the monotonous routine of day-to-day we’ve all been experiencing for the past year. 

We caught up with Lauran to pick her brain on how she’s been spending lockdown and what she’s most looking forward to when we finally get back to live music.

 

You released ‘How Am I Still Alive?’ last month, a collaboration involving Lydia Night from The Regrettes, and they are doing some really cool things over in America, how was the experience of working with Lydia?

 

It was great! Since touring with The Regrettes in 2019, I found myself heavily influenced by them and really heard Lydia vocally in ‘How Am I Still Alive’ when I was writing it. I dropped her a message and was so happy to hear she liked the track and wanted to be involved. As we are from other sides of the globe, it was all done via Facetime and sending vocals back and forth. It was a really fun process! And Lydia is AWESOME.

Seeing two really prominent female artists collaborating is always a joy to see in the indie scene. Are there any other female artists that you’d love to work with in the future? Or any that you find really inspiring?

Definitely! I would die to work with Phoebe Bridgers, I absolutely obsess over her. Lyrically it just really hits me and I think we could make a funny and dark track together (if only she’d follow me back haha).

 

How have you found your creative process changing over the past year? Lockdown’s made some big changes for everyone in the music industry, but I wondered how your process changed especially with your EP ‘Goober’ set for release in July.

I honestly think it’s helped me (writing-wise). It’s been oddly satisfying having this much time to focus on writing and really hone in on every decision and even experiment a lot more. I think it is really distinguishable in the next EP. I even wrote a song a day for about 60 days so I think even my manager was getting sick of all the demos. There was just nothing else to do!

 

In ‘How Am I Still Alive?’, actor Michael Cera becomes a focal point in your lyrics. So I was wondering what your favourite Michael Cera movie is?

It has to be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World right? He was probably my first crush, and I still love this movie so much. He’s in a band called ‘Sex Bob-Omb’ and I used to be obsessed with ‘Garbage Truck’. IT'S SO GOOD!

Throughout the new single, you talk about how sometimes even just getting through the day is difficult and how mundane day-to-day life can be, especially over the last year. Besides music, what have you been doing to keep yourself entertained and to try and stay sane during lockdown?

So apart from writing, I’ve been doing some binging… I watched the entire series of Lost (best show on TV), Game of Thrones (What was Season 8 though...) and Keeping Up With The Kardashians (UNREAL). I’ve been a busy girl haha! I have a good imagination so getting hooked on a TV show really does take over my brain and life, so that may mean some ‘Lost’ themed songs are coming your way.

There seems to be a glimmer of hope that live shows may return to us before the end of 2021. Are you looking forward to getting back in front of an audience and sharing the new material that you’ve got live?

100%, it’s definitely my main focus! I’m ready to kind of put into action everything that I’ve been practicing you know. It feels like a lifetime ago, so I hope I remember how it’s done!! Hopefully, everyone likes the new songs…

 

You’ve had the pleasure of playing a variety of venues all over the place. Once we’re back to normal, where’s one venue/city that you’re desperate to revisit, and where’s one venue/city that you’ve never had the chance to visit but really want to?

 

I’d love to go back to Copenhagen, it was such an amazing show at Vega and I loved the city. I played there supporting The Regrettes a few years back. I would love to play in The States as well, literally would just play on the street, I just would LOVE TO PLAY!

 

‘How Am I Still Alive?’ is available on all major platforms now. Lauran Hibberd’s EP ‘Goober’ will be released on July 30th 2021.

 

Find Lauran on all major social media platforms at @LauranHibberd.

 

Olivia Garland

Twitter @livgaarland

Instagram @liv__garland

Image Credit: Fraser Taylor