Total Guitar

Interview: Laura Veirs

The Portland songwriter talks silencing her inner critic and how you don’t have to shout to make a difference through music

- Words Thea de Gallier Photo Jason Quigley

On first listen, Laura Veirs’ 10th solo album, The look out, has all the trappings of the singer-songwriter genre: soft vocals that embrace the ears, whimsical guitar lines and bitterswee­t lyrics. But it’s also quietly revolution­ary: since Trump took office, the Portland-based artist has felt a compulsion to reference the state of the world.

“It certainly feels more feverish now,” she says. “I know many artists are struggling with trying to tackle these issues because they feel so pressing now. Waves of darkness and light come through the political world, and this is really a point of darkness in America.”

Having begun her career in a punk band, it’s not surprising to hear that social issues are a thread running through Laura’s music, especially on, The Lookout. There are more ways to make a stand, she says, than being “brash” about it.

“There’s a lot of soul music that was revolution­ary… it was hardcore in its own way, but it’s also so listenable and danceable,” she muses. “Music acts as a refuge for people. You can provide some kind of solace, and I try to do that in the sense of, ‘I’m paying attention to this, you’re not alone.’ There’s a song [on The Lookout] called Watch Fire, which for me is so obvious, it’s about protecting vulnerable people. A lot of my work is grappling with myself and my own issues. If it does provide someone with solace, that’s great. I don’t expect my music to be revolution­ary but I think it’s a piece of the pie.” Modern proverbs – the kind that are often shared on Instagram against a visually-pleasing backdrop

– also found their way into her lyrics.

“When It Grows Darkest is a track on the new album. When the election happened, I saw that quote: ‘When it grows darkest, the stars come out’ going around. I wrote a song around that lyric, I think it’s just from the common vernacular, I couldn’t find a source for it. I grew up in Colorado in the mountains where the stars were very bright, and when it got dark the stars did come out. It’s kind of obvious but it’s also a great metaphor: dark times build our resilience and perseveran­ce.”

The inward-looking approach also extends to her working environmen­t. Writing from her attic studio in Portland, she says she writes “over and over” for as long as a year, until standout songs begin to take shape. “My husband [Grammy-nominated Tucker Martine] is my producer, and we listen through them and decide which ones are the strongest. If you become too heavy-handed you can overwork and stifle yourself, but writing 10 songs and making an album… I can’t!” she laughs. “Basically, most of the songs I write are not good. I have to write a lot to get the quality up. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it’s been that way for years. I have to keep my inner critic at bay.”

Working with her husband, she says, makes this both easier and harder. “It’s easier because I trust him so much and I don’t care if he doesn’t like it. But sometimes I feel hurt like, ‘You don’t like anything I do!’ His bar is very high, he’s a great producer,” she says. Time in the studio also allows the pair to reconnect on a creative level, which is how they first met – she mailed him a cassette of her music almost two decades ago. “We don’t get a lot of time together in a creative way anymore because we’re so busy with other projects, our children, and the logistics of touring,” she explains.

The Lookout’s collaborat­ors, which include Sufjan Stevens and Jim James, were chosen not just because their voices fitted the music, but because of their friendship with Laura. “All the people on this are old friends and people I’ve toured with and collaborat­ed with in the past,” she says. “We just know we can trust them to come up with great parts quickly and not have big egos, you can encounter that when you get into the realm of great musicians and it’s a bummer to be around. None of these people have that.”

Laura herself could never be accused of having an ego, either. From her admission that she has to write hundreds of songs before finding one she’s happy with, to her rejection of the trope of artistic misery – “I don’t do well when I’m depressed, I’m not the tortured artist!” – everything she does comes with a grounding that makes her music far more relatable than she realises.

The Lookout is released on 13 April via Bella Union

“I don’t expect my music to be revolution­ary but I think it’s a pi ece of the pi e”

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