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Interview: Lauran Hibberd

My love for Lauran Hibberd started after first hearing ‘Sugar Daddy’ on one of Spotify’s playlists back in 2019, her fun and catchy lyrics had me hooked from then on. So, when there was an opportunity to be able to review Lauran’s Debut Album & a chance to interview her, I couldn’t pass up the chance!

It’s a busy day for Lauran as it’s the day before her Debut Album ‘Garage Superstar’ is released, she confirms that “it’s been really fun but also hectic, but hectic in a good way”, still not believing herself that the album is out from midnight that night!

Lizzi – So, how has the journey been up until this point? Has this album been years in the making?
Lauran – Yeah, it definitely has been a few years in the making, it’s not something that has come about overnight, I’ve been an artist since I was 16 and I’m 25 now, so it’s really exciting to be at the point of releasing my debut album and having people that actually want to hear it and care about it. It’s been really overwhelming, because you don’t really see it at the time. It’s kind of like watching your hair grow, you don’t notice it, but then you look at a photo of yourself and you’re like oh it’s long now! Now it’s here I’m like AHH! It’s been crazy good ride for sure.

You’ve had collaborations on your album with DJ Lethal & Brendan B Brown from Wheatus. As well as working with Suzy Shinn, what was that like?
Yeah Suzy worked with me on the album, and we also worked with Larry Hibbitt who is in the band 100 Reasons, he’s in based in Brixton, it was good fun, it was like a holiday/rock school style thing, it was like being in School of Rock!

Amazing! So, how do you choose which single you release from your album? Is there a specific process?
Normally you get a feeling, I think with ‘Still Running (the same 5K)’, I had the biggest feeling that that should be the first single to go out in to the world. I just felt really confident that that song set the right tone for the album. Then with songs like ‘I’m Insecure’, I knew I wanted that to be a single, but it was just a case of when. With the most recent release, ‘Hot Boys’ which came out yesterday, I couldn’t land on a last single, as I felt there could have been a few contenders, so that was difficult, but it is a fun track and was really fun to record, so I thought it would be a really good send off.

Is there a stand out track for you on the album?
My personal favourite is a track called ‘Average Joe’, it was just like a real lightbulb moment for me, it was one of the last tracks that ended up on the album and one of the last to be written. It just perfectly filled that gap for me and I was so happy for myself. I love the imagery and the character that I built and I love taking down the average man so it was good fun.

And I have to ask what does Jango think of the album? (Jango is Lauran’s adorable & beloved sausage dog, he features on the album artwork and on an exclusive Zoetope pressing from Blood Records).
Jango loves the album a lot, he loves the vinyl with him on! He’s hit the big time, he’s very happy. I’d say his favourite song is Garage Band Superstar. He was sat on my feet during the writing process of that, so I’ve taken that as a sign that he likes it.

You go on tour next month, have you got any surprises that you’ve got in store for your tour?
Yeah there’s definitely going to be a few surprises, I love collaborating with other artists, I think it’s really important to help each other out and music is such a collaborative thing, no one can do it by themselves even Ed Sheeran has people doing different things, he might stand on stage alone but he’s got a wider team, you can’t do anything in the world by yourself, so I think it’s important to include as many people as you can.

‘Garageband Superstar’ is a debut album full of catchy riffs and lyrics, I can imagine singing into my hairbrush whilst getting ready for the latest party back when I was in my early teens. (I know I wasn’t the only one who did this right?!) The album has been compared to the soundtrack of a Tony Hawk Pro Skate video game, taking influences from the 90’s and 00’s era. Lauran describes the album as dad rock for your daughters, which I have to agree with! Throughout the album Lauran sings about being insecure, dealing with average Joe’s and hot boys… Which I think most of us have had to of dealt with one or more of these things at least once in our lives! The album is a definite must have to listen to, you will not be disappointed.

Lauran is currently touring around record stores and independent venues, she’s due to visit Pie & Vinyl in Southsea on Tuesday 23rd August and back here again playing on her Headline Tour at The Wedgewood Rooms on Saturday 24th September.

Photo: Steve Glashier


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