Lauren Mayberry still remembers what it felt like to sit alone in her teenage bedroom, headphones on, listening to artists like Tori Amos and Fiona Apple as if it was some kind of private spiritual practice. At 15, she was already playing in bands, and although there was plenty of music she and her male bandmates could agree on, she knew from experience that they would just tease her if she tried to get them into Tori or Fiona or PJ Harvey or Kathleen Hanna. She says, “It was a lot of confessional female singer-songwriters, and I thought of them like, ‘These are my friends who live in my headphones.’”
Lauren Mayberry still remembers what it felt like to sit alone in her teenage bedroom, headphones on, listening to artists like Tori Amos and Fiona Apple as if it was some kind of private spiritual practice. At 15, she was already playing in bands, and although there was plenty of music she and her male bandmates could agree on, she knew from experience that they would just tease her if she tried to get them into Tori or Fiona or PJ Harvey or Kathleen Hanna. She says, “It was a lot of confessional female singer-songwriters, and I thought of them like, ‘These are my friends who live in my headphones.’”
Ahead of last year's 10th anniversary of Chvrches’ groundbreaking debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, Mayberry felt reflective in a way she hadn’t anticipated. Looking back at all of the incredible moments of personal evolution and musical growth during these years with the band, she realized that she still had a creative wall she needed to push through.
In discovering who she is as a solo artist, Mayberry has accessed a new world of inspiration, and a deep well of creativity she’s had within her all along. “This whole process has been quite liberating,” she says. “I feel much more connected to my whole self. It’s very exciting.”
