HYDERABAD: Casually dressed in a white tank top and denims, the beautiful Laura Critchley is a picture of affability as she sits down for a chat with us before her show in Hyderabad . Consistently belting out songs in Country-Pop flavours that are steadily climbing the charts, by the looks of it, Laura just might be the Sheryl Crow of our generation.
With a packed schedule and tours stretching all over the globe in the months to come, Laura reveals that her rise to fame has not been a easy task: “I started out playing in gigs since I was 15, sometimes playing with only an old guy and his dog for an audience. It was not easy doing odd jobs after school, after which I saved up some money for musical equipment.” Laura continues, recalling her father’s initial reluctance to her starting a career in music, “My dad wanted me to get an education and go into banking. I finished my studies, got my A levels and then went ahead and did what I did. After I came back home, he said I was an absolute fool.
In fact, we did not talk for two weeks after that,” Laura laughs. After that, life was, quite literally a rollercoaster ride for Laura Critchley, after a bout of playing live, the young Liverpool lass struck gold with her critically acclaimed Sometimes I, a breezy mellow number infused in Nashville Country flavours. Soon enough, Laura moved to London and within 3 months was signed to independent record label Big Print Records. In 2007, she recorded three songs with pop hottie Robbie Williams and sang with Ronan Keating.
We couldn’t help but ask how the journey has been so far, to which the demure Laura smiles, “this has been everything I have expected, it’s almost like I have woken up in a dream. I have never felt better.” Having performed in pubs as well as packed auditoriums in music festivals like her recent debut at the Isle of Wight festival, Laura loves her audience, “there’s nothing better than the audience singing along and clapping to my songs, and it’s amazing to see you music working with the people.” We wondered if the singer preferred performing to larger audiences over smallish pub gigs, and she shot back: “I sung in front of over 35 thousand people with Boyzone, and I’ve played at sparse pub gigs; strictly speaking, they are different experiences, each rewarding in their own way, and always go hand in hand.” As self-made artist who has been through the grind in her initial years as a struggling musician, Laura Critchley has indeed come a long way, and insists, “It does not come without hard work. It has indeed been a long road, these nine years.” The 22 year old from Liverpool is all excitement when she talks about her first visit to India, “the tour has been like a dream come true, despite doing some research on India; nothing could prepare me for the amazing experiences while on tour.
This will be a special tour for me,” she says. Laura also admits to having watched a couple of Bollywood films, “Sinngh is Kinng has been thoroughly entertaining.
The sense of humour is quite similar to what we are used to in the UK, and I loved the film,” quips Laura.
Her debut album, Sometimes I is, in Laura’s words, “pretty much a mix of everything I had written thus far, with heavy influences from The Carpenters, Leann Rhimes and Shania Twain playing a significant part in the sound.” Ask her where she wants to take her sound now and Laura says, “I’ve been in Nashville recently and simply love the edgier sound there, as of now you may expect a slightly Rockier edge in my songs. (laughs)” Writing songs since the age of 9, Laura yearns for honesty in songs as she says, “when you write songs, you should write whatever comes to you instead of trying to write in order to make a hit. That brackets you and limits your creativity, to my mind.” Her song writing is tinged in autobiography in Today’s Another Day, a toe-tapping, head-nodding pop number with lyrics inspired by Laura’s time before signing her record deal when she was endlessly gigging around bars and clubs, in constant pursuit of her dream. Laura, incidentally will be touring heavily in the coming months and showcasing her talent across distant shores. She speaks about her upcoming plans and signs off: “For now, I want to travel a lot and get out of the UK for some time. Back there everybody wants singers to be a wild bunch and do drugs. Quite frankly I am not like that - I’m a good girl, I love spending time with my family, painting when I can. I love having a good life with loved ones, and that’s who I am.” With a bunch of tours lined up, hundreds of live bookings, a new music video in the pipeline, Laura sure has her hands full. What’s more, Hollywood may not be too far away for the pretty Liverpool gal, as she has already been offered a role by screenwriter Jeff Arch (of Sleepless in Seattle fame) in the upcoming film The Chelsea Story. By the way this artiste is headed, Laura Critchley just might be the next best thing to look out for, watch this space.
rahul@epmltd.com
