Interview with Lorens, recordJet Passenger of the Month in June 2020

Hi LORENS, how and why did you start making music?

I started making music, when I was about 9. That’s when I started writing. But it wasn’t until I was about 16, when I kind of found my way of writing and knew what kind of genre I wanted to take.

Do you have musical „guilty pleasures“?

My „guilty pleasure“ used to be Taylor Swift. But then one of my friends came up to me and she said: „Life is too short, for anybody to not like Taylor Swift!“ So – I don’t really have a guilty pleasure anymore. I don’t think anyone should have a guilty pleasure, because music is music. So, who cares.

If you could listen to only one artist for the rest of your life, who would it be?

Probably classical music, or someone a bit newer, but definitely something instrumental. So I guess I can say: John Carpenter, or Philipp Glas. Something like that, that could be nice in the background and wouldn’t annoy me.

LORENS is our Passenger of the Month in June. Her EPI Guess It’s About You was released recently. We asked her: about personal experiences that became songs, creative processes and honesty. Have fun with LORENS.

Where do you collect your musical inspiration from?

I usually go from personal experiences. Sometimes it’s my friends, sometimes it’s the stuff, that happened to me. But usually it always has to be personal.

You’ve lived, studied and worked in different countries – does this kind of internationality affect what you do?

Well, I lived in the US, I lived in Germany, but I was born in Serbia and all three places are very different. But I always liked to travel the world and be everywhere a little bit, because I changed three middle schools and two high schools, so I’m not very used to staying in one place. But it doesn’t affect what I do, because what I do requires me to travel and I mean that’s also one of the reasons I do it.

You’re usually involved in every part of your projects – what are the advantages and disadvantages of being part of every little step of your work?

I think everyone who does music should probably know a little bit about everything. So, creative direction, or videography, or you know, anything that has to do with styling, because it’s good to know what you want. I personally always know what I want. But the disadvantages are, that a lot of people don’t like you to pick apart what they do. But thankfully I have a good team. So I trust them and I let them do whatever they want. Yeah.

What is particularly important to you when visualizing your music in your music videos?

Em, sometimes I think videos should be different than the lyrics in the song, so sometimes they should kinda like contrast each other. Sometimes I think it should be directly as it is. But visually it should create this feeling that you want people to have also when they listen to your music. So it should be a similar feeling. But just add, you know, a bigger fact.

What do you need when being creative? Maybe snacks, music or a specific person?

I work mostly alone. Sometimes I have some of my friends work with me. But most of the ideas, they happen either when I’m driving my car, or when I’m in the elevator, or when I’m in the shower (laughs) or when I’m in the bedroom. But usually, I don’t really snack. My mom doesn’t let me snack a lot (smiles). But, em, I don’t need a person. I just need an idea and that’s pretty much enough for me.

Your music is really honest and reflective. Do you ever wonder, if you show too much of your inner self?

I don’t think…. I think everyone should be honest in their music. I think throughout history all the songs that were created naturally and from a frank perspective are songs that are evergreen and songs that we listen to all the time. So I think that nobody should be really, you know, pull back when it comes to writing. I, I never let myself have a barrier when I write songs. So what comes out, comes out. And then, if somebody has to say something, well, that’s ok.

Are there any topics, you would never write music about?

I think music should be a happy thing, and an escape, so, I don’t think… well it depends. I make pop, so it’s very, it should be very happy and it should be about, you know, nice stuff, but also sad love songs. But I don’t think, I don’t think I pull myself back from anything. So we will see. We will see. For now I don’t have any barriers. But maybe one day I won’t want to write about something, if someone asked me to write about something.

Would you rather play a concert in front of 10 fans or 10,000 people who don’t know you at all?

I think 10,000 people. Because then out of these 10,000 people I can make 2,000 people, 3,000 people listen to my music. And then I would pump them up. Because 10 fans… those 10 fans would be in with the crew, with the 10,000 people, so that’s probably ok.

How and why did you end up at recordJet?

recordJet works with Filter. I am signed with Filter. So that’s how I got with recordJet and I really love them, you!

Any last words?

Stay safe, stay at home, be creative and do your thing. That’s it.

Thank you LORENS!

Listen to the EP I Guess It’s About You here: