A Q&A With Lauren Christoff

Bubbly, exuberant and infectious this blonde breaks the mold of "Pop Princess." Lauren Christoff is sharp with a self-depricating sense of humour with a voice that can knock you off your feet. She's got fun, catchy mainstream appeal with a unique musical sensibility.

Here at JXM we think Lauren hasn't even begun to reach the height of her potential but we already love this guilty pleasure. We say indulge!

JXM: Tell us more about your upcoming record. What can we expect?

Lauren: Its called Revealed and its a mix of everything. Its a fusion of hip hop, pop, and dance and every song is different - its a taste of every kind of music genre. Especially the first single Spotlight and the next single is Vibrate and the album is just really edgy, one second its sweet and the next its edgy.

JXM: What are your expectations of the record?

Lauren: I don't really have any expectations, I just hope people respond to it really well. I think its pretty broad and the audience for it is pretty broad. It can be for a young girl or for someone older, it goes across the spectrum. I'm just hoping it appeals to everyone and is well received.

JXM: Your Top 40 hit Won’t Stop was released about 2 years ago, how will your new record compare musically?

Lauren: My newer stuff is a littler edgier now that I'm coming into my own. Won't Stop was a really fun dance tune, and a lot of my stuff is fun and poppy, but my newer stuff on the record shows more of me and my personality. It still of course is fun and has a lot of stuff to dance too, but there's more emotion and I think its really relatable.

JXM: Surely you’ve grown and matured between those early tracks of Girls Night Out and Rescue Me. Do you think you’re writing has changed? If so, how?

Lauren: When I first started [in this industry], I was fresh out of school and had the typical high school fantasies - meeting boys (laughs)...but now, there's more to it. Before, the themes were more about love, breaking up and of course going out and having fun. But now, I've written a lot of the album, and tracks like Rescue Me are deeper, which I'm really proud of. It has a lot more feeling and meaning and as I mature the music matures.

JXM: You’ve credited your influences as being Etta James, Sammy Davis Jr. and others from the Golden Soul era. Will we be hearing those influences make its way into your album?

Lauren: Growing up with my parents and grandparents, it was the music they listened to. So from the moment I was born, that was the type of music that was ingrained into my everyday life. Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Billie Holliday, and Dean Martin, that's all that I listened to. It was what my parents listened to so that's what I learned to love. When I started to play piano, that's what I based my sound around. That throaty, deep vocals. Until I came into my own and creating my own music. Its changed, but I've always gone back to that base.

JXM: Your covers of All You Need is Love and Make You Feel My Love as well your own Tell You in a Song showcase the depth and soul of your voice and its obvious that there’s much more to you than “pop” singer. Why did you decide to release tracks that were more traditionally pop?

Lauren: Spotlight, Won't Stop and Vibrate, is just a taste - its more dancey - but when the album comes out, and we what we focus on after that, it will [invoke] an "oh okay she can play instruments, she can do other things, she has a different way about her" reaction. I have an acoustic version of Spotlight which completely changes it. I play the piano and everything [about it] switches around, it goes from being about being in the club spotlight, to being in an emotional spotlight so its a completely different version of the same song.

JXM: You’re from the “small” town of Uxbridge. Did coming from a more rural setting help or hinder your musical ambitions? How has it affected your music?

Lauren: Its funny because its your typical smalltown/city, but its a very very artistic town. There are so many talented people that come out of Uxbridge. I think it helped me [coming from Uxbridge], because I don't think I'd be doing this if I grew up elsewhere. The town being as artistic as it is, I wouldn't be where I am if I haven't started there, with smalltown theatre.

JXM: We're going to play Devil's Advocate here - you fit the "mold" of a "Pop Princess" - Britney, Christina etc. What will make you different?

Lauren: I look like a "Britney", pop, expectation, but right now you can't tell who I am and no one knows - you don't know who I really am. But it'll come through that I'm not that cookie cutter "Pop Princess." I'm awkward and I'm you're average teen - my manager often has to hold up a sign to me to stop talking and to start singing! I think if you were to hear me perform live that I would come as a surprise - it's not prerecorded and I'll do different versions of my songs. I'll do raw and belting versions with up and down octaves and I think people won't expect to see that.