We’re getting candid in our interview with renforshort.
We talk to Lauren aka renforshort about her recent songwriting reflects her emotional growth, fighting to be heard as a young woman in the music industry, and connecting with fans at an intimate EP release show.
Renforshort is an indie pop singer/songwriter who started releasing music as a teen. Now at the age of 22 she’s reflecting on her personal growth in her recent EP ‘clean hands dirty water’ out May 17.
Listen to the full interview with renforshort on Name 3 Songs podcast and find a transcribed excerpt below.
Name 3 Songs: You’ve been making music for a while – when it comes to your songwriting, how has your process changed? How has your relationship to the songs changed?
Yeah, so that’s a great question because when I started, I had this almost like blissful ignorance and in terms of music and creating music in the industry. I knew nothing, there was no expectation. So I just wrote music with one person and we just wrote in our own way. And that was cool.
And then I started doing sessions with other people and going out to LA. And it changed and it kind of made me feel very lost in the process. Like what is it that actually works for me? I don’t think I know anymore because… These people say to write a title before you write a song and this person says to write all the lyrics before you put it to music.
I don’t think that’s how I work. And then I got really confused and I was like, no, I don’t even know how I worked in the first place.
Sometimes I’m like, you have to just disconnect and bring yourself to that place of ignorance again, where there’s no formula, there’s no one way that’s right. And there’s no way that works best for me, except for however I feel like is going to be productive and get out of me what needs to get out.
Starting out at 18 to now being 22, do you feel like having music as an outlet for expression has helped you deal with the growing pains of going through this time period of your life?
Yeah, I mean, absolutely. I think it’s done both. I think it’s responsible for the growing pains, but it also helps me cope with it in a way. There’s such this sick idea in my head that now I’m old and like, I have nothing to offer anymore. It’s so upsetting because this is something I really do talk about in therapy a lot. I think it’s really hard getting older. I just turned 22, that’s why this is so fresh in my brain.
Especially being a woman. The older I’ve gotten the more aggravated I’ve been with the world because this is how I’m expected to be, which really pisses me off. I know this doesn’t have anything really to do with music, but it kind of does because at the same time, I feel like I am beyond my years of my prime.
Listen to the full interview with renforshort on Name 3 Songs podcast available on your favorite podcast platforms.
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