Exposed Vocals Interviews Laura Meads

Laura Meads was born in Cape Town, South Africa. From a young age Laura has been interested in the music industry. At the tender age of 15 she decided to enter a national gospel singing competition. This was to be her first experience in front of a live audience and, although she didn’t make it past the first round of the competition, she had a total blast performing and officially started a love-affair with the stage which would carry on till this day.

Laura soon realized that if she wanted to become a professional singer she needed some singing training to enhance her natural talent and give her flexibility and longevity in the industry. Thereafter she studied music for four years through two well-known South African music-academies. She also graduated with a diploma in sound engineering. This helped her to be even more self-sufficient in her career and “hands on” (she plays piano and keys) in every area.

Fast-forward to the early 2000’s… Laura had just gotten to the point where she had built up a small fan base when life started getting in the way (as it so often tends to do)… You see up until now Laura had been biologically male, but she had now gotten to a point where she could no longer supress her feelings of having Gender Identity Disorder. She knew that the time has come for her to quit music (until further notice) and focus mainly on becoming the woman she had always been on the inside.

Now, at the age of 30, Laura has finally completed all her surgeries and she has literally been blessed with a second chance of living out her dreams… She has started honing her performance skills again (participating in musicals and various shows) and is once again very active in the Cape Town music scene. She has recently started working on her first original material to showcase at the next big event! She is also renowned for her “MUSE” abilities, and has in recent years frequently been the topic for photography, art and exhibitions. She is an avid activist in LGBT Rights. With all her years of experience in the industry, she has combined it all to produce songs of a very unique and compelling nature.

“It’s difficult for me to categorize my music, seeing that I envision a completely different sound for every song I write… I would say what I do probably falls under Alternative, because I realize it isn’t everybody’s cup of tea and you’ll either love it or hate it… I think Indie-pop is what I’m aiming for though… Okay, let’s go with Indie-pop.  🙂   “

“My influences include artists such as Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Bat For Lashes, Madonna, Sade, etc… Music was the one thing that has really carried me through this journey and I hope in future the music I produce will be able to do the same for others in similar situations.”

About the song ‘Transitioning’:

“Earlier this year I received an instrumental track from an extremely talented Florida-based music-producer named Paulina Angel… She told me that it was a demo of an instrumental track which was set to be used as background-music in an upcoming indie film… As soon as I received it I put the track on and was just so moved by this music!… I was instantly inspired to press record and start singing along… What came out of my mouth were these lyrics about somebody coming from a difficult background but turning that situation around through hard work and sheer determination… The lyrics and melody-line were basically writing themselves as I was singing… The basic outline of my life’s story (and that of so many other transgender individuals) all in this one song and all in one take!  🙂   “

“With last week being international Trans Awareness Week, I was thinking hard about a message I could put onto social-media that would give people an idea of what it feels like to be born in a body that doesn’t match your gender-identity… As I was looking through my Music-folder the rough demo of this ‘Transitioning’ song I’d worked on with Paulina just caught my eye… I thought it would be the ideal thing to post to give trans* peeps who are still in the early-to-mid stages of transition that message of hope, to know that there really is Light at the other side of the tunnel.”

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/laura-kate-meads

Twitter: https://twitter.com/laura_meads

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.k.meads

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?

Laura Meads: I heard about Exposed Vocals through my friend Barbara Barbieri (@Biebie777 Twitter) who placed my rough demo on the Exposed Vocals Twitter account for marketing purposes. I decided to sign up as it sounded like a great opportunity to expose my talent on a global scale.

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Laura: I was born in Cape Town, South Africa. From a young age I have been interested in the music industry. At the tender age of 15 I decided to enter a national gospel singing competition. This was to be my first experience in front of a live audience and, although I didn’t make it past the first round of the competition, I had a total blast performing and officially started a love-affair with the stage which would carry on till this day. I soon realized that if I wanted to become a professional singer I needed some singing training to enhance my natural talent and give me flexibility and longevity in the industry. Thereafter I studied music for four years through two well-known South African music-academies. I also graduated with a diploma in sound engineering. This helped me to become even more self-sufficient in my career and “hands on” (I play keys) in every area. Fast-forward to the early 2000’s… I have just gotten to the point where I have built up a small fan base, when life started getting in the way (as it so often tends to do)… You see up until now I have been biologically male, it got to a point where I could no longer supress my feelings of having Gender Identity Disorder. I knew that the time had come for me to quit music (until further notice) and focus mainly on becoming the woman I have always been on the inside. Now, at the age of 30, I have finally completed all my surgeries and have literally been blessed with a second chance of living out my dreams… I have started honing my performance skills again (participating in musicals and various shows) and am once again very active in the Cape Town music scene. I have recently started working on my first original material to showcase at the next big event! I am also renowned for my “MUSE” abilities, and have in recent years frequently been the topic for photography, art and exhibitions. I consider myself an avid activist in LGBT Rights.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Laura: The single is called ‘Transitioning’ and I think the name speaks for itself. For me personally the song is about the transitioning process I had to go through, but it can also be a universal theme about turning your circumstances around for the better.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Laura: I love giving away free music because I think it’s an excellent way of building a fan base, plus what artist doesn’t love rewarding people for all the loyalty and support they show you?! I however believe there needs to be a balance between free and paid-for tracks, because at the end of the day the artist still needs to be able to survive and pay their bills.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Laura: One thing I firmly believe in is that you need to keep your technique updated so getting a good musical teacher to assist you, when needs be, is vitally important (even for artists who have been in the industry for years). Never think that you know too much, or are so good, that you can’t learn anything new. There’s always something new to be learnt. That is why my business-partner Barbara and I have decided to open a music-school (B&M Singing School), so that we can impart our extensive knowledge to start-ups, smaller or local bands or artists and thereby we learn from them again. This initiates the continual cycle of education. Regarding gigs and airplay… It’s about knocking on all doors as there is always someone looking for unique talent. It states the point of ‘never giving up’.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Laura: We all do! It’s just about how you recover from the mistake and carry on with the performance. WE know our mistakes but the audience often doesn’t even notice anything. A professional will get the job done. As the cliché goes ‘the show must go on’.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Laura: Yes, I have this hilarious story from the days when I was still studying at the music-academy… Our teacher would often pick a handful of her top students to go and perform at promotions for a furniture-store chain on Saturday mornings. It was usually an amazing opportunity to get some exposure and a lot of fun for everybody involved. This one morning the furniture-store chain just had an insane idea… It was the specific branch’s birthday and they wanted us all to dress up in clown-costumes and drive through the streets singing on the back of a small truck. The clown-outfits were majorly embarrassing but luckily nobody could recognize our faces once they were made up. If in theory the idea didn’t seem crazy enough, it was definitely INSANE when it came to practically implementing it! The speakers, keyboard/synth and other sound-equipment were all tied to the truck with pieces of cloth. There was also a generator tied to the truck to supply the electricity. Once the truck pulled away we immediately realised that we were in for an unforgettable (not necessarily for positive reasons) ride! We were slipping and sliding around in our clown-getups, trying our best to keep our balance while singing! The generator was making such a loud noise that it was impossible to hear whether we’re hitting the right notes or not! In fact it was impossible to communicate with each other or hear ANYTHING, but there was no getting off from this joyride! Sound-equipment came loose and was sliding around on the truck with everyone desperately trying to keep it from falling off! We stopped suddenly at an intersection and the stiffy-discs, (which we still used in those days) with the backing-tracks on, went flying through the air and off the truck! Our music-teacher was banging on the little back-window of the cab to let our truck-driver know we need to stop so somebody could jump off and run back to search for the lost discs! Again, back on the truck, we pull up to another intersection. The speakers are tied to the side of the truck so that it is directly parallel to the ears of the poor driver of the little car that had stopped next to us! The people in the cars had such a fright, and I’m sure the furniture-store must’ve been sued by motorists losing their hearing after this fiasco! People were hanging out the car windows yelling and cursing at us. Nearing the end of the day the truck drove through an informal settlement where one of the poorest communities live. We were throwing sweets off the truck to the hundreds of little children running behind and next to the truck. The truck stopped on a field near the settlement and all the families came to watch us perform. There were thousands of people and it was probably one of the biggest gigs I’d ever done. By now we’d gotten used to the humming of the generator and because the truck was now parked stationary it was much easier to hear ourselves singing. What started as a horrible experience had actually turned around into one of the best experiences! Seeing the joy and gratitude on the kids’ faces as they were enjoying their sweets and the music provided by the singing clowns… It was just priceless and a lesson about the power of entertainment which will stay with me forever.  

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

Laura: I mostly gather songwriting inspiration from past relationships and life-events. I keep a little journal under my pillow, as my best ideas always come to me in the early hours of the morning when I’m half awake and half in dream-state! My usual songwriting process encompasses taking all the ideas from the journal and seeing what themes fit together. Then I structure it into chorus, verse, bridge, etc.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Laura: Not yet, but I am in the process of designing the website with my website-designer. The online platforms that work best for me (because everybody knows them) are Soundcloud, Twitter (@laura_meads) and Facebook. The links are as follows:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/laura-kate-meads

Twitter: https://twitter.com/laura_meads

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.k.meads

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Laura: Lol, I LOVE Super Trouper by ABBA but most of my friends think its super embarrassing!

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Laura: I’m a very sensible person when it comes to money (I’m a Virgo!), so I would probably first buy a house (as I’m renting an apartment at the moment) and then of course also update my sound-equipment and possibly buy a car.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Laura: Yes, because at present I’m composing everything with an Oxygen synth and Pro Tools SE.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Laura: The best ways I find to promote my music would be to load it on social-media sites and to do live performances (which are my favourite!).

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Laura: There are so many artists I dream of performing with but my ultimate would probably be CHER, just because she’s such a legend and such a performer with such extraordinary stage-presence! I can picture us performing with some exuberant, over-the-top Bob Mackie outfits on, lol!

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Laura: My main focus at the moment is the singing school which we’re opening in 2016, however I am planning a live concert in July. I’m also currently working on more new material to be showcased at my July concert. I’m hoping to get enough original songs together for my first album. That is my ultimate dream –to still do an album in the near future.

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Laura: I would be working with the LGBT youth in helping them developing and reaching their goals. Around the word there is still such a negative stigma attached to being transgender. In the last year there have been an alarming rate of suicides and murders within the transgender community. The reason why I write the music that I write is to inspire. For me it’s not so much about the voice, it’s about getting the message across. That’s what I’m all about.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Laura: I do! The first album I ever bought was the cassette of Jennifer Rush International Version! She was massive in South Africa during the 80’s. I was about ten years old and prior to this cassette I had only been exposed to the local Afrikaans music scene, with singers such as Bles Bridges, Danie Botha and Karin Hougaard. The Afrikaans singers had a very conservative view about everything and it featured constantly in their music so, when the opportunity arose, I jumped at the opportunity to listen to some mainstream international music. Although Jennifer Rush is actually EXTREMELY mild, her songs were (when I first heard them) simultaneously a shock and a delight for a kid coming from such a sheltered, conservative background as I did. Lol!

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Laura: It’s tough. Luckily I’m a hard worker. I realise that, for now, I still need my day-jobs to keep my head above water but it doesn’t take away from my passion and music-life. I’m still confidant that all my hard work, perseverance and effort will pay off in the end.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

Laura: There’s B&M Singing School which we’re opening in January to help cultivate emerging talent. Our school will also be focussing on doing workshops for start-ups to understand the music-industry better. Then there’s obviously also the new material I’m working on and lastly my preparations for the July concert, of which more detail will be given on social-media closer to the time. It’s in aid of the upliftment of transgender people in South Africa and I’m really excited and passionate about the opportunities that could be created out of this project.