Meet Trailblazer Laura Brehm

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Brehm.

Laura, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in music; I was classically trained on the piano from a young age and was constantly in the environment of music. My mother is a singer-songwriter and my father is a pianist; that’s also how they met. By the age of 13, I became interested in acoustic guitar and this is when my songwriting started to develop. I had always sung from a young age as well, but when I put my melodies and words to guitar chords I fell in love with the craft. By age 16, I had released my first full-length album titled ‘Day to Day’, an indie/pop/singer-songwriter collection of work that basically is from the perspective of my high school experiences. I also began performing acoustic shows around Colorado during this time.

At University, I was studying psychology but continued to work on my music and released a second album titled ‘Dreams’ when I was 19. After this, I had a short period of time where I questioned my direction with music and focused more on my studies, but ultimately I think I just needed a change. I became interested in EDM as it was rising in popularity in Denver. Shortly after this, I began writing and singing over producer’s tracks and this quickly became my niche. I ended up leaving University and pursuing it full time. Now, this has been my focus for nearly a decade. I’ve had an immense amount of releases on EDM labels such as Monstercat, NCS, and Liquicity, the major label Universal, as well as many independent releases. During this period of intense experimentation and development, I realized what styles of music I resonate with the most and became more interested in learning the production and business side of it all as well.

In 2016, I founded my own label, Electric Bird Records, because I had started making my solo music again (the single “Don’t Wait” and the ‘Breathe’ EP) and didn’t know where in the existing market it would fit under. The vision for my label is a mix of folk, alternative, experimental, and EDM; also being at the mid-point between commercial pop and avant-garde. This is exactly my taste. As I have been building the foundation for this platform and carving out my own space in the market, I continued heavy top-line work and collaborating. In 2018 I decided to invest in my knowledge and attend a music school in London for 1 year where I studied music technology and business, further equipping myself to be successful in the direction I’m going in. The direction is to be my own artist again (rather than constantly being the top-liner and collaborator), producing and releasing albums, and performing. Now that I have completed my studies, I’m back in Denver and completing a brand new album which will mark the starting point of a new chapter in my career, which will be self-released on my label.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It most certainly has not been a smooth road. It’s been a twisting, winding road where sometimes there are no street lights to see clearly. It’s always unpredictable, unstable, and to be honest, scary! However, it’s been very much worth it. I think one of the main struggles as many artists will agree with, is self-doubt. There have been a lot of times where I feel like giving up, feel like I’m not good enough, and wonder where this is all leading to. I’ve longed for more stability and security, but ultimately I feel music is what I was put on this planet to do, and so I’ve continued on. One aspect of this career I’ve realized is that you never get to a place where you can sit back, as if you have “arrived” and just coast the rest of the way like you have it all figured out. The music industry is constantly changing, and that change is speeding up alongside technology. You have to wear many hats as the artist in this modern world, and you have to be an entrepreneur in every sense as well as creating great music. It can be overwhelming and a tough balance to strike. There are definitely times where I feel I work 24/7 and even with that, I still feel like I’m not doing enough and not doing it quickly enough. But I think everyone can relate to this pressure, especially with the competitive nature of the field. It also has been a challenge for me to become my own artist in the world of EDM where top-liners can be easily overlooked, not tagged properly in the promotion or in distribution, and not paid as much as the producers. Even though the top-liner is essentially writing the songs! It’s kind of the opposite in the pop world, where the producers are more often taking the back seat and sometimes (I think) not given enough credit. As a woman, I have certainly been underestimated but luckily I have not had any horrible experiences when it comes to sexism. I will say though; that as a woman, you have to know that you can do anything that the men do and no one can truly hold you back except for yourself.

What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
My specialty is singing/songwriting and knowing how to create melodies and lyrics that can take an instrumental to a new place. Also, just writing a song from a blank canvas, which I do pretty much on a daily basis (I have strengthened these muscles from so many years of doing it). I have a strong intuition of how all of the elements of a song work together and what is needed to make it feel complete. So, creative direction would be a specialty as well I think. I also play guitar and piano, and I’m gaining skills in production, mixing, and business. I am known for a specific sound and style of my voice and songwriting that can translate across many genres and especially within sub-genres of EDM. A lot of the time I sing about ethereal topics and I’m heavily influenced by dreams and psychology, which contributes to my brand. My label has a specific aim to combine the worlds of different genres: folk, alternative, and EDM, while having an experimental approach to it. This brings people together of those different tastes and creates an opportunity for them to become interested in more than they thought they’d like, opening them up to a fusion of sounds that they haven’t heard much before or didn’t expect (that’s one of my goals, anyway). I’m most proud of creating music that has so much meaning for me personally, and because it’s coming from an authentic place I can hope that people listening will relate to it, that they can dance and day-dream to it, help them through a difficult time, etc.

What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
It might sound cliche, but I would say the most important advice is to be yourself. In such a difficult field, it would be even more difficult to try and force yourself to be something that you’re not; to keep up an appearance of who you think you’re “supposed” to be, or to keep up with imitating others. There is no right or wrong way to do this, and everyone is on their own path. You just have to find out what works best for you along the way through trial and error. It’s also much easier to express yourself and write when it’s coming from a real place. Have fun with the artistry, of course, but don’t let yourself get exhausted with external things. If you focus on the quality of the material and make it your own, you will go far. Also, another piece of important advice is to be open-minded. You never know what might happen or what might end up working out! When I was a teenager, I was pretty set on getting signed to a major label and being a pop artist. I never could have predicted mainly being an independent EDM singer for the entirety of my 20’s, but that is what has allowed me to do music for a living.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.laurabrehm.com
• Email: laurabrehmmusic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurabrehmmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurabrehmmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurakbrehm
• Other: https://tinyurl.com/laurabrehmspotify

Image Credit:
Photos by Rachael McAllister

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