Have you ever wondered what happens when you click “BUY” on an indie artist’s products?
In Tea & Empathy Episode 004, join me as I package up orders from my House Clearance music and merch sale prior to leaving Bristol FOREVER. I talk about upcoming changes, gratitude and more.
Starring Lunapup and Albydog.
✅ Watch more episodes of “Tea & Empathy” here xo
TL;DR: House Clearance Sale – last day to get up to 50% off music and merch!
In 2009 I was living in a rented maisonette in South London where, for the first time, I had a separate room to write songs and edit videos in. The windows didn’t close, and there were definitely mice under the floorboards, but I finally had space!
A (real-life) friend I’d first met on photo-sharing site Flickr invited me to take part in a month-long local art installation called The Apollo Project, based in the old Apollo video shop in Herne Hill. Thank you, Laura Ward!
I played gigs, volunteered at other events and even sat on the floor before one of the shows burning CD-Rs of my first EP “Three…Two…One…”, clicking them into DVD cases that I’d decorated with a print of a photograph of a cassette tape.
I also uploaded the EP to Bandcamp.
Back then, I could never have predicted where sharing my music on the internet could take me. After years of playing bass and singing with big artists around the world, I knew it was time to say what I wanted to say, but I never dreamed anyone else would want to hear it.
Over the years, I’ve funded the making of new music through Bandcamp pre-orders, crowdfunding campaigns and, over the past four years, my Correspondent’s Club subscription, because music fans are the absolute best.
7 albums on, I’m preparing to move to Nottingham after 11 years of doing my thing in Bristol, and so I’m running a House Clearance Sale with up to 50% off 23 items: vinyl, CDs, tees and badges.
I will forever be grateful and thankful for Bandcamp for making it possible for indies like me to easily sell our music direct to you.
➡️ I ALSO have tons of free downloads available across both my Bandcamp pages, handily collated for you here.
BIG LOVE
BIG THANKS
Laura xxx
Authenticity is a word we hear all the time, especially in relation to how we should present ourselves online. After something big happened recently, I wanted to talk about why I NEVER lie.
-> Order Andy J. Pizza & Sophie Miller’s ACE new book “Invisible Things” here (and support this channel at the same time)
-> Visit the “Invisible Things” site here
-> Then listen to Creative Pep Talk (it’s my fave!)
✅ This is Episode 3 of “Tea & Empathy” – watch the rest here xo
“Oh no, not another one!” I hear you cry, as Meta’s Twitter-like new social media platform Threads takes hold. I’ve been having a nice time on there, but wanted to offer this alternative viewpoint that applies to all social media platforms.
➡️ I got excited about using Photoshop’s new Generative Fill tool to make AI versions of my album covers…then things got weird.
✅ Browse my back catalogue here please and thank you xo
➡️ READ: “AI Is a Lot of Work” on The Verge
➡️ Let’s talk about my side project Obey Robots, answering your questions about how our album “One In A Thousand” was written and telling the story of the band name – Potsdam! Bike tour! Ghastly snappers with selfie sticks! I also unbox my awesome new microphone and show you some other exciting bits of post.
✅ Shop music and merch direct from meeeeee
➡️ This is Episode 2 of “Tea & Empathy” – watch the rest here
Welcome to episode 3 of my Creative Spaces series. Strap in for some big laughs, and bear in mind…there’s swearing.
We talk about Beth’s essentials for recording albums from home, how painting the walls with pink cow print affected their creativity, and how much we both absolutely adore fielding unsolicited comments from internet people with no music credentials. Hi, Jeff2789!!
Explore Du Blonde’s world here.
AKA how not everything is for you, and how music criticism is different from bullying. I share a few thoughts on the barrage of abuse Tor aka Billy Nomates received for doing THE JOB SHE WAS HIRED TO DO by Glastonbury Festival / BBC 6 Music on the weekend. She earned that slot!
This is the first in a new series called “Tea & Empathy” – use the comment section to send me any questions you’d like answering, or topics you’d like to suggest for future episodes xo
PS yes, I suppose this first one is “Beer & Empathy” – it was too hot in Paphos for tea!
➡️ Not every person you see on the internet is super confident – I’m certainly not! A few years ago I decided I wanted to make a change, and taking self portraits using my camera, a tripod and a wireless shutter release button connected to my phone has made a HUGE difference to my ability to share my thoughts online.
I made this video to encourage you to at least think about giving it a try yourself: I talk about the mindset behind it, list the basic equipment you need and show exactly how I do it!
Life is too short to let our perceived visual imperfections get in the way of sharing our voices to help others, so please leave a comment with any questions you have about anything discussed in this video.
You can do this!
Love, Laura xxx
PS click through to YouTube to get links to my friend Jane’s book plus all the equipment I talked about
➡️ I’ve been livestreaming solo music performances for 10 years, using lots of different setups. Some worked well, some were a nightmare. It’s hard to focus on your performance and find time to experiment when things aren’t plug-and-play – enter the Boss Gigcaster 8!
🎶 Get Gigcaster 8 / 5 here.
I was super excited to try this out, and I’m thankful to Roland/Boss for sending me this incredible piece of gear as a gift. Please note: I was under no obligation to say anything nice, or anything at all, and my opinions will always be honest.
✅ Watch my full performance of “Olympian” here
✅ Watch my previous livestream setup video here (Logic Pro X into OBS + tips on how to play to no-one)
📹 STREAM WITH STREAMYARD
Record videos / podcasts with remote guests and livestream to multiple platforms.
+ Get a 14-day free trial with my link
