INTERVIEW: Lara Andallo talks latest single 'When The Lights Go Out' and facing adversity: "When the daytime comes we try again. It's a constant battle and we just have to keep trying every day."
Sydney’s Lara Andallo is at the forefront of the revival of the Australian R&B music scene, which is increasingly being dominated by young women.
Growing up in a musical household, Andallo learnt saxophone, piano and ukulele as a child, and started experimenting with her voice and performing as a hip-hop dancer as a teenager. After suffering an ankle injury, her dance career was sideline and singing and music became Andallo’s focus. Last year she released the critically acclaimed debut mixtape For Her which feature contributions from JOY and Kota Banks and has achieved over 1 million streams to date.
At the end of April, Andallo released new single ‘when the lights go out’, a smooth, melodic R&B ballad which beneath it’s warm beats lies a story of self-doubt and anxiety. "During the day, our mind is occupied, and we’re distracted by everything going on around us,” Andallo says. “But once we’re in bed, ‘when the lights go out’, is really when our insecurities & doubts come out, and we actually have to be alone with our thoughts”.
We recently spoke with Lara to find out more about her career and new music.
Hi Lara, thanks for chatting to us. How is everything with you?
Isolation has been a bit different! It has basically been me making my DIY Boost at home trying to record my final vocals for songs and basically becoming everything under the sun. Making my videos and everything at home. But it's been cool to be innovative.
That's cool and you are quite the multitasker already so, if anyone is going to rise to the challenge I think it's going to be you. I want to say congratulations on ‘when the lights go out’, it is such a beautiful track. It's all swagger and your syrupy vocals. But then once I stopped dancing around the kitchen, on the second listen, I was picking up on these lyrics that are all sort of anxiety and self-doubt and this isn't your cookie cutter R&B love song. I just want to know where that came from?
For sure. Because the whole song is in my head, based in my room and about those moments when we are alone and we're away from distractions and all those insecurities and doubts come out. I definitely, I still suffer from anxiety. That's a huge thing that I know a lot of people my age face, especially when we are alone which is what is happening in isolation as well.
It's really quite interesting that you've taken these thoughts and you have put them into an R&B track because usually when people think of R&B we think there's a lot of empowerment in it and support and confidence. So was that intentional just to keep your style, but go ‘hey let's be honest here’?
I'm all about the empowerment and I've definitely got those songs, but I feel like everyone's got those moments. We can't all be strong all the time. I feel like the song in general, even though it is giving into those thoughts, the whole concept of it is when the lights go out that is when it happens and then when the daytime comes we try again. It's a constant battle and we just have to keep trying every day.
That's true and that's the reason why we read books before we fall asleep so they don’t eat us up. I want to talk to you about your origins. Now come on sax, drums, violin, piano, ukulele and I'm going to throw this one in because I think it's awesome - karaoke bars. You are a multi-talented multi-instrumentalist. Obviously music was never not an option for you, but I wanted to know how you first got into it. What was the thing that you just went, ‘okay, this is it for me’?
As you said I've been playing music since I was three and my mum was playing me jazz music while I was in the womb. It was only when I started dancing to hip hop and R&B when I was around 11 that I was like ‘what's this music? I want to make this music’. I was singing and I was doing classical and jazz, but it wasn’t until I did dancing to that kind of music that made me connect the dots and I was like ‘why don't I make this kind of music?’ That’s when it clicked for me.
How did you go about making that career? Was there a lightbulb moment, or did it all just happen through your love and through your talent and the pull of many instruments?
I was already writing music in my room and it was more to do with those insecurities and thoughts that's how I started. I never really showed anyone those songs, I was focused on dancing at the time. That's all I did. I did dance full-time and I was home schooled. But then I had surgery on both my ankles when I was 15 and at the time I was a full-time dancer on a scholarship. So I was out for over a year. I couldn't walk, I couldn't dance I was like ‘I'm going to have to make use of the time, I can't just sit around and watch everyone dancing’. So my singing teacher at the time said ‘why don't you actually finish your music’ because I always showed her the songs I was writing but I never recorded them, I never got them produced, I never did anything with them. It was from that point on that i was like ‘okay, I’ve got this time away from dancing, why don't I just focus on music?’ which is what I started with in the first place. Then it kind of spiralled from there.
Beautiful. Now I do want to talk to you about your debut single ‘Confidential’ which was written when you were feeling your lowest after your surgery. But the song again has that kind of conflict because it is quite kick arse and powerhouse. Was that therapeutic for you to write such a powerful song that came from such a dark place?
Yeah it's funny because that song started in a more low place and it was me denying my insecurities but by the time I finished it, it was like I'm actually being empowered by them, which I thought was really cool. I really liked that that was the debut because that is me. I feel very out of place a lot of the time but I use that as an empowering thing.
You dropped your mixtape For Her this year. It is a stellar feat with an incredible collection of songs. What was your story behind this gorgeous title?
I just turned 20 in January, so this whole tape was written in my teen years, between 17 to 19. I didn't realise at the time but all these songs were almost like affirmations to myself and the person I was becoming. So I was writing it for her, the person that I was becoming as well as other girls who I feel could relate to it, because it was really about me trying to find the strength in being myself which I think a lot of teen girls go through. Everyone does, but specifically girls. That’s kind of the headspace I was in.
You're clearly a girls' girl from your whole empowerment lyrics, your dance troupes and your recent Girl’s Night In live Instagram event which was just incredible. How important is it with your own career trajectory to support women in the industry?
Oh definitely. Especially in the local scene. For Girl’s Night In, I definitely wanted to bring the girls of R&B together, especially at a time we can all feel super disconnected and alone. I really wanted to lift us all up together and you know, bring something positive and uplifting to the situation that's happening at the moment. I always talk to the girls behind the scenes about it. I don't think there's any way that we can move forward without elevating together.
R&B has always churned out some incredible women. You’re obviously supporting the news ones as well, buy who were your initial musical sheros on that scene?
I honestly wouldn't even have the confidence if it wasn't for Kehlani. She was the artist that I first listened to and I was like ‘it's R&B that I want to be making’. She was the artist that made it very clear the power and influence that I wanted to have, as well as her writing style. I love old school R&B as well. During isolation, I've been taking it back to Ashanti, Ciara, all those R&B queens.
After releasing ‘Confidential’ with Warner Music, your music just blew up and it was a real win for the Australian R&B scene. Were you at all surprised with how well your music was received and shared around, or how the listeners gravitated towards it?
I honestly didn't have any expectations because for me it was a debut compared to having a catalogue and then releasing music with a label. This was my debut, so I tried not to have expectations of it. It's only been I think nine months now that I've been officially releasing music. To see the growth every time I've dropped something has been amazing and so fulfilling just to see the fruits of your labour coming together.
Beautiful. And you mentioned earlier, for instance, For Her were those songs for when you were younger and it was almost like a role model for yourself. It's a really important thing particularly for young women. Do you feel you've become the role model you were looking for when you were younger?
That's a great question. I like that. I am definitely on my way [but] obviously it's a process. It's being a Filipino as well, I never had someone culturally to look up to in the music scene, especially in R&B. So to have that over here in Australia is great.
You are clearly one for dusting yourself off and moving onto the next project. Once again that incredible role model for anyone dealing with any kind of knockdown. As a young female solo artist, have you ever felt that you needed to push yourself even harder to be heard or taken seriously in this industry?
Definitely. Especially me being 16, 17 when I was starting to have all these meetings and doing sessions. I obviously didn't have the same confidence then as I do now and knowing that I actually can do things and my opinion is valid, I had to learn that over time. Feeling like my opinion is valid actually makes sense and is useful in a creative space as well as in business. I think I'm there and I understand my values, but that’s definitely been a process and I've had to push for it. Mentally and internally as well as the output that I give.
What is your favourite part of the creative process of creating a song?
For me, the most fulfilling part is probably performing the end result. All that output and rehearsals and having that face to face interaction and connection. That's super powerful for me, coming from that dance background of being a performer. The entertainer in me, that's where I feel most fulfilled. Writing and the process of finishing a song and getting it out, that's obviously an amazing feeling.
You've already achieved such a lot as a creative, but what is on the horizon for you?
2020 was meant to be my year on stage and I really wanted to tackle the live scene over here, as I've only technically done one headline show in January, which was my launch. But during isolation I just want to keep providing and dropping new music and trying to be innovative with how I am connecting with people online. I want to use my voice a bit more while, I've found that I'm using it a bit more now we are isolated and I feel like my platform is more useful because everyone is online. So I just want to continue to drop music and have that influence as well. At the moment, that's where I'm at.
‘when the lights go out’ is out now via Warner Music.
To keep up with all things Lara Andallo, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube
