“I met BTS at their London concert, and the members asked for a remix of ‘Make It Right’. It was incredible, so I pinched myself. Haha.”
American singer-songwriter Lauv (Ari Staprans Leff, 28) looked back on his collaboration with the global supergroup BTS in a written interview with the Korean media through Universal Music on Oct 8th.
Lauv released a collaboration song that remixed the track “Make It Right” from BTS’ 2019 album “MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA” at the end of the same year. His debut album “~how i’m feeling~” released in March of the following year contained “Who” featuring BTS.
“(After ‘Make It Right’), I sent the track ‘Who’ and the collaboration started as BTS liked it. After that, everything went so naturally as if it was fate. I don’t do a lot of collaborations (with other singers), but I’m always open to collaborations with them.”
Lauv will visit Korea through the “4th Slow Life Slow Live 2022”, which will be held at 88 Lawn Field in Seoul Olympic Park from Oct 8th to 10th. He will be the headliner on the last day. This is Lauv’s first visit to Korea in 3 years and 5 months since performing at the Seoul Jazz Festival in May 2019.
“I’m really happy to finally meet Korean fans. It’s been a long time since I went to Korea. I extended my stay in Korea a little longer as I want to go look around and enjoy Korea. I’m always feeling the love of Korean fans, so I’m really looking forward to this time’s performance. I think it’ll be fun.”
He said that he listened to his old albums again during the pandemic and it was a fun experience. He shared, “I stayed healthy at home, but like many people, I suffered some mental difficulties.” So, the second full-length album “All 4 Nothing”, released last August after 2 years and 6 months, honestly portrayed the appearance of human Lauv, not a musician. He said that it contained the process of finding himself again. “There were times when I was depressed and I was anxious about my career. This album contains the process of connecting me as a child and me now. ‘Hey Ari’ contains a very personal story.” Ari is his real name.
While working on this album, he used various instruments such as guitar, bass, synth, drums and electronic drums. Lauv, who mostly worked on this album freestyle, said, “I turned on the microphone while listening to music and just wrote songs. It was a new and amazing experience for me because it was a work method I had never done before. The result was really good, too.”
Lauv did not participate much in producing this album. He said that he focused entirely on songs while experimenting with various sounds with producers he liked and respected. To compare “All 4 Nothing” to a travel destination, it is Mexico. He introduced, “There’s a song called ‘Molly In Mexico’ in the album. This album is like a happy time with friends on a Mexican beach where the waves are slightly rippling.”
His stage name Lauv means “lion” in Latvian. Having often spent summers in his maternal home Latvia since he was young, he said he liked the name Lauv because he was a Leo born in August. “If I could change my stage name, it would have been ‘Ari’ (real name), but I really like my current stage name Lauv. ‘Lauv’ is another self that shows a lot of my true self.” He confessed, “The experience of living here and there influenced my music a lot. I think the experience of living in various places and encountering different kinds of music made me interested in various music genres.”
Lauv, who studied jazz and electronic music at the same time in high school, is also recognized for his ability as a storyteller. “The point is to build up the story by section while focusing on the emotions I feel. When I think of lyrics or melodies, I use voice notes, and sometimes I come up with ideas while making beats in the studio. When I have a beat, I turn on the microphone and record it freestyle. I want to try my favorite genre ‘metal’ in the future.”
Source: Daum
