Laura Goulden’s journey into songwriting has been anything but ordinary. While her passion for music began early, it wasn’t until she picked up the ukulele and guitar during the summer of 2020 that her creative process truly flourished.
What started as a simple hobby quickly turned into a way to break away from traditional piano ballads, allowing her to explore new sounds and styles. Her breakthrough track, ‘These People’, is a perfect example – a haunting exploration of a writer’s descent into madness, born out of a drama monologue. Laura’s ability to blend literary inspiration with her unique musical voice makes her a fresh force in the singer-songwriter scene.
Maria had the pleasure of chatting to Laura, delving into the intricacies of her music-making and the influences behind her very first single.
Your journey as a songwriter started early, but it seems like learning the ukulele and guitar during the summer of 2020 opened new creative doors. How did picking up these instruments change the way you approached songwriting?
“Learning the ukulele in particular definitely opened up as you described a ‘creative door’ and I think it was for a couple reasons. The first reason I think is because I wasn’t very confident with the piano and I found as an instrument it wasn’t really for me. Simply, I found the ukulele fun and while practising the piano felt like a chore, I would reach for my ukulele all the time and work on new chord progressions and lyrics. The other reason is as the ukulele, guitar and piano are so different it opened up a whole new style of music away from simple ballads I was writing, with the little knowledge I had on the piano.”
‘These People’ began as a monologue for an A Level drama exam, which is unique! Can you talk us through how you transformed it from a dramatic piece into a fully fleshed-out song?
“It was actually pretty straightforward for me to transform the monologue into a song. Essentially I was just tinkering on the ukulele and I used the words and themes of the monologue to tell the story of the drama performance through music. With a lot of help from Cai Edward’s (the song’s producer) together we transformed what I had written on the ukulele into the final finished song.”
The concept of ‘These People’ follows a writer descending into insanity and trying to live in a world of her own creation. What drew you to explore this theme, and how does it reflect your own creative process as a songwriter?
“During my A Levels I studied a lot of literature and plays about psychosis; I’m not sure why but my drama and English teachers clearly loved the theme. I was quite inspired by characters like Blanche du Bois from ‘A Street Car Named Desire’ and essentially, from exploring other works with torn up characters, I came up with the idea of this lost writer. As a writer myself I really resonate with the song especially at the time I wrote it. Completing my A Levels during COVID was honestly so difficult and I think everyone had the desire to be somewhere else, I wouldn’t say that was some imagined fantasy world but the Bahamas would have been nice!”
You mentioned that the character in the song comes to terms with reality but keeps her fictional creations alive in her mind. Do you think there’s a parallel between this and your experience as an artist, balancing imagination with the realities of life?
“This certainly is a parallel to myself because I keep this writer in my mind and I bring her out every time I perform this song. I have written a few songs where I have had to use a lot of my imagination, whether I’m creating a story or writing about someone I know. Like the writer, I keep these stories and songs in the back of my mind, and when I perform them I really have to channel how I felt at the time. I love utilising my imagination to create these stories and when I’m inspired my room does kinda feel like its own world.”
Given your background in both music and drama, do you find that your storytelling in songs takes inspiration from theatrical techniques or narrative structures?
“I have touched upon this already but absolutely. I actually found studying English Literature really propelled my lyrics as I was taking inspiration from writers like Tennessee Williams, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nella Larsen and Christina Rossetti. Reading a variety of works and embodying characters in dramatic performances certainly created a groundwork for my song writing.”
As a student of history, do you think your studies influence your songwriting in any way, perhaps in terms of themes, storytelling, or understanding different perspectives?
“Actually studying my degree I have not found much creativity. Parts of history do really inspire me, for example I studied the Aztecs last year and I wanted to write about intense themes like colonialism, exotification and stereotyping. However, I find nothing ever materialises at uni, in part because I’m so busy but also I struggle to merge my academic and creative sides so I keep them separate.”
The title ‘These People’ suggests the importance of the characters in the story. Are there any particular characters or moments from the song that resonate with you personally, or that you feel listeners might connect with on a deeper level?
“I think the line ‘the monsters are destroying what ties me here’ is possibly one of the lyrics which I find is the most impactful especially with everything that is going on in the world. What I like about the song is that everything is very ambiguous and different lines mean various things to other people and I think that’s really important when writing songs. For me the monsters are my own demons mixed with people who haven’t been very nice to me in the past. ‘These People’ quickly turn into ‘the monsters’, which, with everything going on in the world, I now interpret this lyric a little differently and channel other people’s perceptions of monsters.”
Looking ahead to the future for your career in music, where do you hope to be in five years time?
“In five years time hopefully I’ll have a degree and I’ll be focusing on making more music. I would love to be performing at festivals but I hope I don’t lose my creative spark as this is something that I find comes and go a bit. To be honest I of course would love to be successful but I think it is more important that I still enjoy making music and singing.”
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