My songwriting is charged with introspection, flamed by anecdotes from my own life & the tales that others share with me along my journey. I write cryptic messages of inner growth intended to be soul provoking - poetic lyrics that come to life with music.

 

Since I was a little girl, I felt drawn to poetry & singing, but I kept most of my musings secret. I was scared & I felt discouraged by family & society around me and the notions of getting a "real job". I used to rewrite the lyrics of the Beatles, write poems & songs from as young as I can remember. While in Primary school in Benoni. 

 

I grew up obsessively listening to ’50s and '60s music, especially on family road trips, escaping family feuds with music. The Beatles, Queen, Cat Stevens, The Platters, Otis Redding, and The Kinks were some of my favorites. I am still a die-hard oldies fan - I like the authenticity of vintage music. I resonate with keeping analog warmth and meaningful song lyrics within the modern context of our music.

 

I moved to Cape Town when I was 14 and was suffering from Anxiety & Emotional Trauma. I became quite the rebel & I felt as if my life was going off the rails. Music & Songwriting was my escape, and way of dealing with it all. But I still kept my songs mostly secret. After school, I studied a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Psychology & Religion. This is where my life started to heal & change.

 

Fascinated by the mind, and traveling to expand my mind, I took almost any opportunity to travel out of South Africa. During my studies, I traveled East to India, Thailand, & Cambodia. While at University, I discovered the Psychedelic Trance community in Cape Town, the international community in Hungary at the Ozora Festival, as well as the Afrika Burn community. A beautiful web of these experiences ultimately changed my life & gave me the peace and confidence to express myself and share the songs that poured out of me. Following this, I left for France and Monaco - continued traveling, working, saving, writing, and dreaming. After much hardship there, I returned to Cape Town and studied Music Production & Sound Engineering at SAE Institute. My whole body urged me to follow my passion and learn to produce my music. I produced my first EP and collaborated and sang with a few local artists and DJs like Sadhu Sensi, Polar Inc, Jeremy Loops. Shortly after graduating with my Music Production diploma, I set off to Vietnam. This is where my real music journey began. In a huge city where no one knew me, I found a sense of freedom to sing and do my thing.

 

I wanted to save up for a year and head to London and pursue singing there. But, I dove right into the music scene in Ho Chi Minh City and met my match, French/Vietnamese guitarist Indy Laville at my first open mic in the city. Since we met in 2016, our love affair with music, and each other, took off on an adventure soon after! We have traveled around Vietnam, Cambodia, & South Africa together playing music on the way. We spent the last two years living between Phu Quoc Island and Ho Chi Minh City gigging and working on our music.

 

I've been living and gigging in Vietnam for almost five years - playing a collection of old school jazz, swing, soul, and blues covers. I started Moon Rise City in 2020 to finally release the songs I have been mulling in my mind for years. There is something powerful and mystical about the moon. A feminine and psychic energy. Aspects that relate to my songwriting. Also, living in Ho Chi Minh City, the closest you come to nature is staring up at the moon. Indy is also a complete night owl, and he has been my main partner on the project. He is an extremely talented musician and I'm so grateful for all his work behind the production of our music. We also collaborate with other international ex-pat musicians living here. My plan is to grow Moon Rise City & collaborate with other musicians around the world. I don't know where I will end up, but I'm LOVING the ride and hope to find more like-minded people to join my journey.

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Thanks for reading my story, I hope you feel inspired to do what you love, and continue to grow and evolve. Feel free to get in touch on my socials. I'd love to hear from you.

 

All my love, Lauren