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" One of the things I haven't been ready for is how male-dominated the music industry is. I just didn't have a clue. "
Laura Mvula
Music
Just
Things
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" My aunt is the director of the acapella group Black Voices. I was so struck by them as a child. They sang with such passion and conviction. By the time I turned 15, I had plucked up the courage to ask if I could join the group. Acapella is a different discipline from singing with an accompaniment - it is much more exposed. "
Laura Mvula
Child
Courage
Passion
" Taxi drivers used to ask me what kind of music I did, and I'd say, 'Well, it's kind of jazz, soul, classical' - but that makes no sense to anyone. "
Laura Mvula
Soul
Kind
Jazz
" I grew up playing in youth orchestras, so they were my most treasured memories, so to be in front of an orchestra playing my own material would be incredible. "
Laura Mvula
Memories
Youth
Own
" I come from an African Caribbean background. I've been influenced by a reggae church music style, contemporary gospel, and rock all fused together. "
Laura Mvula
Rock
Style
Together
" I like pastels and lighter shades on darker skins. I feel like it lifts everything and accentuates being chocolate. "
Laura Mvula
Like
Being
Chocolate
" Limitlessness is important for me; I want to be able to use every opportunity to push me forward onto the next thing. "
Laura Mvula
Me
Forward
Opportunity
" I love church buildings, particularly cathedrals, and I like living in spaces that remind me of music or evoke that creative energy. "
Laura Mvula
Creative
Like
Love
" Lots of people think I'm telling porky pies when I say how nervous I get about singing. I was good at working out how music was put together, and I was good at being at the back, but if you asked me to sing up front, then I looked like I was going to pass out. "
Laura Mvula
Together
Me
Music
" I'm by no means a pianist. I think that's safe to say, but the piano, for me, I would say it's the enabler. It gave me what I needed and gives me what I need in order to write a song. And I think playing or improvising on the piano is where I feel most liberated and sort of less conscious of all my insecurities or inadequacies. "
Laura Mvula
Need
Feel
Me
" What I wear is everything - from how I carry my hair to what I'm wearing on my feet. I have to feel comfortable on stage, so I like to wear things that have room. My mood changes a lot, so sometimes I wear 6-inch heels, and other times I'll perform in bare feet. "
Laura Mvula
Feet
Hair
Sometimes
" It's important for any artist - particularly female artists - to feel completely comfortable and to know what they're trying to do. "
Laura Mvula
Important
Feel
Artist
" I don't talk about Amy Winehouse as a 'singer.' She's a pioneer. I listened to her endlessly when I started writing. "
Laura Mvula
Writing
Started
Singer
" I had a very thorough grounding in music; I'd grown up around songs. My parents listened to a lot of music. My dad was majorly into jazz, which was absolutely a big influence on me, even if it was more subconsciously as a kid. "
Laura Mvula
Influence
Parents
Music
" I write songs from the heart, and I don't hold back. "
Laura Mvula
I Write
Songs
Write
" My songs are very personal, which means they are fantastically therapeutic to write, but performing them night after night is emotionally draining. "
Laura Mvula
Which
Songs
Write
" Teaching was my first job after leaving university. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it. Some of the kids were disruptive, but I could deal with it because I was only 24 at the time, and my own school memories were still fresh. "
Laura Mvula
Challenge
Time
Job
" I listen to a lot of choral stuff at home, but I'm also liking Labrinth, Emeli Sande, Tom Odell and Wretch 32. "
Laura Mvula
Liking
Home
Also
" I first played the Royal Albert Hall when I was 14. I was a violinist with the Birmingham Schools Concert Orchestra, and we travelled down from the Midlands for the last night of the School Proms. We played some pieces from the Harry Potter films, and the violin parts were really hard. "
Laura Mvula
Night
School
Concert
" I really love jazz, but I will never be a jazz musician as much as I dream. But, I think that the jazz music I love is there in my music. "
Laura Mvula
Jazz
Dream
Love
" I remember listening to Miles Davis in the car with my dad. I had just done my Grade 5 piano exam, and I was quite cocky. I said, 'It sounds like he's played the wrong note there.' I remember the look of horror on my dad's face, and thinking, 'Wow, I have to figure out why that is not acceptable.' "
Laura Mvula
Listening
Face
Remember
" I always start with emotion. That's where I start all of my improvisations, on the piano. I always start with the mood or the feel of where I am in that moment. "
Laura Mvula
Mood
Start
Feel
" I have a younger brother and sister who actually play in my band, and we were always into Disney music, big time. The first time I heard myself sing was when I recorded myself singing a Disney song. I remember it because it was awful, and I didn't expect to hear that. I think it was 'A Whole New World' from 'Aladdin.' "
Laura Mvula
Music
Brother
Time
" I got into the habit of filtering out all the good in my life, focusing on only the negative. I'm not sure why I did it, but it's a pretty depressing state. "
Laura Mvula
Habit
Good
Life
" I think, when I started writing songs, my voice just became another tool. It wasn't something that I was going to try desperately to woo a listener. As long as I'm using my voice in a way that helps people understand what I'm trying to say, then I feel like I'm doing all right. "
Laura Mvula
Think
Writing
People
" There's nothing I love more in the world than layering voices. "
Laura Mvula
Voices
World
Love
" Being a pop star is something I don't think I'm very good at. I'm worried it's making me too paranoid, because all of a sudden, life has become this constant assessment. When you put something out there and people get to hear it, then those people react to it, socially, culturally. "
Laura Mvula
You
Think
Good
" Fame hasn't really affected me. I have a really close knit group around me, and my sister is always with me, so it's like a bit of a travelling circus. "
Laura Mvula
Circus
Always
Fame
" London audiences have this reputation for being a bit too cool for school. "
Laura Mvula
School
Reputation
Cool
" You don't have to aim to be the best of everything, thinking that one day you're going to be the top of the world; I don't think it exists. "
Laura Mvula
World
You
Thinking
" There was always a piano in the house when I was growing up - my dad played, and I thought it was cool - and when I was eight, I begged my parents to let me have lessons. After a couple of weeks, I wanted to give up, but my parents were very focused and made me keep going, which I'm very pleased about now. "
Laura Mvula
Growing Up
Parents
Keep Going