- Words Notion Staff
girlhouse's Lauren Luiz speaks with Notion about her musical firsts - from shredding 'Three Blind Mice' on the recorder to catching eyes with Avril Lavigne at a gig.
Looking for your new indie obsession? For fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail, girlhouse – aka Lauren Lauiz – is the actor and musician making endlessly listenable tunes.
Hailing from Portland in Oregon, Lauren has lived everywhere from LA and New York to Bristol and now Nashville.
Having featured in the NBC series ‘Grimm’, Lauren studied at The Old Vic in Bristol and appeared in a sign-language version of the hit show ‘Spring Awakening’ which took her to Broadway and The White House where she performed for none other than President Barack Obama. From the script to the music sheet, Lauren earned her live music stripes by playing cult music festival SXSW and has notched up a number of EPs and an album with the band WILD.
Now, Lauren has shared her eponymous EP, which she says “follows my story of landing in LA and finding out exactly how ignorant I was to the real world; whether that be relationships, men in general, career, sex, friendships, or battling mental illness and dealing with trauma, it all felt new to me”, she explains.
Notion caught up with Lauren to chat about her musical firsts – from her first festival to the first time she knew she wanted to be a musician and more.
First song you ever made?
The first song we made for girlhouse is called “a lot” and it’s about people that talk a lot of shit… I think that’ll be on the next EP.
First song you released officially?
The first song that girlhouse put out is called “mt shasta dr” and I put it out because our very talented filmmaker friend, Ryan Sheehy, said he really liked it and wanted to make a video for it. That definitely helped kick start this whole project.
First CD or record you owned?
TLC – ‘Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls’. It was a cassette, does that count??
First time you realised you wanted to be a musician?
I honestly cannot remember. That’s tough. I think I was on the way to elementary school at the back of the bus with my friend making fun of the opera on the radio and she said I sounded okay at singing.
First gig you went to?
I saw Avril Lavigne at a z100 music festival in Portland. I think I was 13 and I swear to GOD that she saw me in the crowd.
First festival you performed at?
The first one I performed at was SXSW in 2017. I played there with another project that I’m a part of, WILD, but girlhouse has yet to play a festival. I hope we can play SXSW next year though, I love it.
First intrument you owned?
A recorder in elementary school. It was black and I think it was $10. I used to shred some ‘3 blind mice’ on that baby.
First time you felt like giving up?
2020, for obvious reasons. Idk, I saw a lot of bands break up within that year. I think isolation really forces you to take stock in what’s giving you joy and what isn’t working.
First time you felt starstruck?
I met Gerard Butler and I think I had to leave the room and scream into a pillow. I was doing a show on Broadway back in 2015 and my dressing room was right above the lead’s dressing room so celebrities always hung out there after the show. GERARD was there and he was the sweetest most adorable man. I’m still smitten.
First time you heard your song playing somewhere?
I heard a song I wrote and sang on in a Petco back in LA one time. I think that was the one and only time that’s happened for me though. My friends send me videos of my songs being played in malls all the time!