Lauren Aquilina

  • Date: Tue 27th October 2015
  • Doors Open: 7:00 pm
  • Supported By: t.b.c.
  • On Sale: Tickets Open

Lauren Aquilina poster image

LAUREN AQUILINA

Lauren has already headlined the BBC Radio 1 Introducing stage at the Reading and Leeds Festival; at the tender age of 16 Lauren wrote, recorded and self-released her debut EP Fools, which together with her follow-up EP Sinners also self-released went on to sell an incredible 70,000 copies.

Lauren’s dynamism to put her own music out there didn’t go unnoticed, pop behemoth Taylor Swift tweeted her love for Lauren’s debut EP Fools and invited her to support her at Hyde Park earlier this year.

All incredible achievements for the now 20-year-old singer-songwriter whose debutFools EP propelled Lauren into the UK iTunes Top 10. Fools’ captivating follow-up releases Sinners EP and Liars EP, made the Official UK Singles Chart, with the latter making its way into six Billboard charts in the US.

Lauren began writing poetry at the age of eight but it was music that gripped her and Lauren’s first foray into songwriting saw her putting her own lyrics to the melodies of songs heard on the radio in the early 00s. Soon after that though, she started crafting her own songs on the piano. But it’s lyrics – and her desire to connect with fans – that drive Lauren, whose big inspirations right now are her own early days of low self-belief, her favourite romantic films and Bon Iver.

LAUREN AQUILINA promo photo

After a whirlwind few years of self-releases and sold-out headline shows, both here and in the US, Lauren releases her new EP Ocean on October 9th on Island Records. With a UK headline tour to support the release, Lauren, who’s just moved to London and landed one of the biggest syncs of the year (Downton Abbey finale TV advert) is about to pen another compelling chapter in her story.
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Lauren Aquilina photo 1

Born in Bristol, United Kingdom, Aquilina’s musical origins began with her playing piano in school. She has been singing since she was eight years old and has been playing piano since she was nine. When she was thirteen years old she attended her first open-mic event and sang “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga while her mother filmed her. She uploaded the video to Facebook and it was praised by family and friends so Aquilina uploaded it to her YouTube channel. Aquilina’s manager, Ryan Walter, came across one of the videos and the two began working with one another putting together Aquilina’s initial EP “Fools”.

“I uploaded the video to my Facebook just as a kind of test to see what people thought and it got a really good reaction so I decided to put it on YouTube and just continued putting videos up. I used to watch other people do covers on YouTube a lot too, and I was inspired by them.”

She has opened for Britain’s Got Talent contestant Ryan O’Shaughnessy at the O2 Academy in June 2012. Other celebrity supporters include Perez Hilton who posted a blog entry praising Aquilina in January 2012.

In December 2011, Aquilina recorded and released a cover of Brenda Russell’s song, “Get Here” to raise money for the Meningitis Trust. She said that she was “trying to raise as much money as I can for a good cause, especially at Christmas time.”

In August 2012, Aquilina announced her independently released debut EP Fools which was released on iTunes on October 22, 2012. It reached the Top 50 iTunes singles charts in its first week on pre-orders alone. To promote her EP, Aquilina performed an eight song set in Trømso, Norway and was noticed by a Norwegian newspaper who called Aquilina “a great, talented songwriter who plays piano to accompany her beautiful voice.” In September 2012, Aquilina announced on both her Facebook and Twitter accounts that she would be headlining her very first UK tour in early 2013.

Lauren Aquilina photo 2

Aquilina has received significant popularity in Malta since the release of her debut EP, Fools. She has topped the Maltese iTunes chart, above Adele, and has been noted in several Maltese newspapers and websites and on Malta’s National TV channel, TVM, as of October 2012. The title track from her first EP “Fools” received its first UK national radio play on BBC Radio 1 on October 15, 2012 on the BBC Introducing show.

It was announced on Thursday 15 August 2013 that Aquilina will headline the BBC Introducing stage at Reading & Leeds Festival 2013. Lauren also played her first ever show in the United States on 21 August 2013 when she played a sold out headline show at Manhattan’s Rockwood Hall.

Aquilina stated that Ellie Goulding is one of her influences: “Ellie Goulding is a huge inspiration for me, and I just love the way there’s so many catchy melodies but the lyrics are still so meaningful. I love the sound of it too, the whole ‘electric/acoustic’ thing she’s got going on. I just bloody love it.” In that interview she stated that Goulding’s album Lights is one of her favourites. When asked what she thought about Goulding’s second album Halcyon she commented that she thought it was “epic.” She often covers Goulding’s song “Guns and Horses” when performing live events. She also stated that Bon Iver was one of her influences: “A lot of people know I am a huge Bon Iver fan, and this album probably made me cry more times than any other! All of Bon Iver’s music just makes me really feel something, which I think is what music is supposed to do.” Her sound is often compared to Bon Iver’s. One journalist wrote that her song “Get Here” had “spine-tingling, ethereal harmonies/slightly reminiscent of ‘Holocene’ and her enthusiasm for this style shines through”. Aquilina told her fans that her song “Wonder” from her debut EP was also inspired by Bon Iver’s sound.

When asked to describe her own music, she responded: “Honest, melodic, and relatable… I hope!” “Music literally is everything to me. Growing up I used it as a great way to express myself and it was my way of unleashing the bundles of energy I had at that age like most kids do.”

On Aquilina’s artist profile on the O2 Academy website, her entry states that:

“It’s hard to believe that such raw, deep emotion can be expressed so exquisitely by someone so young. Lauren’s pop-tinged songs referencing loves lost and memories made are sure to resonate with all who hear them. Tracks such as the breath-taking piano-led ballad ‘Punished’ demonstrate a raw song-writing talent usually exhibited by artists twice her age. The fiery ‘Never Change’ fuses tales of heartbreak set against a backdrop of beautifully delivered pop mastery.”

Music reviewing website “Sound Of The Day” praised Aquilina’s vocals in her cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Born To Die”:

“[She] took this cover and exploded it, and took [Del Rey’s] vocals to another level. She has convinced me that with her very touching and emotional feel to her voice, she can change the course of many up and coming musicians. She is just in her room with a mic and keyboard, and has something to say, imagine her in an actual studio with better equipment. This girl could be a force on whatever label she signs with. The song and Lauren remind me of the beautiful Adele. Adele has a very powerful voice and people know when she is in the room. Lauren has that presence with her beautiful voice and amazing talent.”

Aquilina embarked on her first headline tour in February 2013 playing 5 dates across the United Kingdom, all dates sold-out. Her second 8-date tour takes place in eight cities in September 2013, all dates have sold-out as of August 2013.  • • • Wikipedia

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