Q&A: Lo Rays
Photo: Lucy Cheyne
Lo Rays started their summer by releasing a collaboration with fellow Scots Anchor Lane and supporting them on their sold-out headline show at King Tut’s. Earlier this year, they went on an independent UK headline tour, with a sold-out show in Glasgow’s McChuills. Their most recent single ‘Forget Myself’ received radio play from Alyx Holcombe and Nels Hylton on BBC Introducing Rock on Radio 1.
Gearing up for the release of their next single ‘Freak’ (out tomorrow), we caught up with front-woman Laura to hear all about the band’s 2024 plans, ‘Freak’, and desert island albums.
Tell us about your new track ‘Freak’ dropping on Friday? Laura, you have been creating the band’s music videos since your last release ‘Forget Myself’, how has that added to the dystopian world of Lo Rays?
‘Freak’ is definitely the heaviest song we’ve released so far; it has an industrial vibe to it. Me and our guitarist Scott co-produced the song with Blair Crichton from Dead Pony, who also mixed and mastered the track.
‘Freak’ is for anyone who has been discriminated against or laughed at for being different. It’s about being unapologetically who you are, giving your haters a show and giving them something to look at. I can be quite an insecure person sometimes and writing lyrics like this is my way of embodying the confident person that I want to be.
In all honesty, I started making visuals due to lacking the funds to hire a professional. But I found I quite enjoy it too! Learning 3D animation has really expanded what we can achieve visually as a DIY band.
Which Scottish acts are you enjoying listening to at the moment? And who do you think could become the next big thing in Scotland/UK/internationally?
There are so many great acts coming out of Scotland at the moment. We absolutely love what North Atlas, newshapes and Anchor Lane are doing. We are also obsessed with Calva Louise and VUKOVI, and hope that they are the next big acts in the UK music scene!
Do you have any advice for upcoming artists in Scotland, what would you tell your younger selves to help them navigate the industry in 2024?
I would tell my younger self to be more patient and enjoy the process more. Obviously, it’s key to have goals you’re working towards, but if your focus is solely on trying to reach those goals, the fun of creating, writing and performing, can be lost. And when that joy is lost, the art suffers. So, if there is anything that is stopping you from fully enjoying your journey and making art – figure out what it is and work on it. I’ve had therapy for my music-related anxiety and I’m still trying to figure out all this myself, but for me, it has been important to learn how to avoid perfectionism. And how to push myself without being too hard on myself.
Tell us your three desert island albums.
Arcane Roots – Blood & Chemistry
Bad Omens - the Death of Peace of Mind
The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
If you could collaborate with anyone on future music, who would it be?
Honestly, any of the artists we mentioned above. We recently collaborated with Anchor Lane on a track called ‘Sychophant Disorder’, which was awesome! We got to play it live too at their headline show at King Tut’s.
If I could have anyone in the world on a song, I absolutely love Charli xcx, and it would be the most iconic mash of genres.
And finally, what can we expect to see from Lo Rays throughout the rest of 2024?
At the moment we are working on our next EP, but in the meantime, we have a few single releases planned for the rest of the year. Next week we are celebrating the release of Freak in Edinburgh, at Legends 12th July with KURO. On September 28th we are co-headlining Slay in Glasgow with newshapes, this will be our biggest headline show to date and we are very excited!
Join us at Resonate 2024 on the 28th November at Platform, Glasgow. Final Early Bird tickets are still available and close to selling out! Click here for tickets.