Liang Lawrence is a singer-songwriter currently creating and performing in the UK. Her debut EP 'letters to myself' was released in August 2023 and racked up over 1 million streams in a matter of weeks.
Having grown up in 8 different countries before she was 18, Liang's ability to find a home everywhere she goes is reflected in her borderless audience with listeners around the world.
Liang was drawn to music as a source of grounding consistency — painting pictures with words, Liang taught herself to play guitar and write songs from her bedroom, she found in music a love for story telling and a way to express the messy emotions of everyday life.
Liang's raw and honest tunes lean into indie folk, soft rock and electronic territories in the vein of Clairo, The Japanese House, beabadoobee, boygenius and Lizzy McAlpine. Most recently, Liang has played a BBC Introducing Showcase and supported artists including Adam Melchor, Will Joseph Cook, Sophie May, Bully, Olive Klug and New Rules.
Photographer: Mila Austin
Ethnicity: British-Chinese
Location: London, UK
Instagram: @lianglawrencemusic
Website:
GET TO KNOW - completed May 2024
3 words to describe you:
3 words to describe your music:
Introspective, lush, indie
Describe the moment you knew that you wanted to pursue music:
Probably from the moment I realised I could write my own songs. I remember having this epiphany that I could say anything and tell any story I wanted to in a song. As someone who’s really struggled to process and understand their emotions, songwriting allowed me to do that in a way that almost let me still separate myself from it because I was just telling a story.
How does your heritage impact your art?
I feel very lucky to be of both Chinese and British. I think growing up I didn’t realise how much I really am both until I spent a long time away from China. I think there’s a level of openness that being dual-heritage has allowed me to be, which in turn means I can be vulnerable and to share my experiences through songwriting. No matter where I’ve lived or where I’m from I’ve learned that there are fundamental human emotions that we can all relate to at the core of every culture and making music about those things will resonate with people around the world.
Having just come off the China tour with HONNE, I’m still coming to grips with how I want my dual heritage to be expressed in my art and I think that’s okay. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve been allowed to explore these things on my own terms and I think it’ll be something that changes and grows with me over time.
What moment are you most proud of in your music journey so far?
I’m proud of how I’ve challenged myself in my writing and slowly allowed myself to feel like a musician and a writer. I’ve never been trained or taken any lessons so more often than not I don’t really let myself say that I’m really a musician. But half the job is believing that you can do it and then putting yourself in those uncomfortable spaces until they become less uncomfortable and I think I can be proud of myself for doing that regardless of how "successful" any outcome has been.
Your next career/music goal:
I'm really excited to start playing more shows with my band.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who and why?
Spacey Jane, Beabadoobee and Clairo are three really big ones - I love all of their sounds and the way they tell stories. I'm a big fan of live-sounding and atmospheric production and both of them do it in such different ways and I think it's so fun.
Top 3 go to songs/artists:
Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
Half the World Away - Oasis
Haunted House - Holly Humberstone
Words you live by:
Sounds really cheesy but I genuinely just think when I am staying true to who I am, who I want to be and the stories I want to tell, I am the most proud and happy and at my very best. Whenever I find myself trying to sound or look like someone else I just remind myself of all of that.
Anything else you'd like to share:
'Use Me' is coming out on May 24th which I'm so so excited about. I think it's a side of me I've not got to show through my music just yet - bit more playful and flirty. After that we've got a whole lot still coming your way so stay tuned!
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