Raised in a rural town in Scotland, Lauren Mayberry was born in the late 80’s and with access to the record collection of her parents found her way to some of the best pop diva’s of that era, and then the explosion of alternative, grunge, and emo of the 90’s. As a young musician in her teens, Lauren played drums and sang backing vocals in a couple of bands before she would find herself taking center stage as lead singer and lyricist of CHVRCHES, which was formed with Iain Cook and Martin Doherty in 2011 in Glasgow.

The debut EP Recover arrived in 2013 to critical acclaim, and the full length debut The Bones of What You Believe came soon after that same year, landing on every year end Best Of list, and CHVRCHES has since been nominated for multiple awards including a Brit Award and NME Award. The sophomore album Every Open Eye was released in 2015, Love Is Dead in 2018, and just days after we debut this episode, their fourth album Screen Violence will drop.

Like many women, Lauren's journey has been one of finding her voice in spaces dominated by men, and navigating how to make that voice heard, and to be seen for the musician and producer she is. SHEROES like Alanis Morissette, Liz Phair, and Mixtape Memoir alum and fellow Scot Shirley Manson, inspired Lauren Mayberry to shift from what she calls a “Trojan Horse” approach of trying to be one of the guys in order to own her place in music, to finding and embracing her own role as an influence on the next generation of young women, and hopefully the music industry as a whole. Using her voice and her platform to speak out on sexism and misogyny, Lauren has found a fitting motto: Be the Shirley you wish to see in the world. Words to live by.

Credits:

Host/creator/creative director - Carmel Holt @carmelholt @sheroesmixtape @sheroesradio
Engineer/Mixing/Mastering - Brendan Baker from Phenomephon
Theme music - Lucius @ilovelucius
Cover art - @jaf_farkas
Art direction - @carmelholt 
Guest: Lauren Mayberry / @chvrches
Label: Glassnote Records / @glassnotemusic