Lava La Rue rocks with Starface at the Aragon Ballroom

West London non-binary singer Lava La Rue pushes boundaries and creates music to speak directly to her fans. In 2018, her first single “Widdit” was created while living in Tokyo and quickly gained traction online. This led to their first EP Letra and a mixtape, Stitches.

Star face is the debut album from this genre-bending artist and was released this year by the Dirty Hit label. The concept revolves around an alien landing on Earth and exploring the relationships there.

La Rue recently rocked the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom as the opening act for another queer artist, Remi Wolf, and spoke about her career backstage.

Windy City Times: Start with your story. I read that you started performing when you were 13.

Lava La Rue: Actually even younger, at 11 years old. I was in a band called The West Borns because I was born in West London. The bass player liked The Clash and The Blockheads, so we played punk music in an all-girl band.

When I turned 19 I used the name Lava La Rue on SoundCloud and here I am today!

WCT: Since this is your first time in Chicago, what do you think?

LLR: Well, I saw that green room, the catering team and your beautiful face, that's it, although people gave me advice on where to go via messenger. I was told to go to the lesbian bar Scarlet by the girls or Roscoe's by the boys because they had a drag night tonight.

WCT: You currently live in London, but I read that you lived in Tokyo for a while.

LLR: I did and I will be back for Christmas this year.

WCT: Sounds like you travel often.

LLR: I do, but maybe I'll calm down at some point.

WCT: You have reported on this in the past Star face Album for a lesbian Ziggy Stardust. Are you a David Bowie fan?

LLR: There is an influence there and I learned about his life. Now I can appreciate his craft and his imagery and see him as a three-dimensional human being. He had some groupie experiences that made me wonder if I was still his fan. When it comes to the imagery and aesthetics of the performance, I'm still sure.

WCT: Talk about creating the video for “Better” with a string section.

LLR: I met the two people playing string instruments at the beginning of the video while busking. Where I live there is a place on Portobello Road that has the best market in the world. It's in the Notting Hill district and that's where I saw them play. It happened that one of them had entered a competition in the past to win a Lava La Rue hat, but I didn't know that and he recognized me. He plays the violin for me now, which is great. It felt like a happy accident!

WCT: How do crowds in the United States compare to the United Kingdom?

LLR: It varies from state to state, and each state is essentially like its own country. Geographically, each state is large and has its own culture. America versus London is like comparing countries to each other. In LA people try to look cool at shows, while in New York they mosh in a pit. Every place here has a different scene and culture.

There is a difference in oppressed cities like Salt Lake City, and the gays there are crazy. They can dance wildly because it means a lot to them, and this is their safe space in which to do that.

Where there is oppression, it is important that the subculture becomes more radical. In some places people are liberal and their politics tend to be softened.

WCT: Talk about these safe LGBTQ+ spaces, like here at Aragon, during a tour with Remi Wolf.

LLR: It's really amazing. The backstage area is a safe space. It has an almost entirely female and non-binary team. It's definitely a matriarch team running the show here. It creates a nice atmosphere and people are very respectful of pronouns. It's really beautiful and I feel honored to be here.

WCT: What was it like working with indie singer Cuco? Did he drink coffee while filming the video for “Better”?

LLR: It was actually herbal tea and it was hydrating. He's a healthy guy and only cares about himself. He's super great and I met him six years ago in Berlin. We both did a YouTube music session and spontaneously met. We stayed in touch through mutual friends and I sent him the song. He flew to London and recorded the video.

WCT: One of my favorite openly queer singers is Clairo. Talk about collaborating with her on the track “GOYD”

LLR: That was the mutual friend. Cuco supported Clairo back in 2018 at Heaven, a very iconic gay bar. I met her there.

So the song “GOYD” stands for Girl of Your Dreams and is a response to her song “BOMD” or Boy of My Dreams. People have to really listen to understand it with secret meanings. It's an Easter egg song and a queer duet.

WCT: Did you like the dance sequences for “Push N Shut”?

LLR: However, I went to a K-pop dance school just for fitness, and my girlfriend and I went there to get fit. I started watching dance videos from one of the teachers at school. I asked him to choreograph this music video.

It was a challenge and grew out of a dance class. It was fun!

WCT: After watching it, I thought about you taking these dancers on the road to perform at Pride festivals.

LLR: I'm always happy when gay people like my music because it exists in such a strange intersection. Even though I'm unapologetically queer, I don't stand up for these places, which is why I've never played a Pride festival. I would definitely do it if asked.

WCT: I see Björk engraved on your arm. Do you have a favorite tattoo?

LLR: I definitely love this. My favorite is a chain that wraps around my arm and pierces my collarbone.

WCT: How do you describe yourself to someone who hasn't heard your music?

LLR: My sticker says it all: “Lava La Rue makes funkadelic Brit-pop for vinyl dads and they/them.”

WCT: What are your future plans?

LLR: I want to keep releasing albums, and I want each one to be better than the last. I want to build on what I started. Even though I've been making music since I was a teenager, this album felt like I was a serious musician. I'm also trying to take it to a global level in America, even though my sound is very British in terms of my lyricism.

I feel like the world is very open to hearing my sound at the moment and I want to expand that even further.

Follow lavalarueofficial.com for news, merchandise and tour information.

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