Between the Surface of the Ocean and the Undercurrent of the Sky, Upcoming Pop Artist Raymond LaBru Takes Flight

Hailing from sunny California is Raymond LaBru. He's beaming, whimsical, sensitive, and an artist through and through. His balmy lyricism and gentle pop hits are undeniable. He's soared from coast to coast and crafted grounded, touching songs all the while.

The Yellow Light: You have a very dynamic, interesting discography. How would you describe yourself as an artist?

Raymond LaBru: Thank you, I’m a daydreamer. Mercurial. I want to be all-consumed by my work. Creating is a very sacred thing to me and I want my music to feel like home to myself, so I make things that make me feel understood.

YL: “Homeworld” is one of your earliest releases and fundamental to a comprehensive introduction to the LaBruniverse. Help us understand what “Homeworld” looks like. Who lives there? What do they get up to? Where are you in this picture?

RLB: Truthfully, I think only I live in Homeworld. When I made the track, I populated it with different small sounds to act like creatures that live there too. When you listen to Homeworld, you scroll through the landscape of my mind. I’m desperate to be understood, and I felt that Homeworld was context. I feel bad for the creatures in Homeworld, the way they exist is so static now that I’ve moved on. Eventually I see Homeworld playing as the intro to my live show. They’ll get some new life then.

YL: What’s going on onstage during this intro?

RLB: We’re flying through Homeworld together. My band is getting locked in, I’m breathing out my nerves. Then we erupt. I like the visual of moody neon lighting. I’m having a lot of fun figuring out how to tie all my singles together visually. I’ll hesitate to call them “eras” because that’s starting to get corny.

YL: You have a gorgeous SOPHIE tattoo on your arm. Can you talk about her influence on your work and life?

RLB: I don’t really think I can say anything about SOPHIE that hasn’t been said before. Her death started the fire that got me making my own music. For that, I’m grateful.

Raymond has worked with various producers and designers resulting in a sonically and visually diverse discography. "Crusade Holy Knights" is an anthemic heavy-hitter presented by a brilliant image of Raymond, resting beside his sword and trusty steed, by painter Jared Owen. The single directly beside it in his discography is "Oversaturated," a squeaky, bubbly cover presenting a mellowed-out sonic representation of late summer blues. No two songs sound the same and no two covers look the same -- a testament to Raymond's versatility and variety of artistic connections.

YL: You have worked with numerous visual and sonic artists on projects of varying sizes. What are, to you, the greatest challenges with sporadic collaboration? What are the greatest rewards?

RLB: I want to start my answer to this question by saying I’m really grateful to my collaborators for the work they’ve done with me. Some of the greatest challenges with collaboration comes from compensation. Money, time, and resources are very precious things that everyone holds differently in their hearts. That’s why communication is important. The greatest reward is the creation of something that is larger than your parts. When you synthesize with another creative person, you have access to the deep pools of their creativity. I like swimming. To me, that is the most valuable aspect.

YL: Many young people feel lonely or lacking in community. You are a person that fosters community diligently. What is hard about being in and pursuing community? Why is community important?

RLB: When we are in community, we legitimize each other through our practices. By sharing, collaborating, and engaging with each other we build foundations to grow upon. When I have my community supporting my pursuit, I find the stamina to keep pursuing. I try hard to foster community, but to be honest I think I’m a little notorious for having creative relationships end in flames. I feel stuck in a cycle of being set ablaze and growing again from the ashes. Being honest is what’s hard about being in community. My advice? Control burn.

YL: I love that imagery. You explore fire and water a lot, in your energy and in your words. What do these elements mean to you?

RLB: Fire is passion and water is emotion. I like to meditate on how fire is creative rather than destructive. In my astrological birth chart, I really lack fire placements, it’s the element that feels the most foreign to me. When I say “control burn” I think I mean “find patience.” Water on the other hand feels like home. Water is both powerful and gentle. It’s sensitive. I’m similarly sensitive.

YL: You’re a very independent artist with strong visions and a diligent process. Of course this facilitates high quality work, but does your process present any challenges or tension? Tension with other people, or even tension with yourself?

RLB: Like I’ve said, I desire for my work to be all-consuming. That energy can be a lot for others. I’ve had tension with collaborators because of it. It’s the tension with myself too. In a lot of ways, I prefer to live entirely inside my head, ignoring the needs of my body and spirit to devote my energies to dreaming. Further, I ignore the obvious solution of becoming a DIY-er because I have this primal need to be wanted. I want someone else to see my vision and be inspired enough to help me execute it. I want to be legitimized by community. That inspirational fire burns warmly at first…but I am wildfire.

The newest addition to Raymond's discography is "Gunshot," a mischievous diss track about how the best revenge is bettering yourself. When the people we trusted hurt us, we don't have to hold their hand at the finish line -- we can grant ourselves permission to break through the ribbon and leave them in second place. No pettiness, no subtweets. Success for the sake of self-improvement is all the payback needed.

YL: “Gunshot” is the newest single in the LaBruniverse and a sonic departure from earlier work. Can you talk about the process of creating “Gunshot,” especially the lyrics?

RLB: Gunshot’s creation was so pure-hearted and carefree. For context, CITYPINK and I have a knack for riffing off each other. Gunshot was made in my bedroom, sitting on the floor with my storage trunk acting like a desk, and creating just for the sake of creating. I’m proud to say a lot of Gunshot’s production truly was me and I don’t think of myself as much of a producer. Pink and I just felt like we struck gold. They did the bass line and helped me program the drums after I laid down my instincts.

Melody came before the lyrics. I remember being really intentional about not forcing anything. Writing the opening/first verse was the hardest part. I was really mad when writing Gunshot, like scorned to be honest. I felt like I needed to deliver a killing blow. It was my “I’ve still got it” moment. Gunshot was written by a side of myself who needed proof that I am what makes me great.  

Then, I sent the project to Lawrence, who gave it the sauce. Lawrence has such a brilliant mind for music. He wrote the harmonies I sing in the vocal, beefed up the instrumentation, and helped me trust my instincts.

It takes a village.

YL: Was there any moment or situation that helped you overcome the difficulty of writing the opening verse? Was there anything that made it click?

RLB: I’ve found that time is the best inspiration. I think I finally wrote the first verse after I stepped away from writing gunshot for a while, wrote other things including my plain old feelings in my journal, and living my life. In my opinion, the best stuff happens when you don’t force it. So many songwriters these days try to spin grand metaphors and squeeze syllables into small spaces. Not everything needs to be woven into an elaborate tapestry. Some things just feel good.

YL: “Simple” is your most popular single on Spotify — it’s a super bright, catchy tune. How do you visualize “Simple”? When you say you’re “already over it”, what do you mean?

RLB: Simple is my crowd pleaser. When I visualize it, I’m on stage, it’s the closing number, and I finish with, “Thank you, goodnight!” The lyrics were originally about quitting weed. I find that really funny cause at some parts of the song I’m being very literal about that, but I think the meaning has stayed pretty ambiguous. “I’m already over it,” was the declaration that like yeah, I’m done, it’s over, I’m finished. It’s taken on even more meaning since it came out. To be “already over it” is a powerful statement. Bombastic side-eye. It’s like, “whatever.” Whatever dude! I’m already over it. It literally doesn’t matter to me. Accountability is Simple, drama is hard.

YL: “Oversaturated” demands to be strummed on a beach under a California sunset. What or who was on your mind when you were writing “Oversaturated”?

RLB: I was head over heels for a guy who didn’t give a fuck about me! He literally told me with his actions and his words, but I didn’t care. Again, I wanted to be consumed. It was dissociative at best. It was about being so lonely in his company but convincing myself I was feeling was some other wound. I’m very romantic that way. I thought if I shook all my tail feathers, I could make him feel differently. Then I thought if I made the song and put it out, I could haunt him. What I didn’t realize when I cast that spell is I actually just made myself haunted. Oops!

Similarly to Taylor Swift, Raymond's lyrics are specific yet universally understandable. Despite the undeniably catchy instrumentation he surfs on, his lyrics steal the show time and time again.

YL: Your lyrics are both relatable and quite vulnerable. How do your relationships and experiences influence your songwriting?

RLB: I think I almost exclusively write about my own relationships and experiences. In my pursuit to be understood I try to hold up mirrors to dodge blame. Funny thing about blame is the truth is blind to it. Everything else is PR. I write songs to control my narrative.

YL: When I think of Raymond LaBru I think of a knight in pastel armor. I picture light blues and creamsicle. How do you visualize the LaBruniverse?

RLB: Honestly, I see the LaBruniverse as a self-serving Don Quixote-esque pursuit for legitimacy. I offer this strong visual brand and emotionally driven pop music as the means to be taken seriously. I legit decided that I am a pop star and went to go tilt at the damn windmills. Thing is, I have so much fun doing it, I may never stop.

YL: Yellow Light Mag is all about transitions, especially the transition from kid to young adult. You’re both full of whimsy and making seriously good stuff. How do you stay so light and airy when getting older’s feeling like a drag?

RLB: I don’t really see getting older as a drag. Becoming an elder is a privilege; you get to mentor. I feel like I’m making mistakes and living in my truth so that one day I can tell some younger person to go and do whatever they want. I have been many Raymonds and tried many things, but the constant through all of it is I’ve only ever done exactly what my heart wanted.

Keep getting to know Raymond on Apple Music, Spotify, Instagram, YouTube, and Soundcloud.