Lauv

“Living in L.A. has been really good for me as a creator and musician.”

“With pretty much everything that I've done, in terms of going from being a songwriter and producer for other artists to doing my stuff, all the songs that I've kept to myself have always been me writing about my life.”

“I miss the energy of New York City and being able to step out of my apartment and see so much unique culture all the time around me without having to seek it out. In L.A., I have to sort of seek out everything I'm trying to do. It makes it less spontaneous.”

“One of my favorite cities is Tokyo because of sushi, and Asian food in general, but then also the way Tokyo operates, because it's so clean, and there's space for a lot of variety of stores.”

“In day-to-day life, there's so much that's calculated: so many fake, surface-level interactions that don't amount to anything.”

“It's tough to know what I'm going to write about. I never really know until it starts happening.”

“I love exploring the more complicated side of love. I feel like I've always gravitated toward that.”

“I sort of feel that I have to constantly be really, really honest with the way I feel, and I have to get that out.”

“For a lot of people going through their first love, you're both still figuring yourself out.”

“I think a lot of pop music is escapist.”

“The thing about Sheeran is that he is an incredibly real artist and songwriter. He is not trying to be anybody else other than himself.”

“I am realising this now more as I grow up: that I never really felt connected to locations. In some sense, I always kind of felt a little lost in that I never had any hometown pride. While I experience a lot different places and experiences, I always felt a little detached.”

“I think everybody goes through that, especially... being in love for the first time. Some people, they're lucky enough that that ends up being who they're with for the rest of their lives, and sometimes it doesn't work out.”

“All the best art and music feels like some type of truth - even if it's really simple - that you just can't deny. A listener can feel that.”

“People come up to me with tattoos of my lyrics!”

“For whatever reason, I've always gravitated towards music that feels nostalgic or longing or beautifully tragic.”

“'I Met You When I Was 18' is a collection of songs, a story about moving to New York City when I was 18 and falling in love for the first time. A story about trying to figure out your own identity whilst being deeply intertwined with someone else's.”

“Growing up, I played in different bands and did a lot of self-booked touring and traveling around, and my sister was driving us on tour, and we're playing for nobody and literally begging my friends that I went to high school with to buy tickets to our shows.”

“I write a lot of sad songs!”

“'Lauv' comes from the Latvian word for lion, and my mom's side of the family is from Latvia - it's a place I've been probably 15 times or more. I'm also a Leo, and my real name, Ari, means lion.”