Lauren Presley on Being a Female Artist, Double Standards, and 'Americas Sweethearts'

We are thrilled to have the incredibly talented Lauren Presley join us today at PopFiltr! Lauren is a rising pop artist hailing from Redwater, Texas, now making waves in the Nashville music scene. With her powerful vocals and authentic, straightforward approach to music, Lauren has quickly garnered attention and a loyal fan base. Inspired by artists like Tate McRae, Halsey, Fletcher, and Nessa Barrett, Lauren's music is a captivating blend of alt-pop and dark pop, deeply rooted in her personal life experiences.

Lauren's debut single "A Little Longer" was a significant milestone, amassing over 1 million streams on Spotify and 5.6 million views on YouTube. Her subsequent releases, such as "White Noise" and "Tiptoe," highlight her ability to blend catchy melodies with clever and touching lyrics, solidifying her place in pop.

Join us as we dive deeper into Lauren Presley's journey, discussing the challenges of being a female artist in a male-dominated industry, her resilience in the face of rejection, and the inspiration behind her powerful new single, "Americas Sweethearts."

Lauren, thank you for joining us today.

‍Thank you so much for having me.

Let's start by getting to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your journey into music and how you got started?

Yeah, I have kind of just always wanted to be an artist. I started singing when I was probably 5 years old. When I turned 12, I recorded some cover songs at a studio in Texas, where I grew up, and uploaded them on YouTube. One of them just kind of blew up. I think it's got like 5 million views now or something crazy on YouTube. Then, "Chasing Nashville" reached out to me, and I ended up getting cast in it. It was a reality TV show about a couple of girls trying to make it in the music industry. We filmed a lot in Nashville, so my mom quit her job, and we left Texas to film and just never went back. We settled here, and I started trying to get into writing music. I took a couple of years off because I was so young and in school, but I really started getting into it seriously when I was about 17 or 18. I also used to do country music when I was in Texas, and then around 17, I switched to pop. I've been doing pop ever since. The last couple of years have been a journey, focusing on honing my craft and getting better at writing and singing, and just leveling up in all areas to make this my career.

What a journey. What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far?

I think the biggest challenge would be honestly just hearing "no" a lot. Pretty much all artists probably experience this, but being an artist means you hear "no" a lot from several different types of people. That can be hard to brush off and just keep going when it's something you hear so much. It's about learning to push that aside, know who you are, know your talent, and what you're doing, and just try to push past it.

You recently shared with your audience your experience of being rejected by a label. Oftentimes, we only see picture-perfect accounts on social media, and it was very brave of you to share the full story, including discouraging news. What was your driver to share not just the high highs?

Yeah, it's definitely a scary thing to put yourself out there, not in a negative light, but in a light where you got rejected. It's super vulnerable and scary. I'll be honest, I was kind of iffy about posting that. But I just feel like vulnerability is one of our main strengths as human beings, especially as artists. I wanted to be honest with my fans and people who follow me about the real things I go through in my life. I have a lot of songs that are more upbeat and fun, but that's not my life all the time. There are a lot of things that go on behind closed doors that are hard and just suck. I wanted to be honest and upfront about that. I feel like there's too much of this false picture online of what our lives look like. That can be dangerous because it might make other people feel like they're not doing enough or not doing well enough in their lives because they think mine is completely perfect, which is not the case. So, I wanted to be clear and vulnerable about it.

Thank you so much for being so honest and sharing this part of your journey as well. What drives you to keep creating music, even after hearing "no"?

Music is really my outlet. It's the only thing where I can truly let my emotions flow out of me. When I'm in the studio writing music, it's often about past experiences or things I'm currently going through. There's no better way for me to express myself. That's what keeps me going despite all the hard things and all the "no's." I love it, and all I can do is continue to do it and hope that other people love it too. If they don't, that's out of my control. I'm just going to keep doing it for me.

So now let's talk about "America Sweetheart." What was the inspiration behind your single?

Well, I watched the Barbie movie, and it didn't open my eyes to everything, but as a woman, I've experienced things that felt sexist. Watching that movie made me think about it more and put it at the forefront of my mind. We went into a session a couple of weeks after that, and I had all these ideas from my life experiences and the movie that I wanted to build on and see if we could make it into a song. I thought it would be a really cool concept. So, I came up with "Americas Sweetheart." The chorus is almost like a checklist of how to be America's sweetheart, which is pretty cool. I really like the way it turned out.

I was a little hesitant to release the song because it's a bit controversial. I didn't want to make some people mad, but I also think it's a message that needs to be heard. So, I'm excited to get it out there.

Some of the lines that caught my attention: "Can’t be right but do no wrong / Stand up straight but not too tall / Can’t be too pretty, can’t be too smart / Gotta dream big but don’t go too far." What was going through your mind when writing them?

Yeah, we were trying to think of double standards between men and women. Obviously, we came up with several. It feels like you have to be pretty to meet society's standards but not too pretty, or you could be intimidating or distracting. Be brave and strong but not too strong, or you might come off as masculine, which isn't what some men want either. Sometimes, it just feels like as a woman, you can't win.

And, "At the kitchen sink / Watered down dreams in the dishes"—that just cut through my heart. How does it feel to be a female artist in the music industry? And what do you think should change to create a more supportive environment?

I think we need to encourage more female producers, writers, and artists because it is mostly a male-dominated industry. I've been in sessions before with only men, and it's not a very comfortable place to be, especially when you hear men talking about women in a derogatory way. Being the only girl in the room, it's uncomfortable and borderline scary. If we could bring more women together in the music industry, working with more women, that would create a more comfortable and supportive place.

Couldn't agree more. Before we wrap up, we have a tradition here at Popfiltr, where our current guest asks a question for the next artist without knowing who they are leaving a question for. What would you like to ask our next guest?

It might be cool to ask them what keeps them going to be an artist because I know it's hard. So, like what keeps them going?

Fantastic! Thanks so much for joining us today, Lauren. It’s been a pleasure talking with you. Any final words for your fans?

Thank you for all the love and support! I hope you enjoy "Americas Sweethearts" as much as I enjoyed creating it. "Americas Sweethearts" is out July 12th on all streaming platforms.

It’s been wonderful chatting with you. Thanks for joining us, and make sure to catch our next interview where we’ll be asking your question to our next special guest!

*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.