The natural world is often something many people forget, and that’s especially easy with a phone glued to your hand for what feels like most of the day. There are aspects of nature that feel essential to the human experience, and Laura Misch is bringing that to her music.
The album we are talking about today is called ‘Sample the Sky,’ a beautiful and eclectic project that combines organic electronics, wind inspired saxophone, and a band of musicians that help to create left-field pop that feels free. I meet Laura over zoom, and you wouldn’t have guessed she had been touring constantly, as she was kind and exuded positive vibes from the off.
The project has been developing since her last output in 2019, but Laura says some of the songs have been around for years. The themes however, have been growing steadily since 2020. “The thematics and thinking about music, environment, and thinking more about organic sounds and how to sample nature and bring it into the record is something that I very much developed around the pandemic in 2020 and onwards.”
While appreciating the benefits of traditional recording, Laura wanted to feel more connected to nature and record in outdoor spaces. “I think what I was really curious about, and continue to be curious about, is how to stay connected to cycles within nature, and also being within different environments and breathing, moving, sensing for the music creation process not to become 2D and one dimensional especially.” You can hear this on the record, and the effect of being in nature has created something that feels free flowing, as if you’re drifting down a river and encountering everything nature has to offer.
You may know Laura for her more isolated bedroom recordings, such as 2017’s ‘Playground’ or 2019’s ‘Lonely City,’ which feel like personal diary entries and are full of amazing production. Her musical taste is firmly eclectic as well, with early inspirations including everything from Jamaican dancehall, reggae, pop, and hip-hop. Bands from the 90’s and 2000’s inspired her pop influences massively, “the bands I really loved growing up were like Destiny’s Child, Sugababes, S Club 7, and it was kind of more in the pop-sphere, and I guess as I got older and started playing the saxophone, there was an appreciation of jazz and an appreciation of electronic music, and my palette expanded.” When asked who inspires her, she doesn’t have to look far. Her band mate Tomáš Kašpar has his own project called ‘Slow Moon’ (out on Soundcloud), and other bandmate, Marysia Osu, also inspires Laura, and has an album of harp and dub music coming next year.
Currently on tour in Europe, I ask what her favourite aspect of touring is. Some musicians love the feeling of being on the road, the parties, discovering parts of the world that give them new perspective. So, what does Laura value? “Snacks,” she says unashamedly, and continues by saying, “when you have a promoter who provides a good snack, like a load of fruit or a fresh juice, it’s really exciting.” On a more serious note Laura loves the connection with her fans. “When there’s a real connection with the audience and the music you’re making, and the best show I think so far has been a tossup between Paris and Barcelona because the crowd was just so warm and appreciative, and electric so I guess it’s really about the energy that’s co-created in the room.”
When you leave an interview feeling energised and optimistic, you know it has been a positive experience.
Remember the name Laura Misch because you’ll be hearing it a lot more in the future.
Photo Credit: Charlie Coleman
