Daily Inspiration: Meet Laura Scarborough

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Scarborough.

Hi Laura, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in San Antonio, TX playing classical piano. My mother is from Switzerland and my father lived in Indonesia. We lived and traveled overseas, but Texas remained a home base.

My mother advocated that I study piano, specifically classical piano, as it provided a deeper technique, skill, and expression. I entered and won many local piano contests growing up, but as I became a teenager, I lost interest and direction.

I knew I wanted to move to Austin, but didn’t know what I wanted to study at the University of TX. I loved being creative and enjoyed writing so I thought advertising could be an interesting field of study. However, I quickly realized deceptive psychology wasn’t for me, so I dropped out.

I went to Austin community college for a year and studied creative writing. I met more Austin musicians and went out to see live shows all the time. I made new friends that encouraged me to “jam” and “improvise.”

Mid 1990s Austin had a very active, vibrant music community because living was affordable, music was everywhere, and many live shows were free. My house rent was only $225 a month and musicians could have a downtown lock out rehearsal space for $100 a month.

Rock and Roll rentals provided musicians amazing, affordable gear to try out, so I started writing music via a rented four track cassette recorder, microphones, and vocal effects processors. Recording was a safe space for me because at the time I felt shy about playing songs in front of people.

I decided to return to UT Austin and apply for music school because I didn’t know what else to do. I brushed up my classical pieces and auditioned and they offered me a scholarship. It was an affirmation that I should keep going with music. I always say, “Music chose me, I didn’t choose it.”

I studied classical and jazz piano and educational psychology. I listened to a lot of Miles Davis and Billie Holiday along with Portishead, Massive Attack, and Bjork. I suppose my songwriting interests are fused between the jazz and electronic music lines. I also love world and Indian music.

I released a couple of records 1999 and 2001 and then became even more interested in electronic / computer composition / beats / drum and bass. I partnered and created Lila’s Medicine in 2003 and released an EP that was much more electronic and dance-driven.

About 2005, I had hit a burnout with performing and began working with dancers and video artists. I felt that performance needed to be more visually compelling, and I wanted to collaborate more.

I connected via MYSPACE with multi-media dance group Quixotic. They were doing exactly what I wanted to do in terms of creating visually compelling performances. We composed through the internet and I began commuting back and forth to Kansas City for performances and fly out festivals.

Around this same time, I also transformed my life and passion through the discovery of hoop dance. I created a hula-hoop company called Hoopcircle and manufactured adult-size hoops and taught hoop fitness classes. I still hula hoop today, and it’s the best fitness medicine out there!

Aside from learning the hoop, I also grew my skills on other instruments. I bought a vintage vibraphone and fell in love with the instrument. I became a “side girl” musician playing vibraphone, accordion, and synthesizers for other Austin artists including Suzanna Choffel, Kat Edmonson, Golden Dawn Arkestra, and Bob Schneider’s Moonlight Orchestra.

It’s musically fun to collaborate with others, and as a natural introvert, music-making is a way for me to socially engage. It’s also nice to not have to be the “star,” responsible for winning audiences over, entertaining, pleasing, marketing, hustling, and dealing with business. Sometimes it’s nice to just play music with people you like, get paid, and have fun.

Although I still enjoy and do a fair amount of “side girl” work, I still continue my solo career. Piano songwriting is an intimate, personal place where I do deeper dives into writing and processing life. In 2017 I released an album ‘Reflection’ which was a collection of piano driven songs and a revisit to my “solo artist” self.

Since then, my life has changed a lot. I married a Dutch man and now live in The Hague, Netherlands. I travel back and forth to Austin for visits and gigs. In 2018 I was hired as a keyboardist for European band doing a 2 year world tour, and this helped afford my transition to Europe. I’m beyond grateful for this interesting, winding musical journey.

I’m thrilled that June 4th, 2021 I will release a new piano single called “The Captain.”

This song was actually written in an online Austin songwriting group, and serves as a reminder that there still is a thriving, supportive music community in our sweet city.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve gone dark on my solo artist career for periods of time in the past because of burn out. Being a musician is hardly an easy path.

At times, I’ve had no problem self-promoting and marketing, but at other times I’ve hit a wall where I grew really tired of it. When it’s your own dream, you have to be all in. When you support other people’s dreams you care less about the outcome and just enjoy the ride.

At times, I’ve felt guilt and shame about abandoning myself – my voice – my song writing – my creative ambitions. I now recognize that it’s important to share my offerings to the world, not just via collaborations, but with my own music.

Making music is only 50% of the work. The other 50% is marketing, promoting, hustling, sharing, networking, and building. Consistency is key, and I wish I had grasped this understanding more clearly in the past.

I’m much more at peace these days with the reality of “the work,” and I do the best I can. I’ve learned to be accepting, loving, less perfectionistic, and not beat myself up.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Having a background as a classical pianist gave me a very fertile soil from which to grow.

The technique and training was embedded and has allowed me to expand out to playing and live looping other instruments such as synthesizers, accordion, laptops, drum machines, and vibraphone. I like to combine them all together and octopus my way around.

I’m meticulous and thorough, and that discipline creates a nice offering for those I work with. I’m genuinely passionate, expressive, adaptable, and offer creative choices in music. I love writing lyrics and singing on tracks and it seems to be well-received by others.

I would say I’m most proud of my ability to be original.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like least is the high cost of living, the homeless surge, traffic and congestion, cedar allergies, and the brutal heat in the summer. I also am sad to see so many musicians and friends move away because they can’t afford to live in Austin anymore.

What I love is nature and places like Barton Springs, Ladybird Lake, and McKinney Falls. I love the music community, Mexican food (Polvos!), farmers markets, HAAM, Rock n Roll Rentals, the local innovators, studios, and many small businesses. I also love the Austin airport and the direct Europe to Austin flights.

My hope is that Austin can stay soulful and keep it’s sweet charm. I want to keep coming back!

Contact Info:

• Email: laurascarborough512@gmail.com
• Website: www.laurascarborough.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurascarboroughmusik
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.scarborough.musik
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/laurascarborough
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3tvU2s8VYzzTafpfxbPehV?si=qikb19dESXey26dhOGuGHw

Image Credits
Image Credits: Todd V Wolfson, Jilli Bethany Jones, Mattias Alegro, Roger Ho, Texas Redd, Stephen Goldblatt, and Suzanne Smaling