‘People connect to music when it’s the most honest’

American singer Lauv makes sense of life through the music he writes

His Zoom username is Arileff, a reference to the American singer-songwriter's real name, Ari Staprans Leff. Better known Lauv, the artiste will be hitting the Indian stage for the third time when he performs as Lollapalooza India later this month, seven years after he headlined Ed Sheeran's Divide tour in 2017 and four years after his own world tour in 2019.

This is the second year of the American music festival in Mumbai, with artistes such as One Republic, The Jonas Brothers, Halsey, and K-pop idol Eric Nam performing at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Ask Lauv what he's looking forward to at his Mumbai performance, and he says, "I want bring fresh vibes and energy to this show, and maybe get a chance to explore the city in my free time." He adds that chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, and biryani are his top favourites.

The 29-year-old artiste rose to fame with I Like Me Better, which was released on May 19, 2017. It dealt with the giddiness and anticipation of falling in love, and became an instant hit. Love forms a major theme of most of his songs, he says, because of his tendency to romanticise the feelings he has had for people in the past. But his new music, he adds, talks about the emotions one feels towards the people one least expects to love, even platonically. "Love always takes you to interesting places!"

In the past, the singer has opened up about his struggles with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), depression, and anxiety, as well as his struggles saying sober. His fans, or ‘Lauvers', connect to his music because it feels like a friend accompanying you through life, validating the emotions you're feeling. Is that intentional, we ask? "I just focus on telling my truth," he muses. "People connect to music when it's the most honest."

It's a way to process the truth he himself may not be upfront about. "I spend a lot of time in my head, overthinking things and lying to myself about how I feel," he says. "My music is my space to find my clarity." While creating music that addresses mental health issues may not have been intentional, he says he is "doing what he needs to do to get better, - transforming the thoughts assailing him into his music. "It relives me to speak about it openly, even on my social media, for example," he says. "I'm not hiding anything; I'm not hiding from myself."

On Instagram, Lauv is conversational, almost chatty, with his Lauvers. He posts Notes App screenshots asking about their day and how their year has been, encouraging them to open up about anything they feel like talking about. A recent post reads: "I'm wanting to be more social on here and create spaces for us all to chat. Because social media is so one-sided these days. I want to bring a sense of community back to it"

Perhaps it's rather apt, then, that the song Modern Loneliness is a favourite of his. He even has a tattoo of it. It was the first time he wrote a tasteful song about depression, as he phrases it. As a line from the song goes: Modern loneliness/We're never alone, but always depressed, yeah/Love my friends to death/ But I never call and I never text, yeah.

WHAT: Lollapalooza India 2024
WHEN: January 27 to 28
WHERE: Mahalaxmi Racecourse
PRICE: Rs 5,999 onwards
TO BOOK: bookmyshow.com