Soul Kinda Feeling

Brisbane songstress Bec Laughton's broad vocal ability recently earned her a 2012 Queensland Music Award – not a bad effort considering the Dance/Electronic category win was a bedroom side-project collaboration that came in the midst of her work to release her sophomore EP By The Fire. 

“I grew up in musical theatre, trained in jazz but then my heart is definitely in soul music so that kind of comes out in everything. My original stuff is kind of quirky soul pop but then I seem to work in the funky house scene as well,” Laughton says of the cross-over ability that scored her a QMA.

“I guess everything I do has soul as the basis, whether it's a dance track that's soulful and upbeat or if it's a more soul pop sound like Amy Winehouse or Adele,” she admits. “And even if I'm doing jazz it's normally like a bluesy kind of soul ballad, so I guess it's the one thing that ties everything together… Soul to me is more than a genre – it kind of says what I'm singing about as well which is music that has heart and meaning. And so a lot of my music is about the lyrics and the message that I'm actually trying to say – I'm trying to speak life into people, because I heard once that music is the one voice that can speak into your life without your permission.”

Laughton's soulful sass grabbed the attention of industry A&R and management veteran Michael Parisi in a vital development stage.

“In 2009 I got sponsored to go down [to Melbourne] for Dream Inc which is a conference that he was running with [singing teacher] David Jaanz,” she recalls. “Michael Parisi loved my music but he said, 'You've got this, this and this to do' – kind of gave me a list of things to do. Then two years later, which was end of last year, I wrote to him and said, 'Look, I've done all these things' and he was like, 'Wow, excellent', and hooked me up with Jan Skubiszewski [Owl Eyes, Cat Empire] who was the producer of the EP.”

With the spirit of collaboration acquired from her rich musical theatre background and an open jam-style approach with her seven-piece band, Laughton's strong personality across By The Fire has been backed by guest vocalists Rachel Everett-Jones and Ni.Na, also known as Madame Peal.

“It sounds rad on the CD but if you hear it live it has just got this power to it that is absolutely paralysing,” Laughton says of Ni.Na's vocal. “She's much more than a singer – you can hear I guess her soul when she opens her mouth and it's just incredible. Have you ever been in a zoo when a lion has roared? It just sends chills down your spine…” she explains, an apt analogy considering Laughton herself is often described as 'lion lungs'.

“That was a nickname that I developed when I was playing Dorothy in The Whiz from musical theatre. And it was about my singing but it was also about my speaking voice 'cause apparently the cast could hear me from the dressing rooms as soon as I'd pulled into the car park…” Laughton laughs, adding how this side of her performance persona will impact the EP launch shows.

“It's given me some great ideas for the launch – we're doing some funny, funny whacky production things that are gonna make the performance so memorable in like a 3D kind of way… There's some interactive stuff happening with the crowd that includes fire and things like that – it's gonna be really fun.”

Bec Laughton will be playing the following shows:

Friday 21 September - Icecream Factory, Brisbane QLD
Friday 28 September - Solbar, Sunshine Coast QLD
Friday 5 October - Elroco, Sydney NSW
Sunday 7 October - Lizotte's, Newcastle NSW
Friday 12 October - Higher Ground, Adelaide SA
Sunday 14 October - Workers Club, Melbourne VIC
Thursday 18 October - Woodys, Byron Bay NSW
Saturday 20 October - Sheoak Shack, Fingal Head NSW
Sunday 21 October - Queen Street Mall, Brisbane QLD
Friday 26 October - Island Vibes, Stradbroke Island QLD
Saturday 10 November - Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane QLD
Friday 16 November - The Loft, Gold Coast QLD
Saturday 17 November - Bon Amici, Toowoomba QLD