How to survive iso as a performing artist – An interview with Lauren Neko

The mission here at Creative Little Soul has always been to connect with, support and to surround ourselves with amazing creatives, doing their thing. One of those people is my good friend Lauren Neko. Lauren and I both hail from South Australia and have very similar backgrounds + plus knew/ know a lot of the same people, so it might interest you to know we didn’t meet or become friends until Lauren moved here to Sydney 7 years ago and the rest as they say is….history.

Those in the performing arts and entertainment industry have suffered tremendously due to the ongoing pandemic crisis. As the lock-down and state restrictions on concerts, clubs, live performances and public gatherings, have come into effect, its left many artists without an income and deprived them of a creative outlet.

However, those in the music and performing arts industry are nothing if not resourceful and in the latest Creative Little Soul podcast episode we had the pleasure of chatting with Lauren Neko. A singer, producer, writer,  DJ and educator (to name a few hats Lauren wears), who shared how she’s adapted her business to bring joy and a much needed diversion to a world that could certainly do with a bit of entertainment right now.  .

The Ultimate Grown up Playhouse.
Most of us have a bland, unused corner of our house that we do our best to ignore. Aiming to seem more industrious, one might fill this space with an assuming piece of furniture that perhaps we feel obligated to keep because we inherited it from our mum’s great grandmother’s uncle or something. Few of us have the inclination to transform our uninspired corner into a dazzling, opulent, florescent pink wonderland like something out of our childhood fantasy, but that’s precisely what Lauren has done.

Lauren told us how she and her husband Dan, the designated ‘lighting and sound nerd,’ transformed their lackluster courtyard into a glitzy, glow-in-the-dark studio. “We had a courtyard that was sitting there not doing anything and thought ‘cool let’s turn a useless courtyard into a makeshift studio’,” she said.

Lauren stated that her husband Dan put his basic engineering and YouTube skills into use by building a roof and structure over the internal courtyard. “We opted for a clear roof with a whirly, so we still get the light during the day and at night it was a really cool almost night club like sort of space. I’m really very fortunate that I have someone who supports my level of crazy rainbow.”

OUR HOUSE WITH LUV

The lock-down put an end to large public gatherings and live performances, but not one to be demoralized, Lauren quickly adapted and created OUR HOUSE WITH LUV, a live streamed performance under the brand Glossy Entertainment from her home studio in Woolloomooloo, Sydney. Each week features a neon-themed look, a fresh blend of live vocals with House, Disco and other Dance-floor treats.

We asked Lauren about her inspiration behind the concept. “I wanted to create a way to share music and create moments with other people, even though we can’t be in the same room. So rather than play for other people, I’ve been throwing the party at my house and anyone can tune in via Facebook or mix cloud.”

“OUR HOUSE WITH LUV has had 15 episodes so far. We started quite early during lock-down and with the power of just a few people sharing it online it was amazing the reach that it got, and not just within Australia. It was really welcoming to know that people are still craving music even though they’re not going out. But what I also found really amazing was the amount of people that would love to come to my gigs but can’t because they live in another state, or another country, or because they’re not well enough to come out or they’ve got kids. Those people could tune in, so suddenly you have this real shift in the audience, which was great.”

“I’ve always wanted to create a music experience that is accessible. Not everything has to be a dark dungeon bottom floor nightclub. There should be events that are open to everyone as well, so in some ways I’ve lived up to my values more widely by doing these live streams in this environment.” 

The cancellation of VIVID Sydney

Lauren was set to curate a series of events for VIVID, Sydney’s annual festival of light, music and ideas. We asked Lauren about the disappointment she felt on hearing the 2020 event had been cancelled.

“At a time of year when I usually have a positive creative outlet It was all gone, but I still had that drive and desire. It’s amazing what you can pull off in your own home. It’s not the same obviously, because we couldn’t host a band of people in here! However, people still wanted novelty and an experience, even though they couldn’t go out for it. I was able to reach people by doing these streams from home, so it was a positive outcome.”

Marketing in a Crisis

Whilst it would be understandable for an artist like Lauren to throw her hands up and admit defeat when the lock-down came into effect, she echoed the sentiments long espoused by myself, when she argued that it’s important to buckle down on marketing during a dicey period.

“During any sort of crisis or any kind of economic down turn it’s really easy to say ‘oh well we’ll just hold our cards close and start marketing when things re-open’ But any marketing specialist will tell you that when things are crap, that’s when you market the most.”

“You invest a lot of time into building something, and it’s hard when it’s taken away from you. The only failure is if you stop. I don’t really see COVID-19 as a reason to stop doing what I love. I saw it as an opportunity to pivot. Any kind of business requires a sense of resilience, without being fixed to one version of an outcome. There are many ways to achieve success.”

Words of Wisdom

Lauren has a Master’s in Arts Management through the Australian Institute of Music. After reconnecting with an old mentor several years ago, she began teaching venture planning and strategic business planning to arts students and has since found a passion for helping people with the art of creativity.

“One of the biggest challenges I find, particularly with younger people, is if they’re not an instrumentalist or a photographer or directly involved in something “arty” they don’t see themselves as a creative. It’s heartbreaking when someone is so nervous or shy, they feel like they can’t make failure a part of their creative process. I really enjoy breaking people’s conceptions of themselves so that they can see themselves more clearly.”

If you’re interested in adding a lit bit of theater and some awesome tunes to an upcoming event or corporate function, Lauren is offering socially distanced entertainment live-streamed to wherever you are. This mix is a fave of mine too, so give it a rinse if you’re looking to hear what Lauren’s about.

Lauren and Creative Little Soul are also running a collaborative competition open to anyone in Sydney to win the ultimate house party. The winner will have Lauren come to their home and perform as a DJ. If you’re lucky, she many even bring some other entertainers to help kick things up a notch. The best part is, you don’t need to provide anything other than the invite!

To enter, all you have to do is click here and tell us what music you will be dancing to when you’re free to PARTY again! It’s that simple. Of course, the more friends who enter, the more chances you have of winning this amazing prize.

For additional entries into the major prize draw and regular runner-up prizes, make sure you follow Glossy Entertainment and Lauren Neko on Facebook/ Instagram