Meet Lauren Gerrish

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Gerrish, the singer and songwriter behind Hendri.

Hi Lauren, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I knew I was a “good singer” before I actually fell in love with music. The first album I owned was “Be Not Nobody” by Vanessa Carlton. I would sing around the house and write my own songs, and my father, a musician too, would encourage me to keep going. I liked being on stage, and I liked performing. But I didn’t realize the impact music would have on me until I was older.

In high school, music wasn’t cool. And I wanted to be cool. So, after a few failed American Idol attempts, a few years in show choir and too many talent shows to count, I gave up. I decided I would go to college and work in fashion. So, that’s what I did. I studied abroad in Milan, I partied for four straight years, interned for a PR Agency (for “college credit”, a huge scam if you ask me) in New York City while living in hostels and driving back to Boston on the weekends to waitress. I worked hard, I had a string of minor successes, but I wasn’t happy. I kept coming back to music.

In 2018, after graduating, my high school friend Saige told me she was joining the Navy in San Diego. She was going to drive across the country to get there, and the Navy would pay for it. I had no money, but I knew that this presented a very unique opportunity for me; I could get to LA for free. And I’d have a friend less than 3 hours away if things went poorly. So I packed up three bags of clothes, got in her car, and said goodbye to everything I had ever known in Boston.

When I got to LA, I had nothing but those three bags of clothes. I didn’t have a car, or an apartment, any friends in the city or even a job. I was immensely lucky to meet a family who needed a new personal assistant just after I arrived. They hired me, showed me the ropes, and gave me a support system when my own was 3,000 miles away. I also was lucky to meet an aspiring producer, Classy Williams, who would become my best friend, teacher, and business partner for two years. He reignited the love of music I had forgotten in high school and college. We wrote and produced over 30 songs together. I consider the two years working with Classy as “school” moreso than the four years I spent in college.

Fast forward to 2022, and I’m still here in LA working on my music. I also have started working as a full-time model and actress, which has given me tons of opportunities to learn and grow within the entertainment industry. Classy has moved on to a new career touring as a DJ, and I’ve found new musicians to work with and learn from. I’ve also begun writing songs with the hopes of getting them placed in TV shows and with other artists. I’ve released nine songs so far, and I think each one is better than the last.

I’m not sure where I’ll end up, but I’m very proud of where I’ve come so far.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If you meet a single musician who says the road has been smooth, I think they’re lying. With every song you release, you put your soul on display to the public. I’ve had doubts about almost every song I’ve written. And some of them, admittedly, I look back on and I no longer believe they’re my best work. It’s all part of the journey though, and they’re a time capsule of where I was in my career and in my personal life at the time.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My goal within creating art always comes back to authenticity. I’ve lived so many lives already at the age of 26, and not all of them have felt true to myself.

As a model, you’re constantly lending yourself and your image to someone else’s conceptualization. With some projects, I feel that I’m part of something bigger— I love acting in music videos and helping other creatives bring their songs to life with visuals. Alternatively, some of them are just ways to make an income and support my dreams to become a musician.

Writing music is a way for me to take back that power and create my own narratives rather than simply being part of someone else’s. Even if I’m not writing about myself, or for myself, or I’m writing something entirely fictional, you have to draw from either what you know, what you’ve heard, or what you can imagine.

One of my favorite poems I’ve ever written is called Consumption, and it’s about my experiences in the modeling world;

I know what that face means,
I know your assumption.

That I’m only here for your consumption.

Your eyes graze, and stop, and glaze
Over the bits that are not as sumptuous.

Twist me like Venus, a clear reproduction.
Of someone else’s idea of seduction.

But all of the muses are a product of man.
And every bit was produced by a hand.

So unless you’re a God and I’m under command.
I’ve no obligation to meet your demands.

My favorite song I’ve ever written, lyrically, is titled “It’s Only Forever”. I released it in 2020, and it’s about the idea of permanence as told through the story of my tattoos. I have 23, and I’ve done some of them myself. I’ve always thought the idea of something on your body being permanent when your body itself is not permanent as being pretty silly.

I’m currently working on an EP project titled “It’s Loud In Here”, representing a saying I have about the inside of my head being “loud” with a lot of thoughts and ideas and feelings. There are six songs in the project so far, all written in 2022 after a particularly difficult time in my life. The songs deal with anxiety, depression, companionship, love, apathy, coping mechanisms, and anger. I’m really proud of this project, and I’m very excited to almost have the entire collection completed. I just released the second single from the collection, titled “DWMF (Drunk With My Friends)” on December 9th (song link: https://open.spotify.com/track/7yMrkdD9onyqWG6TJanwWw?si=ecd7656d88bd49f8). It’s written about the individual struggles of four friends and how human connection can make us forget about the problems we’re having, at least temporarily.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I love anthropology. Human evolution fascinates me, and I can tell you the difference between most early hominin species based on their skulls alone. I think studying where we came from gives us an insight into not only where we are now but where we could be headed in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hendrimusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyhendri/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heyhendri/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hendri5895
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-777333478-464664726
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6waGycyTqw9hLh2Oey0Y42?si=AUs-yLiPSyyxQAiaU5AyNw

Image Credits
Cam Whitelaw, Joseph Ascioti, Jacob Halter, Layla Saad, Avi Kuppili, Taylor Patterson