Audiation Magazine AM012 Print | Page 44

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Lauren Neko has come to prominence in the last few years as a singer who’s beautiful vocal delivery is in demand from established producers across multiple scenes including Roni Size and Nicky Romero. Equally adept live on stage as well as in the studio, her industry experience is now being focused into establishing her own record label alongside ambitious new projects. On the eve of releasing her brand new single ‘Serenity’ in collaboration with UK producer Hoffman, we caught up with her to get the lowdown on all things Neko.

You changed your surname to Neko, what are the origins of your artist name?

I often get asked by people ‘do you know what your name means in Japanese?’ – ‘Of course. It’s CAT. I had it changed legally.’ I get quite a mixed lot of responses from people! I decided I didn’t want to have an alter-ego or professional identity that differed from who I was known as outside of my music. Simply because my music and all that comes with it is who I am. My affiliation for cats goes back a long way, but I was known for wearing cat ears to raves long before Primark was pumping out sets for two quid! I was affectionately called ‘electro kitten’ or ‘candy cat’ by people. I also figured I may not want to wear cat ears when I’m older, but I wanted that young raver spirit to stay with me always!

How did you originally find your way into becoming an artist?

I had the privilege of starting my music journey at a very young age. I’ve always sung since before I could remember, coupled with years of music lessons from around age 10. The journey really begun