Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry on Locking Life in LA

Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches says touring and life on the road helped her adjust to the lockdown.

The Scottish synth singer has spoken to the BBC Scotland’s Unlocked podcast from her current base in Los Angeles.

In the interview, she talks about the Los Angeles lockdown, the ups and downs of social media, and abusive relationships.

“I felt very strange to be so far from my family and all that, but at this point … even if you are close to your family, you cannot really surrender,” she said.

Last month, she and the rest of the group performed – remotely – on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

She says that the locked out isolation was eased by having her rescue cats with them, and that life on tour may also have prepared her for those times.

“When we’re on the road, I don’t really go out much during the day, so I feel like I’m spending a lot of time in hotel rooms and changing rooms.

“You have to figure out how to make each green room your home office, your home gym … whatever.”

‘Sense of community’

However, with more time to create music during lockdown, Mayberry admits that maintaining productivity can be difficult.

“It comes in bursts. I can be super productive one day and the next, I’m pretty worried about everything and I can’t do anything.”

And the pressure to be productive from social media can weigh heavily.

“They always say there is nothing safer than death and taxes” … and the fact that social media will make you feel bad, “jokes Mayberry.

The singer, who has spoken openly about the misogynistic abuse she has faced online, admits that social media is having a more positive influence on her life right now.

“I think, in a way, that I find social media pleasant because, for once, I have the impression … that people want to connect and have a sense of community that I don’t know that ‘it exists at other times.

“But even when I look at things [online], I’m like ‘aww, this person does this, this person wrote half a book and what did I do?’ I did not do anything. “

This week, BBC The Social released a digital drama depicting an abusive relationship called Control.

After speaking openly about a toxic relationship she had known, Mayberry reflected on this time of her life and the difficulty it would have during the lockdown.

“I can’t imagine how hard it is to deal with something like this. It is very easy for people to say at best,” leave this person, “” said Mayberry.

“Right now, there are practical things that stand in the way of that, as well as emotional things.”

“Leave marks”

Mayberry says she could still be in this relationship without her group.

Speaking from her own experience, she says, “To me it was kind of drip. It’s not like the first time you meet this person, they behave that way. It’s a subtle constraint that occurs over time, just as you realize too, I think. “

“I really don’t know if I would have left this situation by the time I did, if we hadn’t had the group, because in the end it was sort of an ultimatum situation.”

Mayberry had a choice between the relationship and the group. She says it was a very bizarre and scary decision to make, but she is glad she chose Chvrches.

“I think [coercive relationships are] much more common than people think. I think there are ways to leave marks on a partner without doing it physically. I learned a lot. I got a lot of it out, I guess. “

To hear the full interview with Lauren Mayberry, go to Unlocked on BBC Sounds.