Toronto has many rising artists right now. I'm thinking about Emanuel, Savannah Ré, Charlotte Day Wilson and many more. But hey, have we found our new Avril Lavigne yet? Her name is Renforshort, a 18-years old pop-rock artist who's right into the early 2000 vibe. We had a chat with Lauren about her new music video for her new song '' nostalgic (luvsick) ''.
photo credit: Umusic Canada
2020 was a busy year for you with the release of many singles, an EP and music videos. How does it feel to do all that in such weird times?
Like, the fact that everything's virtual and online gives me more movement, like literally physically so I can be in different places and still work with the same people which is awesome. It’s definitely more difficult to do everything virtually. I know that in Canada, we are able to do like that in real life sessions but there's still a lot of people that can't do that with. So it's been a little bit, not exhausting but difficult.
Your new song who was released last Friday, Nostalgic, has a very pop/rock feel, almost like early Avril Lavigne. What place does pop rock music hold in your creative process?
It’s a very very important genre to me. I love the early 2000s and late 90s or like pop/rock vibes. I think that there’s a comeback right now which it’s super cool. I think that being able to make the music that I like to make which is that and having people react well is really awesome and I'm really happy about that so even if it wasn't you know something that was like in and now, it’s probably something I would still be doing just because it’s the music I enjoy making.
For Nostalgic’s music video, you wanted to pay homage to the movie Scott Piligrim vs The World. What inspired that choice of movie?
A very vivid memory I have is one of the first movies I kind of remember seeing in theatres and that was Scott Pilgrim and it was at my friends birthday. I remember when that movie came out 10 years ago so I was like 8. Everyone hated it except for me and my friend whose birthday it was and I kind of love that movie ever since and basically every movie that Edgar Wright has touched I really like. I really like the style of it, the comic side especially when it has to do with music because it’s kind of a perfect match. Aesthetically, I really like how it was shot. I really like the animations and that's something that I incorporated in my video. The artwork is basically a complete rip-off of the poster but like, that was the plan that was the goal.
Name three songs or artists that you’re listening to the most right now.
Kyoto by Phoebe Bridgers
Bad Texter by Ryan Woods
I’d say either Sofia by Clairo or Femme Fatale by The Velvet Underground just because, both of those songs, if I’m like walking around, I kind of feel like a badass and like am I a femme fatale or like am I in love with Sofia Vergara like I don’t know and this is something I want to figure out.
photo credit: Umusic Canada
What would be your dream collaboration?
I would probably say beabadoobee or Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers or Dave Grohl. Also like Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) would be really awesome.
How did you decide on your stage name Renforshort?
So my real name is Lauren Isenberg and it's not, you know, the most catchy name so I took my name, split it and then I was like Ren! Then, a little while later there's another artist with that name, so I changed it because it was there for a while already. So I just did Ren and added forshort.
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