LAURA KOVIC OF FORTITUDE VALLEY
To say that Fortitude Valley is Laura Kovic couldn’t be truer. A project all of own her making and an outfit that bears the stamp of her vision for how the band should sound. From inception to completion the self-titled record is what London via Brisbane artist Laura has envisioned for a long time and now in 2021 it is seeing the light of day with the help of some friends.
Hailing from Brisbane Australia, Laura relocated to the U.K some eleven years ago with the move being a driving force in her musical journey as she affirms. “Moving to the UK was obviously a big change for me, and it was at least partly motivated by my interest in music, knowing that London has an amazing music scene, and is full of opportunities.” Transitioning between countries and cultures can create a sense of disconnect which can sway ones influence and musical direction but for Laura, “I think it’s more the influence of the music I listen to than the geography of where I live, but being a part of music scenes and playing with other bands also filters through. I couldn’t have asked for a better place than Brisbane to get started; I loved playing in bands when I was there.”
It is perhaps her time in other bands that above all has guided her musical trajectory more than anything else simply because “it has shaped me in that I’m doing the opposite of what I’ve done in other bands. I’ve always played keyboards in bands, have mostly sung backing vocals and not really contributed to the song writing - just writing my own keyboard parts, whereas in this band I write all the songs, play guitar and sing lead vocals.” And it is taking the step from stage right to downstage centre that makes this squarely her own venture as Laura explains. “Fortitude Valley is essentially my project and creative outlet; Greg (bass), Daniel (lead guitar) and Nathan (drums) all contribute as songwriters in their respective bands and so this band is especially for me to do that and be the songwriter.” Detailing her exact methodology Laura explains “how it works for us is: I write the lyrics, melody, chords and structure for the song and occasionally some riffs. I record the vocals and rhythm guitar into GarageBand or Logic along with some automated drums and then send it off to the others. I don’t tend to want to write parts for instruments that I don’t play i.e bass, drums, lead guitar, so everyone has the freedom to come up with their own parts. If we’re lucky, we’ll have a practice (although that has been hard given the pandemic and us being split between Durham and London). The practice room is when it really comes together, although we recorded some songs in May this year without having ever practiced them all together, so it can be quite chaotic actually, but it sounds good and that’s what’s important, I guess?”
Taking the reins and working on the debut album consists of both the freedom to make of it what she will but also the difficulty of overseeing all aspects yet for Laura it was crystal clear that she “always wanted to be in a band that sounded like this”. However this didn’t come easy as she honestly states “I didn’t have the confidence to form my own band” although eventually “I reached a point where I was stuck in a rut with my songs and thought that maybe trying to write on a different instrument might help, so I bought a guitar and it just kind of went from there.” That persistence ultimately culminated in delivering the self-titled album.
A debut album can be a brief snapshot in time with a narrow period in one’s life bookended between just several months or years and other times a debut record is the distillation of a lifetime and all that has preceded it. For Laura Fortitude Valley falls “somewhere between” this spectrum and asked whether there is there a lyrical narrative tying the album together with central themes underpinning the record’s story or more simply and eclectic assortment of tracks that zig zag across many topics, Laura comments that it is “more of an assortment - we recorded half of the album before the pandemic hit, and then the other half a year and bit into lockdown life, so the passage of time became a big theme for me. Other themes are friendships/relationships growing apart, feelings of insecurity, depression and anxiety, as well as searching for love and salvation somewhere.”
Having laid down the tracks, the chance to perform them has been somewhat curbed due to the pandemic with Fortitude Valley having only ever played two shows. “Those were both really great shows, one was with the Just Joans and Seazoo, and the other was with Fresh and Best Praxis; both were in London in early 2020, and both were sold out. So we couldn’t have asked for two better shows to play. We had quite a lot of shows booked in and were so disappointed when they all had to be cancelled or postponed. We can’t wait to play again.” The wait however has been worth it because for a new outfit Fortitude Valley has managed to punch above their weight which their addition to Dorset’s epic three day End of The Road Festival. Joining the ranks with the likes of Stereolab, Arlo Parks, Dry Cleaning, Current Joys and fellow Brisbanites The Goon Sax. Belated somewhat considering “we were due to play in 2020 and were very excited and so we were very upset when it was postponed. We are absolutely delighted to be asked back for 2021.”
An enthused crowd will be waiting in the wings to catch Fortitude Valley live, especially given that for most fans the only taste they have had has been through their singles ‘Baby, I’m Afraid!’ and ‘Cassini’ and the corresponding video clips. Each of the video clips bubble with energy and make use of a generous amount of green screen. Yet it is clear in the clips that the spontaneity captured on film is a running sentiment throughout the band as Laura can attest to when describing the storyboard process (or lack thereof) when filming them. “I’m going to be honest - there was none for ‘Baby, I’m Afraid!’ We filmed it the day after we’d played our first ever show and so it was a rare moment that we could all be in the same room - the room is our friend Hannah’s living room. The idea was literally just “let’s put up a green screen and press record” and then we collected props from around Hannah’s house and did silly things in front of the camera, which Nathan edited together. ‘Cassini’ was a different story as we made it during lockdown. We all filmed ourselves in our respective homes playing the song against a green screen, then I found some open source footage of space (because the song is about the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft) and edited it all together with that. It was my first time ever making a video and I quite enjoyed doing it.” It is learning curves such as these that overtime become highly valuable in the experience they provide for future endeavours as Laura explains on the topic of song writing “I’m not 100% sure where I got this from, but basically the advice was that you should always try to finish a song, even if you think it’s bad, finish it - that way at least you still would have written a song. I can’t say I’ve always followed this advice, but I like the sentiment. Otherwise, just keep creating and doing stuff that makes you happy and try not to compare yourself to others, especially on social media.” Wise advice in these modern times.
It is only just the beginning for Fortitude Valley and as Laura explains how her musical journey in life has overlapped with that of her personal journey, it is clear that so much is to come. “Music is so important to who I am, so I can’t say that the two things are entirely separate. I wouldn’t have moved to the UK if it wasn’t for music, I wouldn’t have met most of my friends here if it wasn’t for music. Without music, my life would be completely different, so my life journey and my musical journey are very connected.” A connection to music as deep and entwined as that, it is a small wonder that such an amazing album has been produced.
The sparkling debut record from Laura and her band is a glittering slice of indie pop with its effervescent lyricism, playfulness and energy abounding out of each track. A must have album and a tantalizing taste of what else is to come from Fortitude Valley.
