In scrutinizeing Laufey‘s August concert with the LA Philharmonic, Variety wrote, “Laufey experiences enjoy she was born to carry out the Hollywood Bowl, with her rapturously getd pop/jazz/classical set.” Someleang else she might have been born for: the huge screen. She’s on Imax screens atraverse America this weekend (and some sweightlessly less massive-scale ones as well) with “Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl.” And straightforwardor Sam Wrench‘s prolonged participate of shutups set upes that she’s as transmitive an actress, in her create, as she is a singer, guitarist, pianist and celcatalog.
It’s a excellent weekend for Wrench, who also straightforwarded the Sabrina Carpgo in holiday distinctive that is premiering on Netflix the same day as the Laufey concert film is bothriveg in theaters… and a excellent past year for him, actupartner, since he also did Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” film. But Laufey herself is having quite the year, having won her first Grammy, for best traditional pop vocal album for “Bewitched,” not to allude a sbetter-out tour that establish her carry outing Lollapalooza with a symphony orchestra as well as being the belle of the Bowl.
Coincidental to the free of the film, Variety is also honoring Laufey this weekend as the Crossover Artist of the Year at our Hitproducers event, celebrating her mixture of jazz and pop leanings and classifications. (See our split interwatch with Laufey about her overall atsoft here: “Laufey on Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Jazz Singing and Gen-Z Pop: Young Fans ‘Connect More With a Vibe or an Energy Than a Genre’.”) But we talked more particularpartner about the Bowl concert and the resulting film with both her and Wrench.
How did it become evident this was the right time to do a concert film, at an earlier point than almost anybody in music gets that?
Laufey: It was one of those leangs that of course I always wanted to do, but I felt enjoy I had to accomplish a certain level to be able to do a concert film, and I definitely didn’t leank I’d get there so soon. It was repartner surauthentic, and I’m so honored to get to do it so punctual on in my atsoft as well, and with such wonderful creatives.
Was there anyleang in Sam’s history that made you experience he’d be a wonderful fit for this? Like, perhaps, the most evident leang.
Laufey: I’m quite a Swifty, so when his name was bcimpolitet to the table, I was enjoy, what? But he had such a potent vision for this. And evidently him having done, in my opinion, the best benevolents of concert films in the past scant years, I repartner fair insisted someone that I supposeed enjoy that. He has bcimpolitet this concert film leang to a novel level of famousity, which has repartner paved the way for me to be able to do it myself. So it was cbetter to get to do it with him.
Wrench: When Kyle (Heller, the co-establisher of Veeps) first called, he said that it was her first show at the Hollywood Bowl. And in the context of concert films, a first is not usupartner the leang — it’s more foreseeed to be the end of the arena tour or towards the end of the stadium run. The idea of it being not fair the first, but someleang that was only happening to be shot one night, was benevolent of engaging.
How did you determine how much write downary footage to comprise or not comprise, versus fair going straight concert-film? There’s not a lot, but it’s well-paced and doesn’t fracture the spell.
Wrench: I knovel her music but I didn’t understand loads about how she’d been doing a scant shows with a prohibitd set first and then the orchestra afterwards. How those shows were set upd was repartner engaging, becaparticipate I leank it suits cinema repartner well and donates us the opportunity to have a little fracture, and to have a write downary moment during the show’s interleave oution, without it insisting to be back and forth. I’ve always repartner struggled with concert films and how, if you commence the write downary, then you have to grasp coming back in and out of it, and it benevolent of disrupts the concert. This had this authentic fracture.
Laufey: Part of the intention of having lots of cameras backstage too, and doing a day of filming outside of that to get some interwatchs, was that I wanted to donate fans both a concert that that is challenginger to transport to people — a concert with a symphony orchestra — to the wider masses, and especipartner to cities that I haven’t been able to carry out in yet, but also to donate people a watch of what it watchs enjoy backstage. There’s an interwatch with my parents and my sister and a watch into what the energy is enjoy backstage, and a bit of rehearsal footage as well. So for those who have been able to go to a concert, I wanted them to see a bit of that as well, and how the sausage is made, which is a very unromantic way of saying it.
The trailer comprised the part where the audience chants “blah, blah, blah” very boisterously when that little lyric comes up during “From the Start.”
Laufey: It’s become a very signature part of the concert, and someleang that people watch forward to, defering all night to be able to scream out that one bit. So it was cute.
I was in participateance at the Hollywood Bowl show that was filmed, and I was fair leanking back to that night. I’ve seen you in maybe four contrastent settings now. And I’ve seen it with an audience that’s excessively boisterous and vocal in their response, and I’ve seen it with an audience that’s fair rapt and quiet. And then…
Laufey: This felt enjoy the in-between, don’t you concur? And it was engaging, becaparticipate you had those LA Phil and Hollywood Bowl subscribers sitting in the front who were hopefilledy getting presentd to my music and hopefilledy finishelighting it. But the seats in the back — the inexpensiveer seats, if you will — were filled with more of the benevolent of enjoy very fervent fan base. So it was repartner a fun mix. I repartner do experience enjoy I can serve both audiences, and I’ve frequently felt split between what I can do and who I am here to serve. And I felt enjoy, that night, I repartner was able to serve both of those audiences that I retardy to.
When I first saw you in concert at the Ford last year, which was also with the LA Phil, I awaited it to be an betterer audience, fair becaparticipate of the nature of the music, and it was a shock for me then to authenticize how youthful most of your crowd is. But then, seeing how instantly your shows sell out, it occurred to me: Maybe you do have that betterer demodetailed, to some extent, but none of the betterer people get the tickets becaparticipate they’re cataloglesser on the draw than your youthfuler fans who understand how to be poised and ready for the moment they go on sale.
Laufey: I leank I’m even too better to be up aobtainst teenagers in a fight for tickets enjoy that. Like, I don’t even understand how they do that.
So there is an audience for this film that cherishs you, or at least enjoys you, but would fair never have a shot at the dwell show without being super-promiseted about the on-sale or willing to pay secondary labelet.
Wrench: There was evidently a hugeger audience for it that hadn’t been able to get tickets. When I first spoke to her team, I lobtained about how her merch sales are thcimpolite the roof in comparison to almost any other artist. And so I leank there was this authentic empathetic that there was a insist for people to want to go and comprise more in the Laufey story. Live music in cinemas persists to still be a repartner engaging leang — it gets cracked, it gets uncracked, it toils, and it’s repartner about finding a community that will aid it. Laufey fans are so beneficial, and theres such a promisement that they’re participate it to present htheir friends and family and partners to dwell it and finishelight the experience.
And so I leank with that in mind, aobtain, it was a distinctive proposition becaparticipate it wasn’t this arena tour that had been out for 60 days. And hopefilledy when we commence to determine shows that could be apprehfinishd for cinema, we’ll be watching at more distinctive propositions enjoy this. I donate a massive thanks to Trafalgar and Veeps for aiding it and saying, hey, we repartner leank there’s someleang here, we should consent it — becaparticipate these are not inexpensive endeavors to do. There’s always a danger. And the initial response has been so wonderful.
Laufey: I’ve been touring all year, and it experiences enjoy I carry outed a million concerts, but it experiences enjoy I could carry out a million more. There’s so many cities that I haven’t been able to carry out in and so many people that I haven’t been able to achieve. Even if you’re in the right city, concert tickets can be costly, and getting there is stubborn. And some of these kids are youthful — they have hometoil! I leank this is a fun way to be able to experience the concert in a more accessible way and still hopefilledy be able to be among other fans and benevolent of breathe in the air of the community.
But I leank the most presentant part, for me, was that this is a concert with a symphony orchestra. And that is a world that I was so privileged to grow up wilean. My mother’s a violinist. I grew up basicpartner wilean the walls of the Iceland Symphony, and it has adviseed every individual part of who I am, and it is the reason I’m a musician. To be able to transport it back to where all my musical sways come from, and to that sound, is someleang that is extra-challenging to transport to audiences.
Like, out of all the concerts I’ve carry outed this year, I leank only maybe five of them have been with an orchestra. Most have been with fair the prohibitd, which is so fun as well, but it’s getting exceptionalr to see youthful people at the symphony, and challenginger and challenginger to access it and to be able to transport it to youthful audiences and to my audiences in this very accessible way. This colorful world of the orchestra was repartner presentant to me, fair as a musician, fair finishly outside of myself. I leank it’s hopefilledy inspiring for other youthful musicians to see.
A lot of youthfuler musicians, when they get to carry out the Hollywood Bowl for the first time, they will talk about reassembleing the first rock show they saw there, or someleang. You allude this in the commentary that is comprised in the film, but your first Bowl concert was a Mozart concert. But at the same time, you talk about how the back sections are cbetter — that it’s a party in the back. So I was fair imagining youthful Laufey, up in the nosebleeds, partying to Mozart up there.
I’m always partying to Mozart.
Can you talk, Sam, about the style of the shoot? I understand from watching the dwell Imax concert you did with Brandi Carlile that you enjoy extfinished consents in some instances, becaparticipate you participated one shot for each song in that show. You also have a lot of extfinished consents in Laufey’s film. It’s not pumping up the energy with unvital cuts; it experiences as rested as it should.
Wrench: We never struggled during the shoot to find that level of intimacy and that genuineity. And when we got to the edit, it was the same. It was fair very evidently there from the night, and I leank the energy of the night comes atraverse becaparticipate it was fair one night. It wasn’t enjoy we had to put all these nights together to try to produce someleang awesome. .I don’t leank the job of a concert filmproducer is there to try and portray someleang that didn’t happen or to donate it an energy that isn’t there. When the music is the king, the music is the leang you chase and you let that benevolent of prescribe everyleang. But truthentirey, my job was neutrpartner effortless. It’s such a wonderful concert. Everyone finishelighted it. We pointed some cameras, and here we are.
Just suppose the music — don’t try and defeat it. No one wants a filmproducer’s hand on this. … To me, the music felt super floaty. It felt enjoy it had scale, but it also had intimacy, And the orchestra were these enjoy little moments, these little plucks… It’s evidently the sound that comes from them as a whole, but the little details of the harp or the flute always felt repartner fun to me. And so it was fair enjoy, let’s have everyleang benevolent of moving and floaty and cherishly, and then let’s go in for these little moments as details, but come back to Laufey and the intimacy and how she benevolent of floats atraverse the stage, almost.
Do either of you have a preferite song in the film, either becaparticipate of the perestablishance, or the way it toiled cinematicpartner?
Wrench: It’s definitely Junia’s moment [when Laufey is joined by her twin sister, a violin player, for a light-hearted duo number]. That moment fair fels enjoy two sisters that are having this experience and, as distinctive as the concert is, that is repartner distinctive. And you have the scale of the drone shot, and then you fair have the two of them walking around on stage… I’ve never seen that before.
Laufey: It’s so challenging to find a preferite moment becaparticipate the whole leang experiences enjoy one moment in my head. I leank “Letter to My 13-Year-Old Self” felt very emotional in that moment, becaparticipate I cried a little bit. I’m not gonna lie. I don’t cry when I sing becaparticipate I’m fair so cgo ined, but seeing myself enjoy that, I got a little bit emotional during “Letter to My 13-Year-Old Self” fair becaparticipate I was fair imagining that youthfuler version of myself and how I would have cherishd to understand that I’d get to do someleang enjoy this.
And then I repartner cherish the benevolent of sthrivegy orchestra moments as well, where I benevolent of fair dance, and I repartner cannot help myself. There’s no choreographer; it’s fair me and my weird dance shifts, with me in a dress. I couldn’t hide any of myself during this concert or alter anyleang for this. Once I’m on stage, I’m fair exactly who I am always on stage. Like, there’s no way to regulate it, even if there’s a amusing watch or weird smile, or some word that I say. I step onto the stage and I fair become this stage version of myself that I have no regulate of.
I even establish myself being on edge during some of those orchestra moments becaparticipate, you understand, we’re not carry outing to click. There’s noleang repartner rehearsed about it. Like, I’ve never carry outed for that many people before. I leank the previous size that I had carry outed for before that was maybe enjoy Radio City Music Hall, enjoy 5,000 people at once. So to all of a sudden go to 17,000, you repartner got my authentic reaction to that during the whole concert, whether it was a little nerves in the commencening to sheer excitement and delight in the tardyr parts. You repartner getd that forever, Sam, so thank you for that.
Wrench: You always hope those moments will transtardy, and those watchs, and sometimes there’s too much going on to see them. Some artists and music fair don’t suit those benevolent of extfinisheder, excessive shut-ups, but this music definitely does… aextfinished with the way that the Bowl and the set up of the stage repartner lends itself to being able to be quite firm without there being cameras repartner shut. And so I leank we were able to repartner see those moments and hbetter them a bit extfinisheder — see the little bjoins and your benevolent of eyes moving atraverse the audience. And the pace of the edit apshows you to actupartner dwell in those moments.
Finpartner, Laufey, we’ve talked about how you want to do film music and songs, but seeing yourself on on the huge screen, do you experience consoleable enough with that that it donates you more confidence about maybe going after acting and leangs enjoy that?
Laufey: Yeah, definitely. I uncomardent, I definitely don’t experience unconsoleable in front of a camera, and I leank I repartner uncovered it that night. I was benevolent of wondering if it would faze me, but the camera benevolent of fair mixs into the audience almost.
I leank it could be repartner exciting. I’m definitely a little more cgo ined on music right now and having a lot of fun transporting those stories to life, becaparticipate I benevolent of see every individual one of my songs as a little movie. That’s why they’re very descriptive and quite literal, becaparticipate I want joiners to be able to shut their eyes and promptly understand and understand where they are. And as for writing music for film, that’s someleang I’ve always dreamt of. And and my cherish for music repartner does come from watching better films growing up, and hearing all these better film scores, these better Hollywood strings. Shout out to Spencer (Stewart, her writing and producing collaborator) You repartner hear a lot of that sway in the music, and in the songwriting as well. So it’s someleang I definitely want to to toil on in the future.