Beatrice Laus may have been born in 2000, but her heart is fully in the 90s. The Phillipines-born, West London raised singer-songwriter known to the world as beabadoobee already has four projects under her belt. Since emerging online in 2017, she’s amassed a loyal fanbase of millions, widespread critical acclaim and the attention of her musical heroes.
The past few years have been ‘very exciting, very overwhelming but also very strange’ for Bea, with a meteoric rise from her bedroom in her parents home – where she still resides, to arena tours supporting pop-rock giants and her label mates, The 1975. It’s now 2020, and the world is a very different place from when fans were first introduced to artists. Her eagerly awaited debut album ‘Fake It Flowers’, out now on Dirty Hit, is introspective and confessional; relatable qualities for a year marred with isolation and lockdowns.
We sat down with Bea, last week, in the run up to the drop, where she felt as if she was ‘about to give birth’ to her 12-track opus. Despite butterflies in her stomach, Bea is eager to reconnect with her fans: a generation of adolescent girls and young women navigating;
love, loss, booze and belonging. The record (named after a florist’s Wi-Fi that mysteriously kept syncing to her voice notes when recording) is a journey in sound and a window into the mind of a young woman with wisdom beyond her years.
She turned a tumultuous relationship with school into an opportunity, but it wasn’t without hardship and anxiety. She advises those who are undecided what to do after their exams to not ‘stress about it, there’s so much time to work out what you want to do. Take it slow.’ She believes that ‘some things come when you least expect it. Stay positive and passionate. You know, it will come in time.’
Bea is still in shock at the life she now leads, one that has led her to meeting the musicians she grew up admiring, like Mac Demarco, and recalls meeting Stephen Malkmus of Pavement, after very fittingly writing ‘I Wanna be Stephen Malkmus’. ‘He’s an amazing songwriter’ she exclaimed, with a unique playing style she defined as ‘slackiness’ and the ‘way his voice sits upon the song – like he’s talking’ has been inspirational to Bea’s sound.
Malkmus, a true icon, legend and pioneer in the underground music scene of the 90s, came to her show in Portland, Oregon, where they hung out backstage, after the show. Also a massive Sonic Youth fan, Bea learnt that night that she had a legitimate link to the cult band. Malkmus’ children, who also joined them backstage, told her about the fun they had whilst playing with Kim Gordon’s dog, which blew Bea’s mind. She in her own words was ‘sooo baffed!’, thinking to herself ‘that’s so crazy! These kids have no idea the life they’re living.’
Despite now having associations with Kim Gordon’s dog, Bea stays humble and keeps her circle tight. In a dizzying world of touring, promo campaigns and celebrities, she states that ‘it’s important to remind yourself who you have around you and to constantly ground yourself, to remember where you belong.’ Bea went on to say ‘we’re all friends, even with my manager. We’re just such a close knit family, which helps there to be less weight on my shoulders, knowing everyone is so close. The people close in my life are also a part of my working life.’ Massive shoutout to Bea’s boyfriend, as he also directs her music videos – what a guy.
Matt Healy of The 1975 has also become a friend and mentor, offering music recommendations, guitar chord progressions and tidbits of music theory. ‘It’s so interesting that he’s so open with his ideas – letting me know what he’s working on, especially during this whole period. I actually quarantined with my band and Matt. We wrote some things together – it was so nice living with him and just learning from him constantly.’
She met best friend and bassist Eliana, through Oscar, her producer/friend, who originally helped her get ‘Coffee’ and ‘The Moon Song’ online, back in 2017. The stratospheric success of ‘Coffee’ due in part to a rework by Canadian artist, Powfu, was somewhat bittersweet at first, as she explains ‘I’m not going to lie, it was overwhelming…I kinda hated it. I hated more people knowing about the first song I’d ever written and not my others. I was so stubborn but I grew into it and accepted that’s just how life works. I was extremely grateful for its existence and it’s only given me more opportunities.’ The remix, retitled ‘death bed (coffee for your head)’ has reached over 720 million plays on Spotify to date.
Streaming however didn’t exist in the 90s, a decade that Bea has been heavily influenced by through music, film and fashion. She was flattered, and nervously blushed at the comment that she has been heralded with bringing back the spirit of indie-pop. ‘I don’t want to take any credit for that, there’s so many artists that have helped bring back the spirit of the 90s, so many designers and creatives. I feel like everyone always glorifies the past, people from the 90s were obsessed with the 70s and that’s a bit like how it is now. Everyone is just admiring that time and feeling of nostalgia.’
She met best friend and bassist Eliana, through Oscar, her producer/friend, who originally helped her get ‘Coffee’ and ‘The Moon Song’ online, back in 2017. The stratospheric success of ‘Coffee’ due in part to a rework by Canadian artist, Powfu, was somewhat bittersweet at first, as she explains ‘I’m not going to lie, it was overwhelming…I kinda hated it. I hated more people knowing about the first song I’d ever written and not my others. I was so stubborn but I grew into it and accepted that’s just how life works. I was extremely grateful for its existence and it’s only given me more opportunities.’ The remix, retitled ‘death bed (coffee for your head)’ has reached over 720 million plays on Spotify to date.
Streaming however didn’t exist in the 90s, a decade that Bea has been heavily influenced by through music, film and fashion. She was flattered, and nervously blushed at the comment that she has been heralded with bringing back the spirit of indie-pop. ‘I don’t want to take any credit for that, there’s so many artists that have helped bring back the spirit of the 90s, so many designers and creatives. I feel like everyone always glorifies the past, people from the 90s were obsessed with the 70s and that’s a bit like how it is now. Everyone is just admiring that time and feeling of nostalgia.’
‘Emo Song’ is like the detailed version of ‘Care’ – it looks into why I had so much frustration and it talks about the things I used to do as a kid to distract myself from bad situations. You know like, filling a hole that I have had since I was really young – it was during a really traumatic time. It was during the writing process of ‘Emo Song’ when I realised how much this time had affected me. The whole idea of ‘Emo Song’, is doing something that isn’t necessarily good for you at the time but helps you forget about feeling sad.’ Bea went on to say ‘And the song ‘Charlie Brown’, is about something I went through as a teenager, but was one of my favourite comics, it was my first induction to the belief that it’s ok to not feel ok. I have him (Charlie Brown) tattooed on my wrist, I think it’s pretty cool, it was the second one I got.’
Her favourite songs from the album change every week. At the moment it’s ‘Diet Red’ and ‘Yoshimi Forest Magdalene’ but the song she’s most proud of is ‘Sorry’. The track is about Bea’s friend, who ‘just did too much and got too ill. It was so hard to watch sometimes.’ It’s powerful and melancholic chorus repeats:
But it hurts me
That you could be the one that deserve this even more
But you stayed in the same dark place, that I adore
But, you stayed for more
I guess that’s what happens to the best of us
The best of us
Bea had to step back from her friend’s life to preserve her own mental health and she triumphs her parents and their unwavering support – moving from the Philippines to London to ensure Bea had greater opportunities. She explained that ‘they just wanted the best thing for me – it didn’t matter how much money they had, they’d do anything to make me happy and I feel like I owe them so much. They left their work and had amazing lives back home, they started from scratch when they came here.’ She also believes ‘constant encouragement’ of fellow female artists and women emerging in music, is vital to get more females to the front and on stage.
The lack of representation was impetus for her to persevere with her dream. Bea always wanted to look up to someone who looked like her on stage when she was 15 or so, she told us ‘I now want to be that figure for current 15 year old girls who were just like me, you know?’ She coos over Joji, and fellow Asian artists signed to New York label and platform 88rising. She finds strength and empowerment from their shared culture – ‘knowing you’re a part of this amazing community and just bringing attention to that.’
Our final question for Bea was to describe herself without mentioning her music. She answered ‘Mmmmm..I’m Bea and I like watching films and I don’t eat the middle of things for some strange reason. Ask anyone I don’t eat the middle of things – I would leave the middle of a burger or the ring of the donut.’ Bea explained ‘ok, if you really want to get deep, I think it’s because when I was a kid, my Dad would make me sunny side up eggs and he wouldn’t let me eat the yolk for some reason. He’d always say ‘it’s bad for my health’ or something. Every time I’d reach for the yolk he’d be like ‘No! No! No! Bad for you!’ so I was like ‘Fuck!’ I can’t eat the middle of things! So yeah, that’s what i’d say about myself.’
Luckily, Bea couldn’t be further away from the middle if she tried. Both her talent and unpretentious demeanour sky rockets her to the top, and we can’t wait to see what else the future holds for the great beabadboobee.
‘Fake It Flowers’ is available now to stream on Apple Music and Spotify.