Christian singer Lauren Daigle balances fame with humility

MA: Lauren, with all this mammoth success…how do you stay grounded?

LD: I spend a lot of time with my family, I’ll go home about every two weeks. After the two week mark, I kind of get a little squirrely in the head. I find it helps to hang out with friends that I trust, and that are really honest. If you’re acting up, they’re like, ‘Hey, girl, get it together.’

MA: There is a song on your newest album called Ego, where you talk about this. In the music industry you often have a lot of ‘yes people’. How did you handle that early on? And how do you handle it now?

 I want to create a song that allows people to realise you don’t need this big ego. 

LD: I remember talking with some friends and being like, ‘Guys, what are we going to do about the way the music industry is projecting itself - teenagers are growing up thinking fame and money is the highest goal you can achieve in life. It makes me want to show people there’s actually another way to live. There’s another way to dream, there’s another way to be, whether it is successful financially or not. Whether it’s being a school teacher, and being able to love a kid that has never been loved before, or whether it is rewriting law or whatever it looks like. There’s so many different ways that good things can be brought into the world and that can make you satisfied. I wanted to create a song that allows people to realise you don’t need this big ego. Actually, it’s really suffocating. There was a season where even though I didn’t realise I was operating with an ego. I think it’s really important to be honest with yourself.

MA:  How do you balance the demand for new trendy music whilst remaining authentic to God’s guidance and writing music that feels true and worshipful?

LD: Oh, that is such a good question. I remember thinking, ‘Okay, well if I just write another song real quick, that will be successful.’ And I stopped myself and I said, ‘But do I want to do that? Is that what is pure? And is that what is honest? Is that what is good?’ Sure, I can write a bunch of verses, I can go smash out some ballads, you know. But the truth is, it needs to come from a place of, ‘I’ve experienced this, and I want to share this message with the world because maybe somebody else needs this right now, too.’ If it’s actually, ‘I just know that this will be successful, I’ll just play the game and use the formula and make it happen and become really wealthy,’ I think that is a really dangerous line, especially when you include faith in the message.

I had to have that wrestle with myself just the other day, and remind myself I’m going to remain faithful to the music that I love. I’m going to remain faithful to singing and writing in a way that is authentic to the things that I’ve experienced. Instead of writing from a place of, ’oh, yeah, this is the way to do it, this is the system’. It does get really hard, especially when our industry is so driven by the charts. You can allow those things to be really loud in your ear, or you can just say, I have to be at peace with whatever happens with the charts.

What’s more successful, higher chart rankings or knowing that along the way, you remain pure and authentic?

 Absolutely not, lockdown was the total opposite. I think it was the deepest depression I’ve ever had in my life.

MA: You are known for creating some heart wrenching ballads, but this album is full of joy. I wonder where the songs came from, because I imagine lock down wasn’t really the time when you were out partying and living your best life?

LD:  Absolutely not, lockdown was the total opposite. I think it was the deepest depression I’ve ever had in my life. After that season in Covid-19, I just didn’t even know myself anymore. It was one of the first times that I ever had to actually fight for joy. I say that to say, joy is always available.  There’s seasons where under the human condition, you can grab a hold of it easily. And then there are seasons where it’s really difficult. That was a season where it was really difficult. I remember thinking, if I’m having to press and work hard to keep thinking positively, then I’m going to feel joy to an even greater extreme. If my low points are this low, then I know that God has something in store.

I remember getting on my knees one day and saying, ‘God, if you do not help me out of this depression, I don’t know how I can continue on.’ And that was the catalyst of this joy just pouring into my life in a way that I don’t know if I ever had prior. I realised, this too shall pass, even if I feel like I’m just caught in the middle of a pit. It will pass and there’s going to be a day for dancing. There’s going to be a day for seeing people’s faces again and being able to make music again, and being able to come and perform and have shows again. There’s something about the human experience when it is shared collectively in a group where there’s thousands of people together, that is really powerful. Navigating the loss of that for those few years was really difficult. But the second it came back, I’m telling you, it was like a springboard. The joy came from pushing through the difficulty and realising that God was there the whole way through.

MA: Yours songs, ‘You say’ and ‘Look up child’ were so helpful for young woman. What do you think is God’s message to girls and young woman at the moment?

LD: I think that the message right now is to stand your ground, and remain creative and inspired. There’s so much that is vying for our attention, and a lot of that can get cluttering. I remember as a teenager I would sit and dream with God. I’d be like, ’God, show me things that I might not know how to see right now as a teenager, but that I know you’re leading me to at some point’. I would just dream and believe that with him by my side, I could actually do anything. I think the second message, I would say is kindness. Women can be really cut throat but we need to stand together. Life is a beautiful gift. Be kind to the person next to you because you just never know what they’re going through or how much they need you in that very moment.

Lauren Daigle - the Kaleidoscope Nights Tour