Photo: Kalle Veesaar
It's saturday and I'm ready to post a phenomenal interview! I'm a big fan of all her Eesti laul entries and she is the coolest artist I've ever mailed with. (I just love her) Here are the answers of LAURA:Name: Laura Remmel - former Laura Põldvere; got married to the loveliest guy in the whole world :) - Joel-Rasmus Remmel
Birthday: 30.08.1988
Height: 172 cm
Favorite color: White
Favorite food: Hummus with tons of carrots
Where are you right now? At home taking some time off, which is very unusual for me!
3 things that make you happy: • When I know my family is happy • When I feel that I trust myself in the hands of God • When I feel that something that I've worked for really hard is paying off
What’s your strangest talent? I can talk in a made up language.
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? A picture of an Estonian punk singer Villu Tamme. I got it from a TV show, where we sung together and I was supposed to give the picture to my best friend as a present, but I haven't had the time to do that.
What are you really good at? Always giving an answer to a question and that makes some people really frustrated, like my husband and my mom :)
What are you really bad at? Dancing.. Aerobics.. But my new year's promise is to get better at it!
Childhood idol: Geri Halliwell from Spice Girls
Childhood memory: Me and my cousin Sander went to the store to buy some candies with the money from my money box. I just put all the money on the counter and asked the lady to give us candy. When we got home my mom was pretty mad at us, cause we had two plastic bags filled with just candy!
Tell me something no one knows about you: Besides singing I play the violin, acoustic laptop and other weird and crazy instruments, which are very normal in a free impro setting.
What would you do if you were invisible? Hang out with Harry Potter.
Favorite movie: P.S. I Love You
Favorite TV series: One Tree Hill & Friends & Homeland & Blacklist
Tell me a super power you wish you had: Flying – I do that all the time in my dreams.
What is your guilty pleasure? A cake, which I always eat when I'm going from the mainland to the Saaremaa island. It's called the Alexander cake and it's actually nothing special. It's really dry and really sweet at the same time. But I love it! Another thing is listening to the Dance Hit radio stations…You need some change from time to time, right?
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Bill Withers ''Lovely Day''
When did you start singing? When I was 3 or 4 years old I already made small improvisations in front of my uncle's new camera. The songs always ended with the phrase ''mommy… daddy…love youu…''.
Can you teach me some interesting words in Estonian? Hüdrometeoroloogiajaam – a weather station. My mom taught me that word when I was a kid.
Photo: Kalle Veesaar
Hello Laura! How are you?Perfect! It's snowing outside and it's lovely to wake up in the middle of the night… experience how quiet the streets are and then fall asleep again.
How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I don't ever see myself as an artist who is so to say ready. I am always going to have the urge to become better, to study, to experiment with different styles. That's why I was away from pop music for some time to study jazz and free improvisation. Now I have a BA in jazz music and a MA in contemporary improvisation and cultural management. Besides singing I've given vocal lessons to kids and adults, I give improvisation classes to companies and their leaders to become better at performing.. I am a project manager at my mom's language center, I lead different other projects like EV100 ''9 anthems for freedom''. This is a project started by the Estonian Jazz Union (I'm the board member there) and lead by me - in 2017 we'll bring onstage 100 jazz musicians.
Photo: Stina Kase
This is going to be your 4th time as a solo artist in Eesti Laul, right? What did you learn from all those experiences?Yes, that's true - 4th time. I've learned that I truly love the work of these people with whom I've collaborated during these 3 times and the 4th time is going to rock as well! I hope that the 4th time is the right time ;)
You went to Eurovision 2005 with Suntribe, what do you remember the most from that year?
It's so funny to think that it was ten years ago! It was a challenge for me to act a character that was supposed to be hyper-active-happy-funny and dance around the stage and smile all the time. It doesn't mean that I am a really serious one, but I had to work hard to be that way all the time. Now it's not a problem for me :) The dancing part was pretty difficult for me as well. I think it was in the rehearsal in Kiev, when they forgot to untangle the wires of the DJ sets and one of them was hanging too high from the floor. So I had to jump over it before our dancing part! That made me SOO nervous! :D
Photo: Kalle Veesaar
You are one of the participants of Eesti laul 2016. How did it all begin?Since 2014 we have been talking with Sven Lõhmus about a future collaboration and now it felt like a good time to do something together again. The collaboration with Sven started in 2004-2005, when I won the competition, where they were looking for a singer for Sven's Eurovision Song. And that was ''Moonwalk''.
Photo: Kalle Veesaar
“Supersonic” is the title of your song, what’s the story behind the song?A lot of people thought that this is again another space themed song, because true, we've had them a few – 581C (about a planet similar to planet Earth), Moonwalk etc. The word supersonic stands for something which/who travels at a speed that exceeds the speed of sound. And this time we are talking about human beings. Our life on earth is so limited and everything we do is going to disappear in a blink of an eye... In a way we are saying that you have to be writing, enjoying, diving to the mysteries of life. You have to work on your talents. And at the same time you need to stop at times to make choices, because you can't do everything.
Light, speed, power, movement
What can we expect to see on stage for the performance?
What I can say right now is that you are going to see me singing on stage. Maybe one day it's going to be a rarity that you see an actual person on the stage because of all those holograms and technical tricks.
Photo: Kalle Veesaar
Do you already know what you’re going to wear for the semifinal? Any hint?In a way I know, but I never have a certain image in my head that it has to be that way. I love the magic of process and collaboration. It's like making plans regarding your own life. If all my plans had come true, then my life wouldn't have been half as exciting as it has been! That's why I think we can leave that also as a surprise for you :)
Have you heard any of the other songs in the competition? Any favorite?
I've only heard the songs in the Estonian Eesti Laul semifinals. I love Jüri Pootsmann's voice – I think we haven't had such a male singer for awhile in Estonia, with such a deep and rich voice.
Photo: Stina Kase
What do you like about Eurovision?The fact that it has such a broad audience and wherever you travel you have a common topic to talk about with people from very different cultures – music.
What do you dislike about Eurovision?
At times the competitors try to be too similar to the winner of the previous year. Maybe it's not even what I dislike, it's just a bit funny :D
Photo: Stina Kase
Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word:Future: 2020 – we have a song with that title, which talks about what is going to happen in 4 years.
Nightmare: Almost every night I see a nightmare in my dreams. I either get shot or burn in a volcano… and I'm not kidding :D
Sven Lõhmus: Our phone calls are hilarious – 90% of the time we are just talking nonsense…
Hair: In my Pinterest account (Paula Mustikas) I have pinned a lot of pics of girls with really long hair. That's my goal right now!
Estonia: In December a friend of mine told me about a gentleman who came to their cafe in Tallinn. He said it is so unfair that even though we are a really small country we have so much coolness – little cafes with lovely food, different seasons, nature that is stunning… I guess we are lucky.
Dreams: It's good to have dreams, but it's also good to sometimes let go of them, so you can see even bigger dreams coming true.
Photo: Kalev Ints
What are your plans for 2016? To be truly honest, I think I'll try to go more with the flow. I'm a huge planner, but this year…Maybe I'll succeed in being more chill as my husband says I should be. I got a call yesterday about a studying opportunity in Europe – so maybe I'll do another Master's degree?
Is there anything you want to say to close the interview?
If we don't meet in Stockholm, then come and visit us in Estonia. It's truly worth the time :)
Photo: Kalev Ints
Big thanks to Laura for her lovely answers (This was one of my favorite interviews ever!) I wish her all the best in Eesti laul! GO LAURA!
Official web: http://www.lauraofficial.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Laurasound/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulamustikas/
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