Musician Lauren O'Connell on Creativity, Queerness, and Community The CREO Show

Today we’re speaking with Lauren OConnell. Lauren is a singer, a songwriter, and a creator. They’re originally from New York, spent many years in the bay-area, and now they’ve put down creative roots in Los Angeles. I had the opportunity to see Lauren perform at the queer-forward house concert series they produce called Their Lair. It was a beautiful evening with good vibes and great music. Lauren has a unique perspective owing to 20 years of songwriting, finding viral success in the early aughts of Youtube, and wrestling with the complexities of gender-identity as a public-facing person. In this episode we talk about the unexpected benefits of collaboration, the value of an audience, and how coming out has liberated Lauren’s creativity. 
 
Discover Lauren's albums, merch, and more: https://www.laurenoconnell.com/Watch "I Wanna Be Your Man" (Live) - Deep End Sessions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7Js9k-blGE
 
00:00:00 Intro 00:03:17 Finding an audience early 00:14:54 Moving to SF & finding collaborators 00:24:18 Discovering a community 00:36:18 Gender identity in childhood 00:43:27 Queerness & songwriting 01:03:09 Lauren's creative process 01:14:04 Finding & sustaining adult friendships