With the recent ‘Goober’ EP finally unleashed alongside a brand new stage persona, Lauran Hibberd is taking everything in her stride.
Words: Finlay Holden. Photos: Jamie MacMillan.
The Isle of Wight’s favourite slacker-popster Lauran Hibberd recently spoke to us through Zoom to give the low-down on her new six-track release ‘Goober’, but now the virtual barrier has finally been smashed into smithereens… what has she been up to? “Gigs, lots of gigs! They’ve been really fun,” she gushes. “We’ve played loads of festivals and obviously we’re now here at Reading which is just the best, I’m having such a good time.”
Having played not one, not two, but in fact three festivals in one weekend after a string of other shows, the Dork favourite is certainly feeling the exhaustion. “It is like a fitness test, I haven’t moved this much and eaten this much pizza in a long time,” Lauran says.
18 months on the sofa has instilled Lauran with a new sense of urgency, and her performances are all the better for it. Describing her post-lockdown transition in one word, she answers: Mental. I feel like I’ve left lockdown a different person. I think if I was to see myself on stage right now pre-lockdown, I’d be like: what happened to her? I’ve gone mental, I’ve fully lost it. I skip out on stage, I dance now? I tell people to jump… who am I? I don’t recognise myself honestly.”
The character development is strong here as Lauran desperately riles up every last drop of energy she can muster for each and every stage-dominating show, a vibe she’s struggled to adopt in the past. “I would totally have been too embarrassed before but now I’ve sat inside for a year and a half and I’m not embarrassed anymore,” she explains. “We have to embrace anything we can get.”






