Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Drums Week 25
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Guitar Amps
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Artist news
  • Drums
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Santana on Beck
  • Friday, I'm in Love
  • Knopfler's 4-note secret
  • 95k+ free music samples
Recommended reading
Este and Danielle Haim.
Bands "Are you an idiot?”: Haim respond to those who say they don't play their instruments live
Lifeguard's Kai Slater, Isaac Lowenstein and Asher Case
Artists Lifeguard on abstract noise and pop hooks – and the creative epiphanies behind their stellar debut
Haim
Bands Haim push back again against people who question their songwriting, production skills and musicianship
disiniblud
Artists “It creates a tone that you can't find in Guitar Center”: Disiniblud on the self-built instruments behind their debut LP
maria somerville
Artists “Ableton's more creatively fulfilling than Logic”: Maria Somerville on the DAWs, uilleann pipes and vintage gear behind Luster
Orbit Culture's guitarists
Electric Guitars Orbit Culture show us their ESP guitars – and tell us why the EverTune bridge is a game-changer
Otoha holds a blue Fender Strat in a staged setting with neon pink and blue lights overhead.
Artists IDLES, Wet Leg and Sam Fender all graduated from the Fender Next programme – meet its Class of 2025
  1. Artists
  2. Guitarists

Ume's Lauren Larson talks female guitarists, power trios and new album, Monuments

News
By Joe Bosso published 13 March 2014

"It's hard sometimes. I've had people ask me if I'm the dancer in a band."

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Ume's Lauren Larson talks female guitarists, power trios and new album, Monuments

Ume's Lauren Larson talks female guitarists, power trios and new album, Monuments

In 2012, after two years of road work supporting their debut album, Phantoms, the Austin, Texas-based power trio Ume took to Kickstarter to raise funds to record their follow-up. Their target goal was modest – just $7,500 – a mark they met in one day.

"That kind of thing wouldn't have been possible 20 years ago, maybe not even 10 years ago," says guitarist-vocalist Lauren Larson. "We tripled our goal, which enabled us to work with Adam Kasper [Grammy-winning producer of Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age], and that led to us being with Dangerbird Records. The way the internet has allowed fans to get involved has really changed everything."

Larson, husband-bassist Eric and drummer Rachel Fuhrer took full advantage of their bulging coffers and spent two weeks at Seattle's Robert Lang Studios with Kasper crafting the just-released Monuments, which frames Larson's perky pop melodies inside a robust guitar roar that is neither stylized nor austere. Larson talked to MusicRadar about recording the new set, female guitarists and power trios.

Was heading into Monuments any more intimidating then Phantoms? There's that old saying: "You have your whole life to write your first album and two weeks to write your second."

“That wasn’t our experience, really. This was our first time being in a studio with a producer who has an amazing track record. Adam had seen us live, and he’s worked with some of our favorite bands, so we were psyched about the opportunity. We didn't have long in the studio, but we made the most of it.

“Writing for this record started before the previous one was even out. Some of these songs I’ve been working on or had started years ago. Black Stone is a riff I’ve been playing around with, and when we got Rachel in the band, it had a something of a new beginning. Some of the songs were worked up right in the studio. There were a few five a.m. insomniac sessions.” [Laughs]

Rachel joined the band just as you were starting to tour for Phantoms. How was it cutting this record with her – was there a big difference?

“Yeah, I’d say so. She’s a heavy player and really puts a lot of power into our sound. She’s got the classic rock influence, so she really helps fill out the sound. We’re a power trio, so everybody has to contribute, you know? She’s a fantastic live and studio drummer.”

Power trios are interesting. Some bands really stretch things far and wide – take The Police, for example – and some groups keep things very basic and tight.

“Power trios can be tricky because there’s nothing to hide behind; when it’s just three people, it’s really gotta be about the songs. That’s one reason why the live sound has been tough for us when we’re opening for somebody else. The sound man will want a kick-drum-and-vocal mix, and I’m like, ‘No, we have to have all the instruments right up there.’ If the guitar riffs aren’t in the mix, it affects things. Sometimes the hook of the song is in that riff. We really try to make sure that all the elements are intertwined and working together – and audible. It’s a challenge sometimes, but it matters.”

Page 1 of 3
Page 1 of 3
On being a female guitarist

On being a female guitarist

Ume, 2014: (from left) Rachel Fuhrer, Lauren Larson and Eric Larson

There are keyboards on some of the new songs.

“Oh, yeah. I played a Fender Rhodes on a few things. I brought in a few textures, like an E-Bow – this is the first time I ever used one, so that was cool. There’s a little mandolin here and there. If it gets to a point where we can squeeze a couple other people in there, I’d love to add that live. And there’s a few guitar parts that I’d love to hear somebody else playing on stage. I hope we can get there. For the moment, we’re raw and bare bones.”

You played great on the first record, but it sounds as if you tried to up your game on the new one. The riffs and solos are more pronounced.

“I think we really just tried to capture what people get from us live. There’s always been a passion and an intensity that we bring to the show, so I wanted to make sure that was represented on record. I’m a very instinctual guitar player – I’m not trained; I don’t even know what I’m doing, really. [Laughs] I just wanted to make killer riffs and come up with stuff that was memorable.

“Also, working with Adam Kasper, he added a lot of clarity to the sound and the guitar parts. I’ve always been a very riffy player, but I think that’s been masked by a ton of reverb and other effects. Or my tone wasn’t as good as it should have been. With Adam, we just got the right tone from the amp. It was there from the get-go.”

Did Adam push you as a player? How did he challenge you?

“He wasn’t the type of guy who would ask me to change a riff or anything. With him, it was the opposite. I can be very obsessive about what I’m doing, and he’d be like, ‘No, you got it. It’s killer. Let’s step away from that.’ Vocals too – I’m the type who wants to do 50 takes, and he'd say, ‘Nope, we got it.’ His goal was to capture what was there and not change it and make it something it shouldn’t be.”

There are a lot of female guitarists, but there aren’t many players like you – girls who play mean, heavy riffs and leads. It’s still a predominantly male domain.

“You know, I’ve been playing guitar since I was 14 years old, and I've heard... It's hard sometimes. I've had people ask me if I'm the dancer in a band. They'd say, ‘Yeah, but girls don’t play guitar.’ I hope I can see the day when people aren’t surprised to see me with a guitar in my hands. It’s ridiculous to try to get into a club and hear somebody say, ‘The band already loaded in.’ It happens a lot still.

“I think things are changing, but there's still a lot of work to be done. There’s a lot of women out there playing guitar, but people have these preconceived notions about that. I’ll take the stage and hear snickers – ‘What’s this gonna sound like?’ They think it’s going to be a softer kind of thing – a folky band or a country band. But I like to shatter expectations. The goal is to get some jaws dropping in the first five seconds.”

Page 2 of 3
Page 2 of 3
On using non-standard tunings

On using non-standard tunings

You play in drop-D sometimes. Any other tunings that you use?

“Yeah, sometimes I go a half-step down. I don’t use open tunings per se, but I use an drop-C tuning that I kind of did on my own. Some songs are tuned up, too. I play around with it. When I started out, because I had small hands and couldn’t play traditional chords, I came up with my own tunings. It made it easier to do certain reaches, but it also made it easy to come up with my own sounds.”

You’re pretty much a Fender player. You’ve got your ’72 Telecaster Deluxe, a Lee Ranaldo American Jazzmaster…

“That’s right, Live, I love my Fenders. The company’s been really good to me. In the studio, I played one of Adam’s guitars, a mid-‘60s Gibson Trini Lopez 335. That was a fantastic beast – most of the record was recorded with that. It’s one of the best-feeling guitars I’ve ever played. It gets a great sound, too, and that was important because we wanted clear, heavy tones on this record. I know that’s the guitar that made Dave Grohl start using his own 335. I’m on the lookout for one – they’re pricey!”

You can purchase Ume's Monuments at iTunes.

Page 3 of 3
Page 3 of 3
Categories
Guitars
Joe Bosso
Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.

Read more
Este and Danielle Haim.
"Are you an idiot?”: Haim respond to those who say they don't play their instruments live
Lifeguard's Kai Slater, Isaac Lowenstein and Asher Case
Lifeguard on abstract noise and pop hooks – and the creative epiphanies behind their stellar debut
Haim
Haim push back again against people who question their songwriting, production skills and musicianship
disiniblud
“It creates a tone that you can't find in Guitar Center”: Disiniblud on the self-built instruments behind their debut LP
maria somerville
“Ableton's more creatively fulfilling than Logic”: Maria Somerville on the DAWs, uilleann pipes and vintage gear behind Luster
Orbit Culture's guitarists
Orbit Culture show us their ESP guitars – and tell us why the EverTune bridge is a game-changer
Latest in Guitarists
Jimi and Billy in 1968
“I was playing the Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix gave me”: Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top's greatest blues song
Kirk Hammett plays his Mummy ESP onstage with Metallica. In the middle of this comp'd image is the Thinline custom Triplecaster Hammett commissioned then gifted to White. On the right, White plays his Fender Triplecaster with the yellow pickguard.
Kirk Hammett orders up custom version of Jack White’s Triplecaster – and gets one for White, too
John McLaughlin
“I don’t have many guitar players’ albums on my iPhone, but Jeff is there”: John McLaughlin on the magic of Jeff Beck
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth wears a white shirt and trademark Megadeth sweat bands as he plays his signature Gibson V at Tons of Rock Festival 2025.
Megadeth to come to an end – Dave Mustaine announces final album and farewell tour for 2026
A composite image of Steve Vai [left] playing his green PIA Ibanez signature guitar onstage with the Satch/Vai band, and right, the late, great Allan Holdsworth playing an S-style with a cigarette smoking wedged on the strings.
Steve Vai on why Allan Holdsworth – the fusion virtuoso who wrote his own rules – was the GOAT
Steven Tyler at Steven Tyler's Jam for Janie GRAMMY Awards Viewing Party held at The Hollywood Palladium on February 02, 2025
“Steven just doesn’t want to tour, and he can’t tour”: Joe Perry confirms no more touring for Aerosmith
Latest in News
Photo of Mike JOYCE and SMITHS and MORRISSEY and Andy ROURKE and Johnny MARR; L-R: Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce (drums), Morrissey, Johnny Marr (playing Gibson ES-335 guitar), performing live on The Tube
“This book truly conveys what it felt like to be a member of the Smiths”: Mike Joyce’s memoir to be published in November
Jack Antonoff attends the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on January 26, 2020
“He kind of approaches records like a plumber…”: Bartees Strange on super producer Jack Antonoff
k20
"We asked ourselves, what if we could rebuild the legendary K2000 V.A.S.T. synthesizer, but using today’s technology?": Kurzweil's K2061 and K2088 synths are now shipping
Forwards Festival Barry Can't Swim
Forwards Festival 2025 review: Orbital, Barry Can’t Swim, Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith and more
Bruce Springsteen
“There’s a lot of good music left”: Springsteen releases Born To Run out-take onto streaming platforms
Beatie Wolfe and Brian Eno
“A strange new land with a human living and feeling its way through its mysterious spaces”: Welcome to Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe’s new album

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...