Lauren Mayberry
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lauren Eve Mayberry (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish singer, musician and songwriter. She is the vocalist and percussionist of the Scottish pop band
Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving f ...
. In Chvrches, Mayberry co-writes and co-produces the songs with
Iain Cook Iain Andrew Cook (born 2 November 1974) is a Scottish musician, composer, record producer, and member of Glasgow-based pop band Chvrches. He played guitar for the Scottish post-rock band Aereogramme until their breakup in 2007. Cook also co ...
and
Martin Doherty Martin Clifford Doherty (born 24 December 1982) is a Scottish musician, singer and record producer. He is a member of Glasgow-based pop band Chvrches, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Prior to forming Chvrches, Doherty was a tou ...
, and sings as the lead vocalist. She also plays drums and keyboards. Mayberry is a
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
.


Early life and education

Mayberry was born in 1987 in
Thornhill, Stirling Thornhill ( gd, Cnoc na Driseig) is a village in the Scottish council area of Stirling. It lies 14 miles north west of Stirling itself - south of Callander, east of Aberfoyle and west of Doune. Historically part of Perthshire, the village is ...
. She has played the piano since she was a child and drums since she was a teenager. Mayberry attended Beaconhurst School (now known as Fairview International School) an independent school in
Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the A ...
. She also lived in
Gladstone, Illinois Gladstone is a village in Henderson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 281 at the 2010 census, down from 284 in 2000. It is part of the Burlington, IA–IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Gladstone is located in w ...
as a foreign-exchange student. After completing a four-year undergraduate law degree at the
University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
, she earned a master's degree in journalism in 2010. This led her into a career in freelance journalism and production running. From 2009 to 2010 she was a contributor to the UK music website ''
The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...
''.


Musical career

From age 15 until 22, she played drums in various bands. Prior to Chvrches, Mayberry was involved in two local bands, Boyfriend/Girlfriend and Blue Sky Archives. In Blue Sky Archives, she was a vocalist and played the drums and keyboards. As a member of Blue Sky Archives, Mayberry also covered the
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...
song "
Killing in the Name "Killing in the Name" is a protest song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 1992. It features heavy drop-D guitar riff ...
" which was released as a single. In September 2011, Iain Cook of
Aereogramme Aereogramme were a Scottish alternative rock band from Glasgow, formed in 1998, consisting of Craig B. (vocals, guitar), Iain Cook (guitar, programming), Campbell McNeil (bass) and Martin Scott (drums). Prior to their split in 2007, the band ...
and
The Unwinding Hours The Unwinding Hours were a Scottish alternative rock band formed in 2008 by former Aereogramme members Craig B. and Iain Cook. The band released their self-titled debut album on 15 February 2010 and ''Afterlives'' in 2012, as well as several ...
produced Blue Sky Archives' ''Triple A-Side'' EP. Cook started a new project with his friend Martin Doherty and asked Mayberry to sing on a couple of demos. They wrote together for seven or eight months in a basement studio in Glasgow. Cook, Mayberry and Doherty decided to form a new band after the sessions proved to be successful. The band chose the name Chvrches, using a Roman "v" to distinguish themselves from actual churches on internet searches. In 2013, the band signed to
Glassnote Records Glassnote Records (also known as Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC) is a record label that was launched by American music executive Daniel Glass in 2007. The label primarily has a lineup of indie rock and alternative rock artists, most notably M ...
after releasing the tracks, "Lies" and "
The Mother We Share "The Mother We Share" is the debut single by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches from their debut studio album, ''The Bones of What You Believe''. The song was re-released in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2013 by Virgin Records. The re-release ...
" in 2012. Their debut EP, '' Recover'', was released in 2013. The band released their debut album, ''
The Bones of What You Believe ''The Bones of What You Believe'' is the debut studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches, released on 20 September 2013 by Virgin Records and Goodbye Records. Recorded between 2011 and 2013 in Glasgow, the album was written, composed, and ...
'', on 20 September 2013. Mayberry has collaborated with artists such as
Marshmello Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His songs "Silence", "Wolves", "Friends", " Happier", and " Alone" have been certified multi-platinum in several ...
,
Death Cab For Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...
,
Bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...
, The National, the lead singer of
Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
,
Hayley Williams Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore. Born and raised in Missi ...
, and
The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...
's frontman, Robert Smith.


Activism and philanthropy


Feminism and women's rights

Mayberry is a vocal feminist and is the founder of TYCI, a feminist collective in Glasgow. Her ongoing work with the organisation includes written contributions to the online magazine and blog, and she can be heard regularly on TYCI podcasts. The group also holds live events, raising money for charities like Glasgow Women's Aid. In September 2013, Mayberry wrote an article for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in response to
misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
messages she received online. She wrote: She discussed the issue again in a
Talks at Google Talks at Google is a global, internal talks series hosted by Google. The talks are most often hosted for Google employees before being publicly released on their YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and s ...
session in 2014 and on ''
Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...
'', following aggressive responses to the band's video for " Leave a Trace". Mayberry is a patron of Rape Crisis Glasgow and has been involved with other organisations such as Water Aid, The Yellow Bird Project, Wild Aid and Plus 1, donating a portion of Chvrches' ticket sales to
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
. She has also been involved with Glasgow's Rock School For Girls and
Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy trou ...
's Smart Girls. In 2015, Mayberry wrote about an abusive personal relationship for
Jenni Konner Jennifer A. Konner (born May 15, 1971) is an American television writer, producer and director. She is best known as co-showrunner and writer with Lena Dunham of the HBO series ''Girls (TV series), Girls.'' In 2016, she directed the season finale ...
and
Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations a ...
's Lenny Letter. In December 2016, Mayberry took part in a fundraiser show with
Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...
,
Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...
and
Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...
for the Ally Coalition, an organisation started by
Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was p ...
to raise money for homeless
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
youth.


United States politics

Mayberry has been an outspoken critic of the
Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
and has attributed his presidency with the rise of global activism for social issues, calling him "an unpunished
sexual predator A sexual predator is a person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain sexual contact with another person in a metaphorically "predatory" or abusive manner. Analogous to how a predator hunts down its prey, so the sexual predator is thought to "hunt" ...
in office." Referring to the mixed reaction by the crowd to a Trump joke she told at a concert, Mayberry said "you can't say you don't think he's a racist. You can't say you don't think he's a sexist. You can't say you don't think he's transphobic and homophobic, 'cause he has shown us who he is." Mayberry is a staunch advocate for
gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
in the United States. Following the
Sutherland Springs church shooting The Sutherland Springs church shooting occurred on November 5, 2017, when Devin Patrick Kelley, of New Braunfels, Texas, perpetrated a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Kelley killed 26 people, wounded 22 ...
, Mayberry released a video on her Twitter account criticising
President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's response, arguing that "it’s somewhere on the scale from ironic to disgustingly hypocritical that Donald Trump is talking about mental health with regards to this attack when his administration has done nothing but try to restrict access to help get care for people who need it the most". She further recounted her memory of the
Dunblane massacre The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 pupils and one teacher, and injured 15 others, before killing himself. It remains the deadliest ...
in which 16 children and one teacher were murdered with handguns, resulting in sweeping gun control legislation in the UK. Mayberry credits these efforts with substantially decreasing the number of mass shootings in the UK.


Personal life

As of 2020, Mayberry lived in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Mayberry and actor
Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), ''Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (20 ...
have engaged in multiple
philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
activities together, including hosting a holiday
variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
charity fundraiser at
The Fonda Theatre The Fonda Theatre (formerly Music Box Theatre, Guild Theatre, Fox Theatre, and Pix Theatre) is a concert venue located on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style, the theater has hosted l ...
in Los Angeles and travelling together to
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
to visit a
women's shelter A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to ...
. In May 2018, ''The Guardian'' identified Long as Mayberry's boyfriend. Mayberry subsequently suggested that these claims were false. In September 2018, ''People'' reported that Long had split from Mayberry, "whom he began dating in 2016". During an interview with ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' in October 2018, Mayberry indicated that she was single. In 2019 Mayberry met her current boyfriend, Samuel Stewart when his band Lo Moon was opening for CHVRCHES. Sam is the son of Dave Stewart.


Discography

;With Boyfriend/GirlfriendBoyfriend/Girlfriend albums
at MySpace
*''Kill Music EP'' (2007) *''Optimism EP'' (2008) ;With Blue Sky Archives *''Blue Sky Archives EP'' (2010) *''Plural EP'' (2011) *"Killing in the Name" (2011) *''Triple A-Side EP'' (2012) ;With Chvrches *''
The Bones of What You Believe ''The Bones of What You Believe'' is the debut studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches, released on 20 September 2013 by Virgin Records and Goodbye Records. Recorded between 2011 and 2013 in Glasgow, the album was written, composed, and ...
'' (2013) *''
Every Open Eye ''Every Open Eye'' is the second studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches. It was released on 25 September 2015 by Virgin EMI Records and Goodbye Records. Self-produced, it is the band's follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut albu ...
'' (2015) *'' Love Is Dead'' (2018) *''
Screen Violence ''Screen Violence'' is the fourth studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches. It was released on 27 August 2021 through EMI Records in the UK and Glassnote Records in the US. Lead single " He Said She Said" was released on 19 April. The ...
'' (2021)


References


External links

*
TYCIGoodbye Records - A label by CHVRCHES
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayberry, Lauren Living people 21st-century Scottish women singers Scottish electronic musicians Scottish pop singers Scottish drummers Scottish keyboardists Scottish sopranos Feminist musicians Scottish journalists Scottish women journalists Scottish feminists British women drummers Musicians from Glasgow Scottish singer-songwriters People from Stirling (council area) British women in electronic music 21st-century drummers Scottish expatriates in the United States 1987 births