Lauren Bateman

Lauren Bateman is a successful Musician from the Boston Area. She is currently recording her second album.

Lauren Bateman

You overcame cancer when you were in high school. How does the personal fight you had with cancer affect your music?

Well cancer was a big mindset changer for me. Did it affect my music so to speak? Not really. But did it affect whether music became my life or not? Absolutely.

I think by getting cancer it allowed me to see music as an opportunity for living my life the way I wanted. I was stuck in a 40 hour a week job with 10 hours of commuting time. I know for some people that doesn’t seem bad if they are pulling 50-60 shifts, but for me it was torture.

Music was the only thing I enjoyed that I stuck with. I did not enjoy my job even though I was making good money. I learned from having cancer that it honestly is not all about the money. I love being able to sit down and write music in the middle of the day or learn a new song at lunch time. Cancer gave me the right mindset to put things in perspective.

What has been the biggest satisfaction from your music career?

One of the biggest satisfactions I have gotten from my career, and there have been many, was in 2009. I went on a cruise ship called Cayamo. It was a folk festival on a cruise that had tons of great performing artists including my idol Brandi Carlile.

Anywho, I went and did the open mic challenge they had, and even though I did not win, it was what happened after that made me realize how important music is. A woman came up to me and asked if I had a recording of my song Guardian Angel. I said I did. Fortunately, before I left on my cruise, I recorded a simple version of the song for my aunt that was dying from pancreatic cancer. She was 51 at the time and I had written the song for her.

Well, turns out this girl’s father was drying from cancer and she had been looking for a song that she could play at her father’s funeral and she said when she heard my song she knew that, that was the one. I just thought that was such an honor for someone to think so much of a song that I wrote. Was very touching and I will never forget it.

I really love your song Burning Bridges. Where did you get the inspiration for it?

Burning Bridges was written many years ago before I even took voice lessons. Most of my songs are written about one particular heartache and this song is no different. The song is about trying to move on from a relationship that you are really having a hard time getting away from.

We all have those relationships that do not end the way we want and that pull on our hearts strings for months, sometimes years afterwards. I was thinking that the only way to get away from this was to burn down all my connections to that relationship that I could find. I thought of bridges being burnt down and that’s how I came up with the idea for the song. If I destroyed every pathway that lead me to that relationship, there was no way I could turn around and go back to it.

If you were to pick one song you wrote that defines you most, what would it be and why?

Oh boy, that’s a tough one. I find it really depends on what stage of your life you are in. I think for my first album it would have been more something like Linger, which was the first song I wrote that I ever really thought was good. I think it flows very well and highlights very well the process of my song-writing at the time.

For my new album, I would say it’s probably more along the lines of Unsung Hero and Release Me, which are a little more rocking. The new album has a lot more rock elements in it and has a lot more energy to it and dynamics that really define my songwriting and where it is now. I think it’s more expressive of my energy and character. Even though it has only been two years, I think it shows how I have grown up a little bit and that I’m not the naive kid I was that wrote all those sappy love songs on my first album.

To Learn more about Lauren Bateman’s music visit http://www.laurenbateman.com/

You also run a fitness blog and you place a big focus on the importance of staying healthy. What would you tell people who claim they don’t have the time?

You know it only takes 15 minutes day. I know you’re busy. I’ve been there. I still am. But get up from the desk and go for a walk outside or around the building. My stepfather had type II diabetes and he would take a 15 minute walk when he got up in the morning and a 15 minute walk when he got home from work. He lost so much weight from doing that.

I think when we think about exercise we think about all the big changes that need to be made. It’s much easier if you focus on the simple changes you can make to your life. A 15 minute walk, taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, parking your car further away in the parking lot, eating more whole grains, drinking more water, having a hearty salad for lunch instead of a burger and fries.

These are simple choices that won’t drive you haywire.

If someone is middle aged and out of shape, what goals should they set for starting out?

Goals are really going to depend on their needs, but if you set a goal make sure it’s specific. Many times people will say I want to lose weight. That’s great but how much and by when. Goals need to have set values and times to achieve them. If I say I want to lose 4 lbs in 1 month, that’s a much better goal than just saying I want to lose weight.

If your goal is weight related, set a time and how much weight. If you goal is cardio related, great, how far to and how long? Will you walk, jog, or sprint? If you goal is diet related, you want to eat more whole grains, great how will you do that? I will eat whole wheat bread instead of white bread for sandwiches. I will buy whole wheat pasta and rice instead of white rice.

Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Stick with you goals, do not give up and start today. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the next best time is today. If you miss a day, fine you missed, do not beat yourself up over it. Just get back on to doing what you NEED to do. Have goals. Define what they are and create a plan for reaching them. And remember to enjoy the process. If something is enjoyable, you will stick with it much longer.

What are your future goals?

My future goals are to finish and release my upcoming album which should be available May 2012. I will then do some shows depending on where the fans want me to have them. I am also looking to expand my guitar and voice teaching business so that I can start hiring other teachers to work for me.

I have also recently started a new diet that I have been on for the past month which is somewhat vegetarian, but I do meat on occasion because I do love meat. It was inspired by my watching the documentary called Food Matters. I highly recommend giving it a watch. As a cancer survivor, I asked myself, could I make some simple dietary changes to reduce my chances for getting a cancer again. After remembering how horrible chemotherapy was and how sick I felt, it was easy for me to say yes and make the change.

Lauren, thank you for interviewing with us.