Pouring Honey on the Music Industry: An Interview with Soul Music’s Next Big Star

[easyrotator]erc_8_1357446553[/easyrotator]You’ll play her music while you’re riding with your girls, blaring through your speakers as you dance in the mirror or she may sing the anthem that heals your broken heart. Either way, Honey LaRochelle’s music is pure soul. She’s performed and written with some of our best living artists from John Legend to Roberta Flack, but now she’s striking out on her own and breathing new life into the music industry with her exciting and fresh take on soul music. Listen to her music one time and you’ll forever be a fan as she pours her honey on you with her sexy lyrics and gets you movin’ with her unstoppable vocals. Yes it’s not ambitious to say this honeybee is poised to win a Grammy in her near future and POSE has the scoop before she takes the world by storm with her on her brand new debut album. Check it out…

1. Your music is so fun and refreshing, how would you describe yourself as an artist?

Thanks! My sound is the product of many [genres] under one soulful umbrella. I mix Funk, soul, and pop. If D’Angelo and Adele had a love child, I’d be it! I take familiar life stories and translate them in a way everyone can understand.  I’m a real girl. I’ve had bad taste in men, I love to have fun, I’m compassionate and want to make a difference, even if I just make someone feel good for an hour…

2. What is the message behind your music?

My music is about love. It’s about the many different feelings love can trigger and stages love can go through. From flirting, to hooking up, falling in love, getting bored, leaving, feeling remorse and all the places in between. I’m here to show girls that they’re not alone. We all go through it. It’s life and we have each other.

3.  I know you’ve toured extensively all over the world, tell us more about your background in music.

Wow, it’s been a long one. [At this point], I’ve visited over 40 countries and worked with some [musical] legends! I learned the biggest lessons in life traveling the world. Nothing they teach in school can compare to the lessons you learn by witnessing and participating in a foreign culture. So many [people] suffer, have so much less, yet find joy in so many things we take for granted. I feel so much smaller than I used to. It’s humbling, but I also feel a responsibility to share with people and open someone’s eyes if I can.  I hope I’ll get a chance to do that.

4.You’ve worked with some pretty well known people in the music industry (Joss Stone, Omar, John Legend, Roberta Flack, etc.) andeven as the lead singer for the Brand New Heavies. What would you say is your most memorable experience working with any of these heavy hitters?

There are way too many to count. I’ve learned the most from Ms. Roberta Flack. When you get to share a stage with someone who knows the impact and strength of space in music and sings so honestly, it’s heartbreaking. After about 2 years with her I experienced my first symphony show. Being on stage with 75 seasoned musicians, who all play together and yet have so much control over the level of sound made me cry. I’ve actually cried during many shows with Roberta. The level of musicianship and the moments created just get me, right where it counts.

5. If you could have your pick to work with anyone in the music that you haven’t so far, who would it be? 

Right now it’s impossible to name just one. My top 3 (not in any particular order) are D’Angelo, Maxwell and Frank Ocean.

6. You released a mixtape last year called, Clean Lust and Dirty Laundry, can you tell us a little about your inspiration to create the project? “Gimme a Minute” was my favorite song by the way!

Aww nice. I wrote that one with Bilal, who I admire a lot. His writing style is so clever, crazy and eclectic. The mixtape was really a product of me. I’d just left my label, I was about to go out on tour and I was tired of touring without something to leave with people. 

I open the record with “Flight of the Honey Bee,” a song that represented the ending of a chapter and the beginning of the next. “Spontaneous,” is a pretty forward song. It’s nice [to show] a woman as the one coming on to a guy for a change. “LaLaLove” is an illustration of a woman at her breaking point with a no-good dude. [There are more songs and] each song on the mixtape has it’s own story.

7. I know you were signed to Macy Gray’s label for a bit, Moonslice Records and Tapes and now you’re going indie, why did you feel it was time to strike out on your own?

Macy believed in me and invested in me and I’ll always be thankful for her. The lessons [I learned] and the growth in [my] writing (I was writing 5 to 10 songs a month) [were] all priceless [experiences]. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through my experience is that artists are artists, executives are executives and rarely are they [both] found in one person. I wanted to relieve her of the pressure [of being an executive] and let her be an artist again, cause she’s really good at that.

8. Tells us about your debut album. What can we expect from your BIG debut?

 I’ve really taken my time with this one. This album is beautiful. The music [is] well produced, and the performances [are] honest. I’m truly in love with it. I made this record to inspire all the girls out there who relate to me. [I also want to] give the guys some insight into a woman’s heart and mind.  It’s soulful, it’s fun, it’s sexy and it’s real.

9. What can we expect from Honey LaRochelle in 2013? What do you have planned?

I’m not willing to let the chips fall where they may. My whole year is dedicated to making sure as many people as possible have heard [my album], gotten a copy, shared it and seen a show. To be honest you can expect a beating over the head with this album! Ha Ha! I’m [also] planning to [start] touring as early as February.

10.  Sounds exciting! I’m ready to see you live now! Where can people find your music and more information?

I am all over the Internet but you can find me at honeylarochelle.com. You can find my mixtape on bandcamp.com if you just do a search for my name. You can find my debut album on my website as well. It will be out by February just in time for Valentine’s Day. A perfect romantic gift!

Thanks so much for spending time with us. We will be looking out for you on the Billboard charts!

Thank you. Please do. I know there’s a spot waiting for me.

Jo-Ná A. Williams is a writer, lawyer and musician business coach with her own law firm, J.A. Williams Law – The Artist Empowerment Firm. She can be reached at jo-na@jawilliamslaw.com