'It's a fickle thing, music': Artist Laamar on recent wins and why he writes songs

[MUSIC - LAAMAR, "SAY MY NAME"] LAAMAR: (SINGING) Now that I see you. Now that I see.

CATHY WURZER: We're gonna keep talking about music here for the next few minutes. A Minneapolis-based musician is a rising star in the music scene. Geoffrey Lamar Wilson, known as "Laamar," he was recently named one of the best new bands by First Avenue, and has played with some other Minnesota greats recently, such as The Cactus Blossoms, and this week, Dan Wilson of Semisonic. Geoffrey Lamar Wilson is on the line. It is a real pleasure to talk with you, sir. How are you?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: I am doing great, Cathy. Thank you. I'm a big fan, so what a treat to be on with you.

CATHY WURZER: Well, thank you. I so appreciate that. I congratulate you on the release of your first EP, called Flowers, last year. When you started the band, what was your hope?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: You know, when I started the band, I was really just hoping to be able to share the music with folks who were interested, and play music with close friends of mine, and build some community. And it's really exceeded the humble ambitions I had when I first got the project going, so--

CATHY WURZER: I understand you're not a musician full time? Is that right?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Yep. Yep. I've always, you know, kept music as a hobby and a passion, and tried to focus it on, you know, keeping it a creative outlet, and not pressure to pay my bills, though it's nice to get compensated when I can, of course.

[LAUGHTER]

CATHY WURZER: Do you see that situation changing any for you?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: You know, folks have been asking me that a lot recently with kind of the success Laamar is having, and I've said no for the most part. I mean, I have two young kids, and I'm quite content to be home with them as much as possible, and my wife. And, you know, if the right opportunity came along, I suppose we would entertain it, but hopefully not at least for a couple of years, until the kids are a little bit older, and out of the house, and maybe I can be more ambitious and get on the road again. But for now, content to play regionally.

[LAUGHTER]

CATHY WURZER: That makes sense. You know, but your success is really snowballing here, and I'm wondering what the ride's been like so far for you?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Yeah, well, like I said, I didn't anticipate the amount of positive reaction that we've gotten so far. So, it's really been sort of one treat at a time, you know, opportunities to open for some pretty notable kind of national and international touring acts and a lot of local support, and it's really been a treat, more than anything.

I mean, I have to credit, like, the community around Minneapolis-Saint Paul, who are so supportive of music, and all the folks that have connected me to other folks, including you here. It's just kind of been one thing after the next. So, I did not expect it when the band got rolling 16 months ago, but I'm just tickled, and enjoying the ride while it lasts, you know? It's a fickle thing, music.

CATHY WURZER: Yes. Yes, it is a fickle thing, that's for certain. Let's listen to some of your music here. This song is probably most familiar to folks. It's called "Home to My Baby."

[MUSIC - LAAMAR, "HOME TO MY BABY"]

LAAMAR: (SINGING) Flashing lights in the rearview. I'm getting pulled over. I'm so tired of being Black and looking over my shoulder. I'm just trying to get home in one piece to my baby tonight.

And he asks for my license, checks my registration, and I try to keep calm. I try to keep my cool waiting. I'm just trying to get home in one piece to my--

CATHY WURZER: You've gotta really listen to those lyrics, Geoffrey, because it's a pretty heavy song. I mean, it's got that pop feel to it, but it's a heavy message here. Is it lived experience that led you to write that?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Yeah, you know, yes and no. I think it's the lived experience of a lot of folks of color particularly who have experiences with being pulled over, or sort of just carry this feeling inside, you know, the fear of being pulled over, and the uncertainty of what might happen.

And so, you know, my goal with this song was sort of to speak to both kind of my personal experience and awareness and that more broadly of folks in our community and communities across the country who just have a fear of interactions with law enforcement, and, you know, carry that with them as they go about their day-to-day lives, so--

CATHY WURZER: Talk about the pop sound to it. Really pleasant music, right, and the message is very important, very serious. Is that by design to take some of these heavier messages and cloak them, in a sense, in more upbeat music?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: You know, folks have been asking me that recently, and it wasn't overtly, you know, intentional to do that. You know, I always endeavor to write a song that has meaning, and I also endeavor to write a song that I enjoy melodically and quarterly, and sometimes they turn out to be these kind of peppy, poppy sounding tunes, while I sort of stay true to the content that motivated the song.

And I think, in this case, it's really worked to sort of draw people in to the musicality of the song, and then give them a moment to, you know, hopefully listen to the content and put the two of those things together. So it wasn't intentional, but I think it's worked out to kind of reach a broader audience of people who may not have endeavored to kind of listen to music with a cultural, social, political message, per se.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hm. We have a little more music to play. This is the title track on the EP. This is called "Flowers."

[MUSIC - LAMAAR, "FLOWERS"]

LAAMAR: (SINGING) I was going Sunday driving. I was going on a run. I was playing in the park, just a kid with a toy gun.

When Samantha tried to stop me, yeah, some men, they shot me down. Well, I see the light are flashing. Now I'm six feet underground.

CATHY WURZER: Tell us about this song.

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Yeah, this song, you know, similarly, it just has me thinking about the various scenarios in which people can be going about their daily lives and have an encounter that can turn deadly, you know, also thinking about Sandra Bland, and Jamar Clark, and Elijah McClain, among many others, folks who were just going about their daily lives, driving, running, walking along the sidewalk, and were tragically misjudged to be something other than who they were.

So, this song just had me thinking about a lot of different people, and trying to sort of encapsulate that again into sort of a musical structure that is appealing and nice to listen to, but also, again, honors the memory of these various people.

CATHY WURZER: I was listening through your music to prepare for this conversation of ours, and you've got a lot to say about being a Black man, and I'm wondering, does it get pretty emotional for you when you're writing your music?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Yeah, I joke with folks sometimes, like, yeah, the writing of the songs can involve shedding a few tears, and getting sort of that cathartic part of the process out in private, and then trying to deliver it in the public with people and still bring some of that emotion and that feeling that I put into the song, while also needing to get through a set of music without having a breakdown on stage.

But it is a very cathartic process, and one that does have a lot of emotion, as I'm sort of capturing my feelings and the empathy that I share with other people in writing it.

CATHY WURZER: I'm so happy you're sharing it with a wider audience too. Say, before you go, we always ask artists to share a song that they're listening to right now or take inspiration from. So, we asked you that question, and you chose this song. It's called "That Summer Feeling," by Elizabeth Moen, which is a very good choice for today's weather. Let's listen to that a little bit.

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Sure.

[MUSIC - ELIZABETH MOEN, "THAT SUMMER FEELING"]

ELIZABETH MOEN: (SINGING) When there's things to do, not because you've gotta. When you're on love, not because you oughta. When you trust your friends, with no reason not to.

CATHY WURZER: Mm. I like that. I'd like to hear more of it, actually. Why did you choose this song?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Yeah, I just kind of stumbled across Elizabeth Moen last summer. She put out a record covering a bunch of Arthur Russell tunes, and I'm a big fan of Arthur Russell. But, obviously, she has a very striking voice, and I think this song, similar to some of mine, you know, like, sounds very pleasant, but the message in the music is somewhat, like, melancholy, a little bit happy, a little bit sad, but a total earworm that I've just, you know, played on repeat for the last year. So it was the first thing that came to mind, and then the weather cooperated, of course, and the sun came out today, so--

CATHY WURZER: Excellent. Say, where are you gonna be performing next for folks who want to hear you?

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Yeah, this Friday and Saturday at the Women's Club with Dan Wilson of Semisonic, which is super awesome, although I think that show is officially sold out. And then I'm hosting a really fun singer-songwriter night with some conversation around parenting and making music with Haley, Peter Miller of We're The Willows, and Sarah of The Nunnery, so it's gonna be a fun night of sharing songs, and that's February 22 at the Hook and Ladder. Should be good.

CATHY WURZER: Excellent. Geoffrey, it's been truly my pleasure. Thank you. I wish you all the best, all the best.

GEOFFREY LAMAR WILSON: Thank you so much. Yes, love it. Thanks for having me.

CATHY WURZER: Have a great rest of the day. Geoffrey Wilson has been with us, musician out of Minneapolis. Laamar is the band. Thank you for listening to Minnesota Now, here on MPR News. Have a great rest of the day.