Laura Smith is torn between two homes. Her rapidly expanding ties to North Vancouver (her current place of residence) and her deep roots in Victoria (where she lived through her tweens and teens) are becoming more knotted for a variety of reasons. Her parents and brother live in Victoria, as do two of her bandmates in the group Rococode. But there is no denying her fondness for the natural expanse of North Vancouver, where she has lived since 2005.
Smith, 26, isn’t finding the need to choose between the two. That said, the singer-keyboardist does give Victoria a serious leg up on Vancouver in one key area. “I miss the beaches in Victoria,” Smith said. “I always miss them. They’re just not the same in Vancouver.”
Her family moved west from North York, Ont., when Smith was three. The music-loving family landed in North Vancouver, with Smith picking up the piano soon after.
“I don’t know if it was me asking or [my parents] suggesting it, but I started taking piano lessons when I was six. I was in choir in kindergarten, and my mom was always singing and playing, so a big part of me was always doing something musical.”
Smith’s musical studies continued after the family moved to Victoria when she was 11. From her time at Gordon Head elementary to her studies at Lambrick Park secondary, music remained somewhat of a private pursuit; a constant, though largely kept in the background. Of all things, the diminutive Smith developed an interest in rugby.
“I know it sounds weird,” she said with a laugh. “But I was bored with everything else in my life.”
The only local high school offering such a program was Mount Doug, which led to a transfer in her final year of high school. Serendipitously, it was there that Smith found a receptive audience for her singing. After winning a talent show at the school, she traded the rugby pitch for a recording studio. “Everything kind of clicked,” she said of her decision to pursue a career in music.
“I always loved music, but it was around the end of Grade 12 that I thought, ‘OK, this is it. This is what I’m going to do.’ ”
After graduating in 2004, she moved back to North Vancouver to study at what was then Capilano College. Smith spent two years training in the school’s music program. Though she graduated with a vocal jazz diploma, she never put it to traditional use. “I don’t specifically use that style of music anymore, but it was a good place to grow,” she said.
Smith was trying to make it as a solo artist while being a member of hard-touring Vancouver group Said the Whale. Something had to give, so with help from a friend, Andrew Braun, a composition major she met during her time at Capilano College, she developed what would become the Laura Smith Band.
Smith and Braun eventually became co-writers and dual vocalists in the group, prompting an artistic rethink. Enter indie pop act Rococode, which Braun and Smith co-founded in 2010.
“For me, I’ve always liked collaboration,” Smith said. “I’m not the kind of person who wants all the glory. I just want to make great music with other people.”
Rococode currently features two Vancouverites (Smith and Braun) and two Victorians (bassist Shaun Huberts and drummer Evan Middleton) in its lineup. The group plans to expand on the success of its debut, Guns, Sex & Glory, with a new album later this year.
Smith can’t wait for the process to begin, having felt the rush of excitement last month as Rococode toured through parts of the U.S., stopping for shows in Seattle, Portland, Chicago and New York.
“They are small steps up the ladder at this point. But I think it’s great what we accomplished in the last year and a half. I’m really looking forward to how the new record turns out and how we can go from there.”
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Ontario, in North York, and went to elementary school in North Vancouver.
When did you arrive in Victoria?
When I was 11, we moved to Victoria. I went to high school there and moved back to Vancouver to go to Capilano College.
What is your favourite thing about Victoria?
I have to say the beaches. Arbutus Cove is my favourite.
Your life as a musician is busy enough, but you also have a day job at a Vancouver restaurant. How do you manage it?
I really couldn’t imagine doing anything else, or wanting to do anything else. It’s hard sometimes because music is not a very lucrative business to be in, so there are other jobs I have to work to maintain my financial standing.
What is your greatest accomplishment as a person? As a professional?
Rococode has been a great accomplishment for me. I’m proud of it, and proud of the recordings we have made as a person and a professional.
First album you purchased?
I don’t know if it was the first album I bought, but Shania Twain’s The Woman in Me was the first record I got. My second album was CrazySexyCool by TLC.
Favourite album?
I’ve been listening to Little Dragon’s Ritual Union a lot in the past year, and it’s not getting old for me.
First concert you attended?
Sharon, Lois & Bram. I remember there being a big spider in their set. That’s all I remember. I was little.
Favourite concert you attended?
Five years ago I went to the Sasquatch Festival and saw Arcade Fire, at the beginning of their Neon Bible tour. I didn’t really like or care about them before that concert but I was so blown away. The Gorge [an amphitheatre in George, Washington] was super windy and warm, so it was really dramatic on stage.
If you had one motto, or rule to abide by, what would it be?
It’s a saying by Rumi: Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.
Laura Smith and Rococode perform Saturday at Lucky Bar, doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 at Lyle’s Place, Ditch Records and ticketweb.ca.