34 | Steel Notes Magazine steelnotesmagazine . com | June 2014 photo credit : Matt Farrara - MJF Portraiture Hair and Makeup By : Jason Monico
could get the publication “ Backstage ”, a weekly publication at the time to do some more research . So that February , that ’ s exactly what they did . Lauren says , “ I remember the first time driving into New York City , and getting that butterfly feeling when you first start seeing the skyline , and then driving through Times Square and seeing all the lights . You could just feel the energy . I was passing Virgin Megastore ( which was a record store around at the time ), and MTV ’ s “ TRL ” which was also around at that time , and seeing artists such as Puff Daddy , Eminem , and Mariah Carey in the window and freaking out . I knew this was where I needed to be . I remember walking up to a news stand and asking for the publication “ Backstage ”, and saying ‘ you have it ??!!’ when they said ‘ here you go ’. All these were my first dreams come true it seemed , and just the beginning of my dream .”
Lauren left her New York City trip with more ambition than ever . She found a headshot photographer there , and 2 months later , they were back to get her headshots done . Lauren kept on looking through Backstage and would submit her demo tape to castings looking for singers . She then caught the interest of a music producer who was putting a multi ethnic group together . The group consisted of an African American girl , a Hispanic girl , an Asian girl , and Lauren was to fill the Caucasian girl . Shortly after she spoke with the producer , she traveled down to New York City again , still a minor at the time in high school with her mother , and got to meet the producer and sing in the studio . This gave Lauren even bigger hopes that this could become a reality . Sadly , the group never came together , but that didn ’ t stop her . She then got another call from a music manager who was interested in her voice . Her and her mother traveled down to New York City again and met with him , and he insisted he was still interested in taking her under his wing . With only 2 months left until high school graduation , and the chance to move to New York City , she became very serious about this .
That past winter , before meeting with the manager , she had auditioned for a school in New York City she was very serious about attending , called The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts . Not all who auditioned got to go to the school , and not only did Lauren get accepted , but was also granted a small scholarship , which only a selected few were lucky enough to be granted , based
34 | Steel Notes Magazine steelnotesmagazine . com | June 2014 photo credit : Matt Farrara - MJF Portraiture Hair and Makeup By : Jason Monico