Laura Michelle is a young singer/songwriter from Los Angeles and she is currently gaining a lot of fans after she managed to get actor Chuck Norris to star in the music video for her whimsical pop song of the same name. The video was filmed in Houston, Texas and was directed by Kurt Zendzian.
Laura was inspired to write the song ‘Chuck Norris’ because during the traumatic time before her dad’s death when she was just 15, she and her father used to watch Norris’ Walker Texas Ranger on the television together, and now years later Laura has managed to work with the man himself.
Since it’s release last month the video has gained over 7 million views.
Here Laura Michelle talks about how she got the chance to work with Chuck, what she hopes to achieve in the future and much, much more.
Growing up, who inspired you to get into music?
It wasn’t really who inspired me to get into music. Music was just part of my life from the time I
was a baby. My brother is 6 years older than me and my dad was away on business a lot, so I
would have to go wherever my brother needed to go. He was in a lot of after school activities, so
my mom and I spent A LOT of time in the car. To keep me pacified and happy she bought tapes
and by the time I was 18 months old I could hand her the tape I wanted. That’s how my love of
music started. It’s been ingrained in me since I was a baby. So, I guess my mom is who inspired
me. Haha.
Apart from music, what other pastimes do you enjoy?
Besides the typical answer of hanging out with friends and family, going shopping, etc, (which
are all true), I am kind of a nerd. Lol. I love to scrapbook and actually go to the Scrapbook Expos
with my cousin and one of my best friends. I also really love to knit, it’s something I’ve picked
up in the last year. I truly enjoy going to the local yarn store by my mom’s house and knitting
with the ladies. I’ve met a lot of really cool people scrap-booking and knitting. I also like to write.
Not just music, but stories too. And I do play video games. Haha. Mostly on my phone. Game
of War is my current game of choice.
If you weren’t a singer what career path would you have chosen?
I would have chosen something in law enforcement. Not sure what side of law enforcement
exactly. Whether it would have been in forensics or actually trying to be a police officer or
maybe something having to do with profiling. That all really interests me. I have a lot of family
in law enforcement.
You worked with Chuck Norris in the video for your new single, what was that like?
First of all, working with Chuck Norris was a dream come true. I still can’t believe it happened.
He was first and foremost absolutely the nicest guy! He is so happy! His wife was also there and
she is also extremely nice. We got along very well. On set I was nervous because I haven’t done a lot of acting except in music videos. Here I am in this scene with Chuck Norris! I was extremely nervous and messed up several times but we all laughed. A couple [of] times the director, Kurt Zendzian, was making faces at me, which made me burst out laughing. That then caused everyone else to laugh. Haha. We just had a great time onset and a lot of in working together. I really could go on and on about how impressed I was by Chuck Norris and the entire experience. It is one memory I will never forget!
How did you get Chuck to appear in the video?
My team reached out to his and he liked the message of the song. He agreed to do it. I still can’t
believe it happened. I’ve seen the video a ton of times and every time that part comes up, I’m still
like “Oh my God! That’s Chuck Norris! The real Chuck Norris!
How did Chuck react when he found out about the song?
Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that. I’m assuming he liked it because he agreed to be in it [the music video]!
The track is produced by the legendary Jarrett Zellea. What was it like working with him?
I actually had been working with Jarrett for awhile. He is a really good friend and I asked if he’d
be the executive producer of the record and he said yes. We hadn’t really worked together a ton
in the studio, so it was really awesome to get to do that with him. He gets me vocally,
personality wise, what I like in production, and so on. He’s like a brother and I am so excited to
get to share with the world this project we worked our butts off on.
You lost your father when you were just 15 – has your grieving process inspired your
music? Or would you say that music helped your grieving process?
I would answer yes to both of those questions. Losing my dad was the hardest thing I’ve ever
experienced. He and I were very close and there’s a lot of feelings I’ve never dealt with. The song
“Novel With No End” is about him. It’s expressing feelings I’d never really verbalised before. So
my grieving process inspired that song, but that song also helped me with my grieving process.
When can your fans expect your new album ‘Novel with No End’?
The album is set to come out on August 5th.
If you could collaborate with any artist who would you choose?
Oh man! That is such a tough one!! I would love to collaborate on a specific song with Donny
Osmond. I would love to sing “Close Every Door” from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat”. Or have *NSYNC reunite and get to collaborate with them. There are several other
artists I’d love to collaborate with, but those two would be awesome!
What do you hope to achieve in the next ten years?
In music, I just want to continue to write and work with talented, but cool people. I want to keep
releasing music, tour, etc. In my personal life, I’d like to get married and have a family at some point.
‘Chuck Norris’ is out now.
Make sure you keep up to date with everything Laura Michelle by visiting her website and following her on Twitter @LauraMichelle26.
What did you think about our exclusive interview with Laura? Let us know over on Twitter @CelebMix.