“It feels all the more rewarding”: Timothy LaRoque on his debut album ‘The Florida Effect’

Recently, I was lucky enough to sit down with Miami-based singer-songwriter Timothy LaRoque to discuss his recent album, The Florida Effect. With a fast-growing fanbase and tags like ‘modern-day troubadour’ being passed around following the release, I was very much looking forward to understanding his process in creating the album, as well as getting into the messages behind it. 

The album is clearly a conflation of different musical influences; you can hear folksy melodies and rock-adjacent instrumentation, all the way through to the twinge of 50s swing jazz in tracks like ‘Dreams’. On the sonic inspiration for the album, he told me, “I’d definitely say it’s inspired by the music of a different time… [it’s] rooted in 60s, 70s singer-songwriter kind of stuff – George Harrison, Cat Stevens, Paul Simon – that kind of vibe.”

I definitely took my time with this one. It felt a lot more serious than the Stuck In The Past EP. It also feels all the more rewarding

Timothy LaRoque

LaRoque is very clearly an old soul, with a fondness and appreciation for great music of the past, but he is equally aware of the need to look forward and push musical boundaries to create new classics – tracks that fifty years in the future, young up-and-coming musicians just like him will be inspired by. His instinctive musicality particularly struck me as he explained his songwriting process: “Very often, I’ll have songs written in terms of the music, with the actual chords or like a musical idea. It’s always the lyrics that take a little bit longer.”

As well as writing all but one of the tracks on the album, LaRoque also worked to produce and play on the album, and travelled to Nashville to record it in the studio, telling me, “I definitely took my time with this one. It felt a lot more serious than the Stuck In The Past EP. It also feels all the more rewarding.” 

The Florida Effect was also released on LaRoque’s own independent label, Def Cat Records, as he explains: “I’ve been collecting records since I was a kid and ever since there’s been that fascination with the physical media, with just the fact that, oh, wow, like a label like Parlophone or a Capitol can host people like The Beatles… I want to promote the music that I believe in, and so that’s why having a record label is something I felt like I should – and needed to – do.”

Florida is my home, and then it’s hell for other people. It’s tough to say what it means to be a Floridian now

Timothy LaRoque

I went on to ask LaRoque about what place and impact such soulfully sung music as his can have in the noise and chaos of today’s America: “It’s a busy world and we’re living in the future… There are a lot of distractions, and sometimes in these loud cities, it’s hard to be heard and to have your messages come through. Music is more than just this thing: it’s not just noise.”

The relation between place and identity seems to be one of the central themes of the album; as well as the title giving an obvious nod to LaRoque’s home state, many featured tracks discuss issues of a desire for home and wanting to belong somewhere you perhaps don’t feel welcome. I asked LaRoque about his relationship with location, revealing, “I’m born and raised here in Hollywood, and I hope to live here as long as I’m able to. Florida is special to me because it is a lovely place. But also nowadays, when you think of Florida, you don’t think of the greatest things. Politically, at least in the US, it feels like Florida is always one of the first states where you’ll hear of some immoral law being passed. I’m not a fan of Donald Trump, and, not only that, but he’s made Florida his home base”. He concluded, “Florida is my home, and then it’s hell for other people. It’s tough to say what it means to be a Floridian now.” 

This is not just for me. This is not just for you. This is for everyone who’s been here, and everyone who will be here

When pushed on whether musicians have a responsibility or should be expected to include these messages of politics and social justice in their work, LaRoque replied, “Of course – I feel like us artists have that obligation to make these statements. I think music does have the power to change things. I think we’ve seen in the past that it does too. I think it’s going to take more than just me, though. I think it’s going to take more of those celebrities with hundreds of millions of dollars, with the wealth to communicate messages on that scale”. 

As well as politics, LaRoque’s album is awash with an ethereal, almost religious quality. For example, etched on the back of every vinyl cover is the inscription, “Dedicated to all the angels in the universe; yours and mine.” He explained the meaning of the epitaph: “I believe in angels; I am a very spiritual person. This year, I’ve had a few friends pass away, and I wanted to not only think about the people in my life who are no longer with me, but also to reflect. I want them to know that this is for everyone. This is not just for me. This is not just for you. This is for everyone who’s been here, and everyone who will be here”. 

This message of transcendent, tender beauty pretty much perfectly sums up LaRoque’s debut offering. The Florida Effect is a record written by a youth, not yearning for the past, but trying to better their own present.