Lawrence Rothman (born June 19, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. Their most recent album The Plow That Broke the Plains was released in 2024.
Biography
Early life
Rothman was born and raised in a middle class area of St. Louis, Missouri. Rothman was raised in a Jewish and Catholic family.[2] From a young age, Rothman identified as gender-fluid, wearing makeup and presenting in an androgynous style.[3] Rothman was homeschooled until second grade and was bullied after entering the public school system.[4]
From the age of 13, Rothman formed a number of punk, alternative rock and hip-hop bands and toured throughout the United States. During this period, Rothman was physically assaulted by three off-duty National Guardsmen after performing a club in Texas.[citation needed] Without the help of their parents, they relocated to Chicago when they were 17 years old. Rothman came into contact with musicians and artists while living with a relative, who assisted them in accepting their non-binary identity. From 2002 to 2011, Rothman fronted the punk rock band Living Things under the name Lillian Berlin.[5]
2013–2014: Early singles
After moving to Los Angeles, Rothman began writing music under their own name and signed to Mamaroma, the independent label founded by renowned director Floria Sigismondi, known for her music videos for David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, and Fiona Apple and for TV work including The Handmaid's Tale and American Gods. In June 2013, Rothman released their debut single, "Montauk Fling", with an accompanying video directed by Sigismondi. This marked the start of a long-term creative collaboration between the two – Sigismondi has since directed all of Rothman's music videos to date. Throughout 2013, Rothman released subsequent singles on Mamaroma: “#1 All Time Low”, “Kevin”, and “Fatal Attraction”. These saw a largely positive response from press outlets including The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and Stereogum.
2015–2017: The Book of Law
In 2014, Rothman signed to Downtown Records and began work on their debut album, The Book of Law, with producer Justin Raisen. Rothman created a list of dream collaborators, including Duff McKagan from Guns N' Roses, Kim Gordon, Angel Olsen, and Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeahs, whom Raisen brought into their studio. The two used Rothman's journals as the basis for the lyrics and emotional mood of the record. In an interview with the FADER, Rothman stated that the recording process was fraught and dramatic, with “drug ODs [from others in the camp], fist fights, jail, police getting called on [Raisen] by record companies, threatening to cut a guy's neck off on Thanksgiving".
2021: Good Morning, America and Not a Son
In October 2020, Rothman announced sophomore album Good Morning, America and spoken word counterpart album Not a Son. The first single was Decent Man a duet with Grammy award winning singer songwriter Lucinda Williams. The song a politically charged statement on 2020 America was Written and Produced By Lawrence Rothman. Good Morning America was released on July 16, 2021. Guest included Lucinda Williams, Amanda Shires, Katie Pruitt, Marissa Nadler, Caroline Rose, Mary Lattimore, Pino Palladino, and Girlpool. On Oct 10, 2021 Not A Son Rothman's spoken word poetry album was released featuring members of Thundercats band harpist Mary Lattimore and guitarist Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
2024: The Plow That Broke the Plains
On April 27, 2024, Rothman released their third album The Plow That Broke the Plains. Produced and Mixed by Rothman at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios over 10 days during November 2023. First single Poster Child was written with Grammy award winning singer songwriter Jason Isbell. The song which addresses the urgent issue of gun violence and sparked an unyielding period of creative catharsis, with Lawrence writing dozens of songs. Poster Child chronicles a 2005 assault on Rothman outside a Dallas Club for dressing in gender neutral clothing. The album recorded primarily live captures a genre bending take on the Americana Sound with. Capturing personal and candid story's from Rothman's life and lessons salvaged from their decade-long struggle with body dysmorphia and a two-year battle with anorexia, while addressing themes of addiction, gender identity and societal pressures The album was praised by Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and The Guardian for its stylistic challenging and candid approach. Country and Americana artist Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Katie Pruitt, S.G. Goodman, Audley Freed, Jimbo Hart, Brittney Spencer feature on the album.
In 2019, Rothman launched their own record label, KRO Records, with Justin Raisen, Yves Rothman.[12] KRO’s first release included two tracks from River Phoenix's band, Aleka's Attic, along with a single from Rain Phoenix featuring Michael Stipe.[13] This was followed by a Double A-Side Single, "Poison" by Marissa Nadler feat. John Cale of The Velvet Underground.[14] Other releases in 2019 included Kills Birds’ self-titled debut LP, Buzzy Lee’s (Sasha Spielberg) EP, “Close Encounters of Our Own Kind”, and a single titled “Mother” by Courtney Love.[15][16][17] In 2020, KRO Records released Steven Spielberg produced "The Turning" soundtrack under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment.[18] The film's soundtrack features tracks from Mitski, Kali Uchis, Soccer Mommy, Cherry Glazerr, Finn Wolfhard & Courtney Love. Rothman was the film's music supervisor and producer of the soundtrack.
