Rising R&B star Lara Andallo can sing, dance and act, but calling her a triple threat would be selling her short. The 20-year-old Filipino-Australian artist is the type of person who could quite possibly do anything if she put her mind to it. She’s a force.

Growing up, a career in music was never part of Lara’s plan, despite being classically trained in violin and proficient in saxophone, drums, piano, and guitar. Her first true love was music, but it was dancing that gave her the confidence to pursue it. Dancing was where she found her voice.

But at age 15, while training as a dancer full-time, Lara was forced to take a hiatus because of complications in her ankles that lead to multiple surgeries. “I was devastated at the time. I’ve been dancing since I was 11 years old and it’s such a big part of who I am”, says Lara. During her recovery, Lara turned to music to help her get through. Or in her own words, she “hobbled to the piano,” because at this stage she was re-teaching herself how to walk.

Lara wrote about some of the things she was going through at the time – feeling lonely, being culturally different from her peers, bullying at school – and turned her devastation into self-development. While she was at it, she turned her bedroom into a home studio, and for the next two years, Lara was laser-focused. At 17-years-old, she independently released three bedroom recordings that were met with praise from Australian radio (triple j, FBi) and the likes of Off The Clef, Thank Guard and Complex AU & UK. Now, armed with her first body of music, Mixtape (Part I), Lara joins a new guard of R&B artists making waves internationally.

Influenced by bold female R&B singers like Kehlani, H.E.R and Ella Mai, Lara is an unapologetic songwriter who carries herself with the grace of someone who knows what they want and who they are. But she hasn’t always felt this way, and in a genre where so many artists appear effortlessly cool, she wants people to know that she grew up as an outsider. “I want to be the type of artist that can represent people who feel different because I’ve been there,” says Lara.