Laura Wilde: Australian Guitar Queen Talks Influences, Teenage Years

"I've been obsessed with guitars since I was a little kid. I remember walking by music shops, screaming and crying for my parents to let me go inside to stare at all of the guitars," laughs Laura Wilde. The 22-year-old Australian is on the line with Noisecreep chatting about Sold My Soul, her debut album of '70s-flavored hard rock.

"So I nagged my parents for years, but never got me a guitar. Then one Christmas when I was 12, I saw big box sitting underneath the tree and my mom told me it was an entire collection of Harry Potter books. I was so disappointed! Anyway, I opened it up and it was actually a guitar amplifier. I cried in happiness and since that day I've been practicing and playing guitar on a daily basis," says Wilde, who will be on a tour of American cities with none other than Ted Nugent next month.

Growing up in Melbourne, Wilde tells Noisecreep that she's been a lifelong rocker: "I had to wear a uniform to school, so you couldn't really express yourself through your clothing. Outside of school, I would wear all of these different military type shirts and leather jackets. It looked like I was going to a biker convention. I definitely didn't look like the girls I went to school with [laughs]."

For a young singer-songwriter, Wilde showed chutzpah on Sold My Soul, playing all of the instruments herself: "I knew exactly how I wanted these songs to sound, so there was no need in dragging someone down to the studio to teach them the parts. I started recording the album when I was 18. My influences throughout the past few years have expanded and the album shows that."

Noisecreep geeked out on guitarists with Wilde: "My favorite guitarists would have to be Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Eric Capton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I guess you can say that I prefer blues-based guitarists even though of more of a rock player. My first guitar was a Fender Strat copy, but I got a Flying V when I was 18 and I've been playing them ever since."

Laura Wilde's Sold My Soul is available now on iTunes and on Amazon. Catch her out on tour:

05/26/12 Hollywood, CA Hard Rock Cafe

06/10/12 Fayetteville, AR Arkansas Music Pavilion

06/12/12 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center Theatre

06/14/12 Mankato, MN Vetter Stone Amphitheatre

06/15/12 Hamel, MN Medina Entertainment Center

06/16/12 Tama, IA Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel

07/10/12 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre

07/11/12 Clifton Park, NY Northern Lights

07/30/12 New Brunswick, NJ State Theatre

07/31/12 Poughkeepsie, NY The Chance Theatre

08/01/12 Westbury, NY Westbury Theatre

08/04/12 Myrtle Beah, SC House of Blues

08/05/12 Orlando, FL House of Blues

08/06/12 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall

08/07/12 Fort Lauderdale, FL Revolution

08/12/12 Hamburg, NY Erie County Fair