Born and raised in the Netherlands, Lara Louise taught herself how to play the guitar, inspired by artists such as Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell. Later, she became influenced by jazz and bossa nova singers like Madeleine Peyroux, Frank Sinatra and Astrud Gilberto, and was particularly drawn to French jazz.

After studying philosophy in the Netherlands, Lara started pursuing music full-time and moved to California in 2020. She started playing venues and private events in the San Francisco Bay Area and also started recording her first album, together with producer, sound engineer and multi-instrumentalist Gawain Mathews.