Member Since: 3/1/2014
Posts: 5,368
|
Here's a good little interview for those new to her:
Quote:
Why did you, the popstar LIZ, want to do something with a designer person?
I’ve been dying to put out a project teasing my latest material, but I knew I had to include a special visual element that expressed the characters that lay inside of me and my music. It was perfect timing that Nicopanda reached out to collaborate. We collectively had this concept of an editorial where I played on the perceived ‘plasticity’ and ‘packaging’ of pop stars. I’ve been a fan of Brian Ziff’s and Golgotha’s work, so it was exciting to let them play with my appearance in a strange, fresh way. Nicola’s designs are really funky, and I’m really inspired by how fearless he is in expressing his quirks and individuality. Moving forward, I plan on continuing this element of surprise and experimentation in my image and visuals.
Tell me some things about the music please.
Stylistically, this mixtape was an opportunity for me to combine the roots of my early releases and this fiery character I’ve discovered inside of myself over the past year. Emotionally, some of the songs on here are playful, but the majority really show my humanity and vulnerability which I’ve learned to know is a strength and not a weakness. Songs like Star, Cross Your Heart and Run For Cover are especially personal to me. Although I address insecurity and the feeling of being discouraged, I always like to end those thoughts with feelings of hope and perseverance. I’ve had a really weird and anxious year personally, but I’ve also grown the most out of any year by far. I’m so insanely excited about my upcoming material – this is just a taste of what I have in store.
When was the last time you were genuinely scared?
Oh God. I was kind of scared to put out When I Rule The World. Well not scared. I had been sitting on that single for so long and I was like ‘what if I’ve built it up too much in my head and then no one’s going to like it?’ But then I just let go of that and thought ‘**** it, I believe in what I’m doing’.
Would you like to work with Britney?
Yeah I’d love to. Actually we submitted a song with another producer and her label really loves it. I don’t know what that means, you know, but I would love to write a song for her or possibly collaborate with her. She was such an idol of mine growing up.
Who were your other pop idols?
Gwen Stefani. I’d say Gwen is my Number One for sure. That early Y2K era, I’m super influenced by that. That time where you’re a tween, I feel like that’s one of the most influential times in your life. That was when I realised what I wanted to do and I had such a fiery passion to make pop music. I would read the liner notes of all these albums and I’d really take note of all these names and now I’ve worked with a lot of them. It’s come full circle. That’s when you realise how small the music world is.
You started working with writers and producers when you were 12. How did that come about?
I was taking vocal lessons and the teacher told me about an audition for a girl group and she said that if I was interested I should go. I was like, ‘pfft, obviously’. I was already deciding in my head how I was going to say my speech at the Grammys for winning Best Pop Album. So I went and auditioned and met the producer and the other girls that were already in the group. It was weird because I got along with the girls and the producer really liked my voice but he was like ‘you’re so skinny and scrawny and young looking compared to these other girls’. They had boobs, they had belly button rings and I was a ballerina. I was very graceful and I really hadn’t started doing any other sort of dance yet. That producer took me under his wing and worked with me as my own artist. I worked with their choreographers to learn how to really get down and move out of my comfort zone.
Pop finishing school!
Totally! That’s what it was like. I then went through so many years of almost being signed and then not and then going through different managers.
You have to really want this don’t you? It’s ruthless.
Oh my God, yes! There were so many times I was so heartbroken and would cry and cry, but I never felt like giving up at all. It just made me want to pursue it harder.
How did you go from that to releasing your first song as LIZ, XTC?
I just got in early with the people who are big now in EDM, people like Zedd and Rusko. During that time I was also working with a bunch of other producers making more R&B music. The common thread through all my music is that there’s always been a soul aspect to it. I went through a lot of different versions of myself. Paul Devro from Mad Decent came up to me at the LA Block Party because he’d heard one of my collaborations with Zedd and he was the one that took a chance with my own stuff.
You gave away a seven track EP called Just Like You for free. Why?
(Laughs) Yeah. It’s funny because at that time I was already signed to Columbia and I just didn’t tell anyone. We had always decided it was going to be a Mad Decent free EP because I just wanted it out there. I didn’t want the fact that people had to pay for it to hinder getting the music out there.
You’ve said before that you want your songs to reference a time when you felt less jaded, more carefree.
Yes for sure. I just want to channel the best version of myself (laughs). It’s important to be vulnerable for sure, but to get to that point you have to have enough self-awareness and clarity and security. So I guess that’s what I mean. I felt so secure as a person when I was a tween. Well actually my confidence peaked at 11, and then adolescence just ****ed. Me. Up. You just feel like everyone’s judging you and you’re judging everyone else. And growing up in LA makes that worse.
The late nineties and early naughties have been fetishised a lot of late and there are elements of it in your visuals and songs. Do you worry that people think you’re just being ironic?
I don’t think so because I’ve always been true to my super pop self ever since my first Mad Decent releases. I don’t worry about people thinking I’m jumping on some bandwagon. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been obsessed with all this stuff for so long.
|
http://www.thebeatjuice.com/trax/201...heart-mixtape/
|
|
|
|
Really hoping an actual album isn't that far away!
