CANADIAN musician Lights recently toured the UK, blessing us with her electropop and synth music. Her upcoming album, ‘Midnight Machines‘ is set to be released on Friday (April 8) and our reporter Lauren Bones was able to catch up with her to ask about her current experiences and success…
Lights fell in love with creating music from a young age, as she explained: “I wrote my first song when I was 11, after my dad taught me my first chord. A couple years later I had saved up enough money to get an 8-track recording system and began making my own mixes and producing.”
Her musical family is what really got Lights into music, and she described how far her parents support went towards who she is today.
“My dad is musical and is the reason I got into this in the first place,” she admitted.
“He enabled me to learn my instruments and both my parents encouraged me to chase my dreams. That kind of support goes further than people realize.”
Lights has performed at a few different sports around Manchester, and she shared her love for the city: “Manchester has always been a good vibe for our shows. It’s definitely a music city and I have some wicked fans based there.”
Like most musicians, many different thoughts go through their heads before taking the stage and Lights shared what goes through her head before a concert.
I look at people and try to pick up on their vibe. Is that guy trying to hook up with that girl? I wonder if this girl has a crush on me? She’s cute. Is this guy super stressed and tired from work and here to let off steam, or are they on a whack ton of drugs? Lots of cool scenarios come up.”
Although Lights adored playing at Manchester’s Sound Control, she has big dreams of playing at London’s Wembley Stadium.
When it comes to inspiration for her very individual style of music, there was quite a variety: “I like listening to what sounds fresh from the newest innovators and producers to keep my ear on how the soundscapes are evolving. So sonically I’m looking to an evolving roster of talent.”
“For songwriting I usually look to the classics, Joni Mitchell, Supertramp, Bjork, and Cyndi Lauper to name a few.
“I’d love to see what would happen in a session with Kanye,” Lights revealed when asked which musician she’d love to work with in the future.
Not only is Lights a fantastic musician, but she also has a big passion for animation and comics.
“If I wasn’t making music, I’d probably be doing that,” she suggested.
Her music video for her 2010 track ‘Saviour’ actually features some of Lights’ animations and drawings.
Lights’ upcoming acoustic album ‘Midnight Machines‘ features one of her favourite tracks which she has written, called ‘Follow You Down‘ and she briefly discussed the story behind the track: “It’s about the lengths you’d go for a real friend.”
We can be sure to expect huge things for Lights in the future as she revealed that “no lies, I have some insane stuff for you to look forward to over the next year.
“Prepare!”
Her acoustic album ‘Midnight Machines’ is available from April 8 on iTunes and music retailers.
By Lauren Bones
@laurenxbones
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