Canberra’s LIV LI, today releases her third single in her upcoming Trilogy EP; Who We Are, which will be out later this month.
No stranger to creating instropective electro-pop, LIV LI has really found her feet in these last three releases, through teaming up with production team Msquared – Michael Paynter and Mike DeLorenzis, as well as through some extremely authentic lyrical content which connects to listeners.
Silence uses some warm and euphoric; layered vocals, and four to the floor beats which create a laid back dance track that pulls listeners along through LIV LI’s mindset, a journey of psychedelic pop discovery and thought. We had a chat with LIV LI, to gain more of an understanding about her process and artistry.
How would you describe your music to your grandma?
Gran this was all made on a computer! It’s layers upon layers of vocals and synths with some cool beats.
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We are in pretty unprecedented times right now. It’s wild out there. What are you doing to keep yourself from going insane?
I’m unplugging, I’m taking deliberate moments to be still, to just breathe, to feel and not be too hard on myself. Finding grace for myself that I don’t have to conquer the world right now. I just have to be in it. It’s in the stillness I find my inspiration so Covid has been good in the sense that I’ve been busy creating, which is a great distraction form the craziness. And getting back to creating music for myself, with no other agenda or intention but purely for the enjoyment and the love of it.
The Who We Are Trilogy Ep which is coming out later this month is a really interesting concept of introspective yet relatable thought. Could you give us some insight into this Ep and what it means to you?
Sure, we kicked off the EP with Terror Living, which timely or untimely dropped during this global pandemic but when I wrote it I actually wrote it form a place of wanting to consciously make sure that I wasn’t living my life in fear. I lose hours and days wondering “what if” which I’ve learnt is a complete waste of my time and creativity so being really deliberate in my thoughts and seeing good up ahead not bad was a big shift in mindset. Freaks and Dreamers is a song dedicated to my brother Ethan who has Down Syndrome. He showed me how beautifully unique we are all are and to have the courage to be myself in a world with too many imitators and spectators. Then finally we end with Silence which as I referred to above is all about unplugging. Giving yourself some space from the noise and the distractions and finding some stillness, even if it hurts.
Is there a show you have played that was a standout for you in any way?
We recently did a live stream with the good folks over at Live in ya Lounge who have really taken it upon themselves to keep the Canberra scene going during this time. They have a killer stage, lighting and sound set up featuring bands every Friday and Saturday night so we are able to deliver the full concert experience into people’s loungerooms. Whilst I miss seeing the faces of people in the audience it was so good to perform again and feel that connection, and give the songs some life. Sometimes it feels like your songs only exist in your mind so performing them live is your chance to give them some wings and see if they can fly.
If you could only wear one outfit for the rest of your life.
Easy PJ’s. If it’s just one outfit then I have to choose comfort over fashion. I slept in cargo pants once, it wasn’t a good time.
Can you talk us a bit through your process when it comes to creative endeavours?
Mood boards, I create lots of moodboards. I make playlists that inspire me. I journal. I take photos and slowly a direction and a feel begins to surface. I’m not afraid to collaborate, in fact i generally think that in room most people are more talented, more creative and have better ideas than me so really value their input in brining my songs and ideas to life. For example my latest trilogy I knew with songs like Terror Living and Freaks and Dreamers there was no room to play it safe aesthetically so I collaborated with a local artist called Houl. He created these hauntingly beautiful and twisted characters for my artwork which I think just completed the whole body of work so wonderfully.
What is your ideal notion of relaxing?
A beach and a book.
One song for:
Relaxing: ‘Find an Island’ – Benee
Dancing: ‘Blinding Lights’ – The Weekend
Pumping Up: ‘Body’ – Loud Luxury
What can we expect for the rest of 2020 from LIV LI?
I’ve just spent some time with Andy Mak (Vera Blue) in the studio so have some big production numbers I’m excited to release as my next trilogy but at the same time I’m also finding myself drawn to really raw, acoustic sounds right now. So I think it might be nice to release an isolation EP which is some really stripped back, emotive piano based ballads that speak to what’s going on right now. Almost like a journal entry. So you can expect some more trilogies from me and hopefully if our audiences are still around, we’ll get the chance to share all this new music with you live sooner rather than later!
