Santa Barbara-bred, Los Angeles-based singer / songwriter Lily Lewis is an artist poised to dominate the pop world. She's just released her catchy new single 'Radio Silence'.
Lilys' debut single 'VCR' earned 150,000+ streams on Spotify in it's first 3 months alone, followed up by the lush and equally infectious single 'Lonely Lovers'. New single 'Radio Silence' tells the story of being dumped in New York, and Lily says that it's the first song that feels truly authentic, delivering a catchy and melodic but chilled indie pop banger.
Introduce yourself and tell us something about you!
"Hi! My name is Lily Lewis and I am a singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles.
I’ve been at this for a long time, but I’m a relatively new solo artist. I spent A LONG time in a band, which I loved, but it wasn’t right for me. I moved to Los Angeles from Santa Barbara at 17 to join the band, and it was the greatest experience ever but was never exactly “it” for me, if that makes sense. Since 17 I’ve bounced around different sounds, producers, managers, and have always felt like I was losing a little bit of myself having to compromise with so many people.
With Radio Silence, I feel like I’ve finally found a sound that feels like me, and am working with an incredible producer/cowriter (Bob you’re the man) who really understands my vision. I’m so excited to let this new music and new me out into the world."
Where are you from and do your surroundings inspire your sound?
"So I’m from Santa Barbara, and I think that growing up by the beach definitely influenced my sound. I grew up with a lot of Stevie Nicks (BIGGEST INSPO) in a beautiful hippie household. I want to make music that you can ~breathe~ to. I think being in the city while my head is at the beach influences my sound as well… maybe it makes for a more mellow pop sound." How would you describe your music to someone who’s never listened to you before?
"I would describe my music to someone who hasn’t heard me before as Stevie Nicks had a pop baby. It’s pop but not in-your-face pop (don’t get me wrong- I love me some heavy pop) but that's not what resonates with me creatively. It’s kind of moody, too. I guess if you blanket it, you could call it indie-pop." What’s your earliest musical memory?
"My earliest musical memory is asking my mom to replay Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan in the car. I remember as a little kid being obsessed with this song and anytime we were in the car I wanted to hear it. I also have memories of my dad’s recording studio. He had a wall of percussion instruments and he would hold me as a toddler and run across the wall and I would try to hit every instrument I could." How did you get into music? Is there a story behind it?
"My parents are musicians, so I was born into it. I started with guitar lessons as a little kid but didn’t connect with it, so my mom switched me to piano. I started piano lessons at age 4 and haven’t stopped playing since. By the time I reached 7th grade I had started singing and writing too. In 7th grade we were assigned a project to spend the year working with a mentor on anything we wanted and present at the end of the school year. I chose to learn how to write and record an album, and have basically kept going since then!" Who are your biggest inspirations, musically?
"My biggest influences musically are Stevie Nicks, Gwen Stefani, and Hayley Williams. I also REALLY love Stevie Ray Vaughn, and if you don’t know who he is you need to go listen to Riviera Paradise right now." Tell us a little about your new track ‘Radio Silence’!
"I made this song with Bob Curtin, the producer and co-writer of all of my new stuff coming out, and hopefully everything else forever because he’s incredible. I actually dreamt of Radio Silence and wrote it down in my phone in the middle of the night. I think I wrote down “dream-hiding in a hotel in NYC.” My therapist has had me writing down my dreams for the last 2 years so we can talk about them in our sessions, and the next day as I was waiting in her office I started to turn it into a poem. That’s when it became “hiding in my hotel in New York City, feeling so invisible you don’t miss me, what’s burning even more than my own self-pity, is now I’m realizing that you’re ghosting me.” I had my first session with Bob that night, and we turned it into the song. I sang the chorus to Bob thinking it would be the verse and he was like "OMG THATS THE HOOK.” And the rest is history."
Is there a certain story that inspired the lyrics?
"I wrote this song in a time in my life when I was feeling pretty lonely, even in a room full of my best friends, and whatever I’m feeling always seems to find its way into my dreams. I chose to release it now because the whole world is isolated and I thought that this could make people feel a little less alone, knowing that we’re all in it with each other." Do you have a favourite lyric from the track?
"My favourite line from the song is,
"double texting you, got no shame to lose.”
I had to get real- we’ve all been the double-text-er, wallowing in self-pity… right? Finally, do you have any plans for 2021 so far?
"My plans for 2021 are to CREATE, stay safe, and do whatever I can to help my fellow humans get through this wild and crazy time… and I’m going to release a ton of music and continue on my journey."
'Radio Silence' is out now.
Listen HERE @iamlilylewis
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