Interview by Aaliyah Lambert | Photographer: Savanna Ruedy
We got to chat with singer/songwriter Lily Lane about her song “Bad,” growing up in a family of musicians, and her Queen of Hearts EP.
You’re from a family of musicians. What’s your earliest memory of performing or singing?
Honestly just singing in my room as a kid as if I were performing a stadium tour and my whole family telling me to shut up because I’m being too loud. This was a daily occurrence for probably the first 17 years of my life. This isn’t super early, but I remember in 6th grade, my family had a Halloween party in our backyard, and I sang a Blink 182 song with my brother (Tucker’s) rock band at the time because my mom told him couldn’t exclude me. I hope there are no videos or pictures of any of that. I can’t imagine that sounded good.
Your new single, “Bad,” was inspired by events happening in the country. How much of your music pulls from current events versus your personal journey?
I feel like current events impact my personal journey a lot. Our environment has a huge impact on our lives, but this was the first song I can directly say the hook was inspired by my emotional reaction to a supreme court leak. Most of my songs are about personal bombshells rather than political ones.
The music video for “Bad” was released recently. Can you walk us through the creative process for the video?
For the “Bad” video, I relied heavily on my amazing friend and director, Marti Hoyos. Because the concept of the song “Bad” was so simple, “usually I’m a baddie, but today I’m not, I’m just really bad,” we wanted to elevate it and give it higher stakes than just me sitting around feeling crummy. Marti has such an amazing creative eye, and he pushed my boundaries as an artist while also really understanding who I am and portraying that fully in the video. He stuck with the colors black, white, and red because those are the only colors I wear, but he also used them in a new way by putting me in white in the start of the video when I appear innocent and making the outfits darker as my character became more complex and murderous. Stylist Rachel Spencer, all the way from NYC, picked out the perfect outfits to really execute this color story vision he had, and I couldn’t have felt more sexy and confident in these looks. In terms of aesthetics, Mart knows how much I am inspired by old Hollywood, and so he had the amazing idea to make the video a retro thriller/noir. One of my favorite things Marti did was play with the timeline of the story in a really smart way, teasing the cadavre in a body bag in the first scene and then in the last scene returning to that first setup and seeing the whole story and who was actually in the body bag. We worked with fabulous producer Nicole Lipp and her company AYF Media to find the most amazing crew and make everything run smoothly, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. It was an amazing day on set and my favorite video I’ve ever done.
On “Bad,” you serenade listeners with powerful lyrics, one being, “If confidence is power, then it’s all in me.” Any advice to fans on how to tap into that inner confidence?
Positive self-talk is the easiest way to start feeling more confident and better about yourself. Every time you have a negative thought or say something negative about yourself, try to reframe it in a positive light. Instead of thinking, “ugh, my stomach is grumbling, I’m so dumb I forgot to eat breakfast,” think, “how cool is it that our bodies give us cues to let us know when we need to take care of ourselves” and then listen to your body! We have everything we need inside us. Human beings are so cool in our ability to involuntarily regulate ourselves, like sweating if we are overheating or yawning when we are tired. We are all so powerful just the way we are made! If the confidence you are struggling with is because of a physical imperfection, I am here to tell you a secret: nothing matters. The things you hate about yourself today will be the biggest trends tomorrow. We were told for years to load on concealer and hide our under-eye circles, and now there are makeup tutorials on how to get a tired, chic, darkened under-eye look. People are getting tattooed freckles and lips pumped with filler to get a look that people have been made fun of for having naturally. Beauty standards are made up, and as soon as you reach one, it will just change. The best thing to do is stay who you are and realize at some point in your life, your look will be in, but it will also be out, so there is no point in trying to be anything but who you are. Lastly, nobody is confident all the time; when you really can’t tap into that inner power, simply commit to faking it, and the way people treat you when they see that fake confidence will give it to you for real.
You said, “I want to help women realize their lives don’t have to be Cinderella movies, they can literally be Maleficent, and it can be just as beautiful and inspiring and dope.” At what point did you realize that your life didn’t have to look like a Disney princess movie?
Honestly, I wish I could say sooner, but the truth is 2020. I went through a breakup of a 5-year relationship, lost my manager and my producer, and I was simply not where I thought I was supposed to be at the age I was. I was devastated “starting over” in love and in my career, but after the initial heartbreak and fear wore off, I realized my opportunities and “new” life was significantly better and made me happier than the fairy tale I had been chasing. With only myself and my instincts to listen to, I moved across the country to LA, made the best music of my life for my new EP Queen of Hearts, adopted a second dog, made a beautiful home, and even found love again- but this time I didn’t fall in love like a damsel in distress, I walked confidently into it knowing what I brought to the table and who I am all on my own.
Your project Queen of Hearts will be dropping soon. Can you share with our readers a little about the project and what they should expect to hear?
Queen of Hearts is my sophomore EP, and it has seven songs on it – two that are out, “Bad” is the first track on the project, and “Look At Me Now” is the last. The other five are completely unheard and will take you on the journey I took that got me from feeling “Bad” to screaming, “Look At Me Now!” Expect big vocals and cinematic production.
In three words, describe where you’re at in your musical journey.
Confident, Introspective, and Untethered.