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Interview by Carol Wright | Photos Courtesy of Revenge Wife

Growing up did you find that you felt most comfortable expressing yourself through music?

Liz: Growing up I definitely felt most comfortable when expressing myself through art. It was everything for me.. I felt so alone and different and when I was writing or dancing or painting, that was when I felt most myself. I also felt so seen when listening to music.. I think art is so important for us in that way. For us to feel seen and heard and like we’re not alone. 

Tell us a bit about “Manifest.” What inspired the lyrics?

Liz: When I was writing the lyrics for “Manifest” I was pretty much just depressed and feeling broke and feeling like I was working so hard for so little money. That kind of feels like the story of the music industry, it’s exploitative towards artists. I don’t like that aspect of it and I want that to change. I have a lot of thoughts on capitalism and the inequality of wealth distribution in America and I’m really talking about that in the song.

You self-directed the accompanying music video. Did you create storyboards when planning it? If so, where did you pull inspiration from?

Liz: I have directed a lot of music videos for myself and other artists so.. I feel pretty comfortable doing that now and no, I haven’t been making storyboards or treatments. I would of course do that if I’m working with other people, but right now with just me and my boyfriend making them I haven’t needed to like.. get my vision across to anyone beforehand. I will say though, that right now I’m more motivated by story than visuals. I want my story to be really clear and that is what dictates everything that I’m shooting, rather than the other way around which is how I used to direct. 

The music video was also shot entirely on an iPhone. What motivated that choice and could you see yourself doing more DIY style videos in the future?

Liz: I have definitely made my fair share of iPhone videos.. probably like 10 by this point. Sometimes I’ll direct for other artists and shoot on iPhone if I’m shooting it myself. I really like using the iPhone because it feels like it takes some of the elitism out of making videos. Haha I’m kind of all about accessibility in art (as exemplified also by the lyrics for “Manifest”)! I think it’s inspiring to make something with so little, and it creates a limitation that you have to overcome (it’s not the best with lighting, etc). To be honest though, the choice came from not having any other choice. I don’t have another camera and it was quarantine!! I’ll definitely make more iPhone videos in the future if necessary, because I don’t ever want lack of resources to stop me from creating. I will also be directing all my stuff because, yeah I always do that! 

How have you been keeping yourself creatively motivated during this crazy year?

Liz: Hahah, I don’t know.. I just try to listen to myself and be kind to myself. It’s been easy to be motivated because I’ve been preparing to release my music all year so there’s a lot that goes into that. I like to prepare all the songs, and a few videos and the artwork and the concepts beforehand so that when I release the music I can just be like bam, bam, bam. It takes a lot of time to make all that stuff so I’ve just had to be patient in that process and get it all together. Otherwise, I definitely let myself chill a lot during 2020 and I almost miss that. I think I should chill more.

What advice do you have for aspiring musicians?

Liz: I guess my advice would be, don’t let anyone get in the way of you expressing yourself, follow your intuition, listen to the universe, you can be anything you want to be. Love is the answer!!