Today we’d like to introduce you to Lily Lewis.
Hi Lily, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been into music for my whole life. I started playing the piano when I was five years old and have been singing and writing for just about as long. When I was 17 years old, I moved out of my parent’s house to join a band in Los Angeles- they were SO supportive and I am the luckiest girl to have parents like I do. I was in that band for six years and after we split up, I realized that I had spent the last six years making compromises on the music. Not necessarily bad compromises but… I had to settle for other people’s opinions. Up until this moment, I’ve always had either a producer or manager telling me how I should dress, why I can’t cut my hair, and what kind of music I make. I realize now, as I finally make music that feels like me, that going through this for my whole career caused me to totally dissociate from my music. This release of “Radio Silence” is incredibly emotional for me because it’s the first song I’ve made that feels like “me.” This is kind of an awakening for me. The photoshoot we did for the artwork was freeing, as I didn’t wear a mini skirt, skin-tight clothing, or brightly colored sparkles like I’ve been *strongly* encouraged to do for the majority of my career. I did something so simple as what I wanted to do, and it felt amazing. I think that now, I’m at least on the path of figuring out who I am as an artist.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Let me just say to all of my fellow women in the industry: BE STRONG, and I believe in you. This is a tough industry for anyone, but I think it’s even tougher for women. The road has had ups and downs, thats for sure. The struggles for me started when I first joined my old band back in 2012. We were under a manager who, I’m sure meant well in her head but left me with some baggage that I had to shed after we separated from her. She would yell, make comments about my weight, force me to go to the gym (I’ve always been small), etc. I remember one night she found out that I hadn’t gone to the gym that day and forced me to go run for 2 hours at 10pm. Being someone who’s struggled with body positivity, this was difficult for me to deal with. She would also get in on our writing sessions (mind you I was 17 at this time and I did not have the skillset to deal with this powerful personality). She wanted the songs a certain way and me looking a certain way. I was dressing “punky” and I did not associate with this. After separating from her, my band started working with some producers, a few of whom made inappropriate comments to me in private. I felt like I couldn’t do anything because I (a) was too young to know how to handle this, and (b) I felt like I would let my band down as our money and songs were tied up with this producer. I lost a lot of weight during this time and fell into a dark place.
We were also co-writing for this record, and the music was more pop-rock, and I was dressing in skin tight mini skirts and crop tops. Everything felt like it was about my body and sex. Eventually, the music was finished and my band parted ways with these people. Flash forward to my band breaking up, and I’m solo with a new manager. We were both very passionate about the project but had differing ideas and creative differences on how I should sound and dress and operate etc. At this point in my career, I was very centered on having full control over my project, as I’d not had this before. Now I’m solo without management and am so happy. After separating from my last manager, I took a brief hiatus to check in with myself and work on honing in on who I am as an artist. I didn’t release any music during this break because I wasn’t connecting to anything I had. I started to write again, and now I have a full project ready to release. I’m finally working with people who understand my vision, which is very comforting and safe to me.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I love writing. I’ll write songs not only for myself, but for anyone, and about anything. I don’t look at myself as special or different from anyone else, so the question of what sets me apart from others has always stumped me. I’m just like you, or your daughter, or your neighbor… I just like to help people find words that they might not be able to find themselves.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite memory as a child is the yearly trip my family would take to New York to see our extended family for Christmas. When I was little, my grandparents had this incredible house in the Bronx that we all called “the castle.” It had many floors and towers and was so fun to run around. Every year at dinner, we would pull a prank on my grandfather. Sometimes it was a whoopee cushion, other times it was a fake plastic ice cube with a bug in it… he would always act so surprised and my cousins and I could BARELY play it cool. Most years, it would snow, and this was huge for me. Growing up as a California kid, I was severely deprived of snow. My New York family couldn’t care less for snow, so I would go play in it by myself. I miss a white Christmas… I’m looking forward to when it’s safe enough to travel and I can get back to New York for some quality family time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.iamlilylewis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamlilylewis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamlilylewis
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamlilylewis
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/track/0VRzuFgvnnzUZVnSF2zdut?si=Mha1gDzKQISmhA8Lq9KIWA
Image Credits:
Photos by: Bob Curtin and Abby Ward
