Photos and Interview by Jordan Edwards
LØLØ recently released her latest single "THE FLOOR IS LAVA!!" The track is the latest in a string of singles that show a respect for the Y2K-era rock she loves while producing a sound that's original.
Currently on the road with Waterparks as part of the Sad Summer Festival tour, she'll take the stage this weekend at Lollapalooza. We talked to the Toronto native about current projects and how her music has evolved.
I love the production on "THE FLOOR IS LAVA!!" It’s heavy and the drums sound really raw. Tell me about how you came up with that sound.
Thank you! It started off on Zoom with my co-writers DCF and Jesse Fink, and Jesse put together a rough demo with the guitar riff you hear today. Then I took it to my producers, Giordan Postorino and Benjamin Thomas. We usually sit in a room and toy around with a bunch of different ideas and concepts, sometimes asking ourselves “what would Billie Joe Armstrong do?” After a bunch of messing around, we usually find a sound we all really like that fits with the vibe of the song.
The lyrics address your struggle with anxiety. What have you found to be the most effective way for you to cope?
Keeping busy! I find that on days when I have nothing to do, that’s when I have time to think about everything that I have going on, all the stuff that needs to get done, and just the overall doom and gloom in my life.
Do you wear the pop-punk label proudly, or do you consider yourself just rock?
I kind of hate labeling my sound, but if I had to say something, then I’d consider myself pop-rock! I write pop songs but I like to add rock elements into the production. My biggest influences sonically are Green Day and Weezer. But I do love pop-punk as well, so if people want to label my music as such, that’s fine with me.
You started out as more of a straight pop artist. What made you transition to rock?
If you listen to my past singles, it was pretty gradual. My first single ever, “Yours” actually had punky guitars if you go back and listen. I put that song out and it ended up getting on the radio in Canada, which was pretty shocking at the time, because it was before this rock wave, back when there were like no songs with guitars on the radio. After that, I felt like I needed a radio follow up and started making the rest of that Sweater Collection EP way more pop because I put a lot of pressure on myself to fit a specific mold and mainstream sound. In the end, I never made it onto the radio again with those songs, which was a great lesson for me in terms of staying true to myself and the importance of authenticity in music. I took a year to write a bunch of songs and figure out what I wanted to do. In that year I made “Hate U” and loved it. It felt right! Right around that time, rock became very “in” for mainstream music, so I think I just got lucky with the timing of it all. But I’m happy now that I’m making music that I love!
What was it like to work on “debbie downer” with Maggie Lindemann? It looks like the music video shoot was a lot of fun.
Yeah! The music video was one of the most fun days ever! Working with Maggie was awesome. I think she added so much to the track, and I'm so grateful that she wanted to do it with me.
You and Waterparks seem like a perfect tour match. Have you known Awsten Knight for a while?
I actually just met Awsten for the first time a few months ago in a writing session in LA, and I absolutely love him. So great to tour with him.
When you’re on tour, do you find time to write new music?
I’ve only been on one tour so far, but I didn’t do any writing sadly haha. We were in a sprinter van, and it was a lot of driving and very exhausting. I think in the future, when I’m hopefully rich enough to have a tour bus, I’ll be able to get some writing done.
What do you miss most about Toronto?
My dog and my family, my friends there, and Tim Horton's!
What’s something you listen to that people might not expect?
Country music haha.
Lollapalooza is coming up soon. How are you feeling?
I’M SO EXCITED I MIGHT PEE MY PANTS!
THE FLOOR IS LAVA!! – LØLØ (Official Music Video)
www.youtube.com
16