Lights Discusses Awards, Third Album, Twitter & Facebook
Neil Carrier of The Afternoon Rush on WBGU 88.1 FM sat down with Lights before her show at Frankie’s in Toledo, Ohio last month. The Canadian synthpop singer talked about whether awards create pressure, how crowds in Canada, America and the rest of the world differ, what she has planned for a ‘Siberia’ follow-up, and how Twitter and Facebook are a important part of a recording artist’s connection to the listener.
Asked if awards create pressure for her or it’s just a flattering thing for her and her fans, Lights responded, “I think it’s more the latter. It’s more a recognition thing. You wouldn’t get any of those nominations if they didn’t think you weren’t trying hard or you had something good, so if anything that fuels the excitement to keep going. I don’t know if I feel any pressure, but I probably should. It’s more of an awesome pat on the back.”
Questioned about whether fans in America, Canada or other parts of the world are different for her, Lights said, “Everywhere I go it’s a pretty mixed bag. In Canada, it’s even a little different from here because in Canada they has been in the past a little radio play so you get a more broad audience coming into the show, whereas here, everyone is here because they’re heard it through word of mouth or found it on the internet or it’s been shared or it resonated with someone and they brought the other person to the show, so it’s kind of a different experience here. It’s cool. Overseas, the UK in particular, they’re a lot more show savvy I think, because there’s a lot more shows that go through and the country itself is a lot smaller and closer together, so it is easier for people to get to shows, so that’s always fun to play there because they’re used to going to shows, but in that sense there’s so many bands coming through you just hope that they come to yours.”
As for her tour nearing completion and how her mindset is about that, Lights said, “Yeah, it definitely comes in phases. I’m ready to stop touring now. After this tour I’ll be glad to take a break and start writing new stuff because it all starts to build up. I’m not very good at writing on the road, so when I want to start writing, I’ve just got to have time to do it. When I’ve been writing to long and the album is close to done, I’m like, ‘I’ve got to get out there and tour on this now.'”
As for expectations for her third album, Lights said, “What I wanted to instill with ‘Siberia’ is I always want to give something different. I’m not going to make this some record over. I’m always going to challenge listeners and surprise them, and surprise myself and excite myself and keep myself challenged as well with writing. The album itself is going to be a step forward in another direction. I want to one-up the last record, just like you want to do with every record, so I’m hoping for something awesome and new sounding.”
Questioned about the role Twitter and Facebook play in her career, Lights said, “It’s such a given nowadays to utilize those platforms because you’d be crazy not to. I don’t understand how people can maintain unless they’re getting tons of radio play or something, why not? That’s the ultimate way to spread what you got and watch people share it and give them stuff to share and give you a look at what people want to hear from you or what people are excited about or what they like, what they’ve been feeling. Sometimes it helps dictate a direction on certain things, that’s why I put the acoustic EP out, because people seemed to be feeling that. It really is a great medium for communication between both sides of this great relationship, the fan-artist thing, and keeps you humble too. If I didn’t get to communicate with fans on a personal level, I’d think I was so awesome probably and get arrogant.”
Listen to the interview via Soundcloud below.
