Itās been a decade since Lights toured Australia, but despite the years that have passed, fans certainly havenāt drifted from the Canadian sonic alchemist.
Thatās not to say Lights hasnāt come a long way since the days of Siberia, her sophomore record that would spark the flame of her inaugural sojourn to our shores. The fangs are sharper now, the eyes more steeled and the oeuvre more eclectic. Itās the same Lights who won us over with home recording sessions while at the same time being an entirely new Lights all together. The acoustic guitar, for example, if further out of frame ā but always within reach.
Itās this ability to stomp one foot around whether she likes, while keeping the other firmly planted in the realm of Lights thatās kept her career so strong. While many of her peers to come up through the Myspace wave of DIY artists have since added their bones to the pile, Lights is more hench than ever. By tending to a creative ecosystem that almost never duplicates, Lights has ensured that itās never a dull moment in her world and thereās almost always something to capture your attention.
Whether itās comic books, chillwave reimaginings, tattoos, high-profile guest features or meaningful collaborations, thereās an infinite number of seasons in Lights world. Fortunately the time conversations are friendly with Earthās, allowing for BLUNT to speak with Lights ahead of her arrival.
Last time you were here, you toured with The Jezabels and you got to play some of our bigger venues, but now, you get to play some of our more intimate ones. Is that something youāve even thought about?
Lights: I like the big shows as much as anyone else because itās epic, you have more room, and chances are the sound is better. But, when you get to do the small ones, itās kind of, for me, crucial in building a fan base and building an understanding of the show from the ground up. I was never one of those people who got big and played big venues only. Iāve come up, Iāve built my markets from the ground up.
I think thatās a big part of being able to have staying power. Iām excited to be able to do those rooms because thatās when you really get to feel the sweat and have those intense moments with the songs, and you get to stop the show and talk to people because you have that closeness. Thereās a degree of weāre all in this together with those little shows.
Itās interesting you brought up staying power. Without putting too fine of a point on it, not a lot of artists who came up through Myspace are about to come and tour Australia off the back of releasing a brand new album. What do you credit your staying power to?
Lights: I have had time to sit and percolate on that. Thereās frustrations with my career, but thereās also moments that I stop, and Iām grateful. Iāve never blown up on TikTok. Iāve never had a smash single, but what I do have is authentic creativity and vision, and I work my ass off. Iām always giving my art in the truest form that it can be. I donāt, probably to a fault, let it get diluted down by trying to get a hit or trying to let too many people get involved so that I donāt have to do the work. I did the whole comic thing. I even tied the comic in to with PEP. I spend countless hours making sure everything is fun and Easter Eggy for the fans even though thereās maybe only a limited number of them that even look at that stuff.
Thereās a lot there for the fans of mine that are still around, and it keeps them around because weāre all growing older, weāre all changing, and our tastes are changing. You canāt stay the same. Part of that is the evolution. I think part of that is growing up together. Iāve shifted my mentality from, how can I make this as big as possible to how can I keep doing what I do and what is it that I do? Iām the one who creates the roll-outs to all my releases. Iām the one that comes up with music video content. Iām the one who produces most of my stuff at this point.
Itās like Iām driving this little fun bus thatās been going at the same speed for a decade, and I canāt complain. I mean, Iām starting to maybe think about working on a sixth album. Thereās not a ton of artists who can say that. I am pretty proud of that. So, the fact that I can come back to Australia a decade later and still have people around and for someone whoās never had hits and never been a massive artist, I think thatās something to be proud of.
Talking about the bus that you drive, whatās the fuel for it? What pushes you away from just going back to the safety of what youāve done?
Lights: I think itās just my taste. Obviously, itās my taste and interest that guide what I create, but the more toxic component of what drives me is literally mental health. If I donāt create, I just hate myself. Itās kind of a fucked up relationship with creativity, but my sense of value is in what I can create. Iāve never looked in the mirror and been like, yeah, what I offer the world is beauty or power. What I have to offer is what I create. Thatās what Iāve built my identity around. So, itās kind of dark. I have to continue creating so that I donāt spiral.
Itās been this relationship that I have with my art. If I go a couple days without exercising creativity, I go to bed like, āWhat the fuck am I doing with my life?ā I start spiraling, so itās like Iām chained to my creativity, and I make the most of it. Iāve developed this symbiosis in the relationship with my art. If I can maintain my mental health, that actually will propel my career as well, so it all has to work together but yeah, your girl canāt get lazy because then, she goes downhill. Always working.
If youāre going to hate yourself for something, it may as well be something that you can really easily fix.
Lights: Right.
Itād be bad if you were hating yourself for something that was-
Lights: Unchangeable. Yeah.
I always feel like if I put time in and I put four to six hours into something creative every day, I feel fulfilled. I feel empowered. Thatās all it takes. I think thatās my recommendation to anybody who wants to create anything. I think thereās this mysticism around creativity where we feel like it strikes, and we spend all night. We stay up till sunrise creating, and then you end up with this masterpiece. That is not how it happened. Itās just chipping away and putting time in and building and listening back with fresh ears. Itās like, itās just a repeated process, and itās going to work but much more fun.
There are these ideas about what has to be done to create; thereās a lot of gatekeeping around creating, and I think it scares a lot of people off ā¦
Lights: We literally do. I think the best way I heard it put was when I was working on the comic. I canāt remember who said the quote, but the quote was, āThe best writing is rewriting.ā So, you have to just do it, and itās going to suck, and then you just keep going.
Take as much time as you need. I mean, on PEP, for example, a song like āSalt and Vinegarā, itās actually one of my favorite songs to play. That was like a two-year fucking Frankenstein of a song. The verses came from a different session. The choruses came from another one. The drop came from something else. I loved parts of all these songs and spent years listening back and trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I was like, āFuck it. Letās put them all together.ā
There is no code of rules that tells you how to make a song good. You just have to try things. God knows Iāve tried mish-mashing songs together before, and it completely failed. I have five versions of every song, and the fifth edit usually sucks. You go back to the second edit.
You also collaborate extensively, with a range of artists and styles. How do you avoid losing yourself in these constant and high profile collabs?
Lights: Honestly, itās a great question. I think it purely has to do with that I know enough about my abilities and my workflow and what I do to trust that it will come through, right? Iāve done a lot of different genres of collabs from Bring Me the Horizon to Seven Lions to hip-hop stuff like with Chaos and Shad. Iām not worried at all for one second that I wonāt sound like Lights because I write the top line, I track the vocals, I edit them. I donāt hand anything over to anybody. I give them my finished vocal. Iāll let them put effects on it if they want, but I make the edits, so I have no concerns ā¦ Thereās only two instances where Iāve released a song that I didnāt write, and it was the Steve Aoki and Mike Shinoda collab. I was like, āYeah, right. Fine. Iāll sing whatever you guys wrote here.ā
Then the Bring Me stuff I didnāt write. Those are the only songs Iāve ever put out that I didnāt write on. And those ones you could argue donāt necessarily sound like my stuff, but it sounds like me. I think that as long as youāre true to yourself as an artist, it will come through, and youāre never going to be stepped on by somebody elseās ideas. At the same time, Iāve also learned over the years through all the collabs Iāve done, that collaboration brings out the best in both artists if you allow it. If you stomp on the other artistās ideas also, then youāre not getting what they have to offer. So, itās about trusting the partnership and really loving what you hear.
My rules for the way I choose collab now is it doesnāt matter how big somebody is or how small. Itās if I just like the song. Itās just such an easy way to pick. Iāve had people send me shit that are massive producers and DJs, and I just donāt vibe. It doesnāt sound good. I try to write something on it. Itās not working. I just go, āNo, man. Sorry, nothingās coming,ā but then somebody small, like I just did a collab with a local artist here named Movi. He sent me a track, and itās sick. Iām like, āCool, Iāll write on this. I love this.ā
So, I think that at this point in my career, Iām lucky enough to be able to let literally my taste guide me.
Of significant note:
I mean, Iām starting to maybe think about working on a sixth album. Thereās not a ton of artists who can say that. I am pretty proud of that.