Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lily Blu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lily, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on has been my upcoming EP, DuAEL. Being raised bi-culturally (and being a life path number 2, numerology lets go), I’ve grown up contemplating the concept of loss, opposites mirroring each other, discovery, and longing for things/people beyond my reach. Though having access to two cultures is a gift, this record is my journey in grieving the separation it entails (big ups to children of divorce whats up). One of the tracks on the record, “Breaking Glass”, gives voice to the indecision when faced with two options, for fear of losing what you don’t choose. In an another aspect of my grieving process, the title track, “DuAEL”, serves as a challenging voice that is triumphant in the embrace of all possibilities. In the end, I found consolation and truth in the thought that there are often signs of interconnection between things we find so separate, and that having two options for home doesn’t mean I have to choose between them.
So, this project has been meaningful in a thematic sense through the grieving and growth process it represents, but also in the technical production of it. Arranging music and producing for the first time has challenged me to be more confident in my ideas and to ask for what I want, even if it means going back on previous recordings/arrangements. I found a lot of inspiration in independent femme artists such as Saya Gray, FKA Twigs, Emilie Weibel, Björk and countless others who lead the way in fearless music production. Putting myself out there by reaching out to people I hadn’t worked with before allowed me to make new friendships and deepen my sense of community in New York, which I’ll forever be grateful for.

Lily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Creativity has always been my primary means of understanding my surroundings, whether that be through musical, visual or literary mediums. Growing up traveling between the U.S. and France to visit my Dad and Mom respectively, these mediums accompanied me and gave me a sense of home wherever I was. I find art-making to be a helpful tool in dealing with linguistic and cultural barriers, establishing an emotional grounds of exchange that doesn’t necessarily require the use of words. Music has also given me community all over the world, something I struggled with when I was younger. Claiming musical atmospheres as safe spaces made it easier for me to grow up in a different place, and even now, I appreciate the unfailing comfort that certain records bring me when I’m traveling, like a sense of familiarity that molds itself to any landscape I find myself in. The potential for transportation and familiarity is what I seek when I make music, and for listeners to claim it as their own companion, as I have.

This commitment to creativity led me to study Vocal Jazz performance and Psychology at the New School in New York, where I was lucky enough to meet my best friends and most of my musical collaborators, as well as mentors who inspired and shaped me greatly (Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Fay Victor, Richard Harper, and Emilie Weibel to name a few). One of my many memorable experiences from the program was participating in Amir Ziv’s Live Electronica Ensemble, in which I learned to perform fully-improvised electronic music and discovered pedals. To this day, I still rely on those improvisational forms and live vocal effects in my songwriting and performance. During my time in school I also released my first single, “Fog” with bassist Leon Sierra in 2021. Bringing this song to life in a professional studio with the tools to explore its world was an eye-opening experience, allowing me to realize the potential for world-building through music production. As I continued my studies at the New School and gained experience as a bandleader, I began to form a repertoire of original songs I’d perform at local venues, and an idea of the stories I wanted to share. When I graduated, I decided to record this music and capture this formative time in my life.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

When someone gives me feedback on my music, it feels very rewarding. It allows me to hear how someone else interprets it, which I think requires forming some kind of attachment to it, whether that be positive or negative. So, someone claiming the music as part of their own journey, is very humbling and, at the same time, something I take as a big compliment. It also allows me to reconsider the music through another lens, and the songs take a life of their own in that way.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

In France there is government-subsidization accessible to artists booking a certain amount of shows a year, among other forms of support. This, in my view, is helpful not only for the obvious reason that it gives the artist more time to fulfill their artistic potential, but it also signals to them that their work is valuable societally. This model has room to grow in terms of accessibility, but adopting, as a culture, the idea that artists produce valuable work and deserve our support would benefit everyone, both producers and consumers.
There is a long way to go– historically, society benefits from artistic production, and places certain artists on pedestals, while making it extremely difficult for all artists to feel included as valued participators. Beginning in youth with isolation within the family unit that values traditional ideas of labor, to the romanticization of social pariah-ism as fertile ground for creativity, and the acceptance of a life spent living check-to-check (while hardly achieving financial stability and healthcare without making, often, difficult professional compromises), until you “make it big” (financial precarity leading to situations of abuse from labels and business organizations meant to “support” artists); all of these norms lead to issues for young people with passion trying to define themselves in a labor schema built to punish creativity. This stigmatization can lead to lowered self-esteem and isolation, and— though great art can sometimes come from trying to cope with tough circumstances— it shouldn’t have to be the default environment for it. Growing up with societal systems in place signaling to its artists that they will be supported, if not financially then at least ideologically, would appease the unending sense of competition we experience and certainly aid in building a thriving creative ecosystem.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Pb3jik2uGwsrG4F1Sv82x?si=3qdYZO0oTG6JjBg3NpiS0A
• Instagram: @lilybblu

Image Credits

Banner picture by Wayne Francis
Stage shots by Laura Neves Penido
Studio shots by Kristina Kiseleva