Behind the scenes - with Lxy - THE SINGERS CLUB

THE SINGERS CLUB: Interview with Lxy 02.11.21

Behind the scenes: Creating Snowflake

Today’s Guest: Lxy

Hey Lxy! Let’s go straight in…. So tell us… How does it feel to have your debut song out there officially? (wooohoooooooo!!! btw)

Thank you, that’s super kind. It actually feels exactly like that and I quote you ‘wooohoooooooo’. It took me quite a while for this decision, but in the end music is there to be shared and enjoyed together, so now it’s done, I released my first song into the wild and I’m really happy about that step and foremost thankful to all those wonderful people who were gently and understandingly giving me nudges and rooting for me to finally SHARE, the echos I have received were heartwarming.

How long have you been writing/ creating and song writing? Has this been lifelong for you?

I’ve been writing, some sort of journaling if you like, since I hit puberty and playing own stuff on the piano since around the same time – the ‘journals’ still exist, but most of the songs have gone into the unknown, since I never bothered to write them down or record them. The process of really creating songs (lyrics and music) started during the first Covid-related lockdown. Since then I’ve put myself to school, to learn what should be known as basics and I must say, it’s like a magic box, where I keep discovering and discovering.

No problem if you want to leave this totally open to listeners perception but; do you want to mention any background to ‘Snowflake’? Is there anything in particular you want the listener to feel or think of? And how did the overall mood come about, into fruition?

I love that you put it this way, I wouldn’t want the listener to be too restricted as to what I want the listener to feel, I think that would be wrong and anyways not doable. (But for starters you can tell me what your perception of it was, if you don’t mind – I’m very instrigued and I will keep it to myself)

I have tried to create an atmosphere, with a vibe to it, within which the listener can let his own vision to the song unfold. It’s a bit like reading a book, instead of watching the movie to it I guess, it’s another experience.

Now without getting too much into psychology – Snowflake itself, was first a poem by itself – about how someone views himself, about pain, about feeling undeserving of love because of how you perceive yourself, about childhood scars, loneliness, about how others view the same points of you from their perspective, so many things – so for me I read it in a quite metaphorical sense. After that, the music came along – in fact, in the middle of the night, after being visited by a friend who no longer is. I rolled out of bed, sat at the piano and the whole melody and chords came flying in with an astonishingly soothing ease. It’s as that overall sense of fragility, this inner part we should take care of because it is so fragile and irreplaceable.

I get a bit of a portisead vibe on the opening of the song? Did you have any sound influences when producing? Or… are there any bands you feel inspired by when it comes to production and sound?

For the overall mood and atmosphere, I consciously went to a lofi, trip-hop kind of direction and I was very lucky to have found a producer for that song, who perfectly understood what I was looking for.

I do listen to a lot of very different music, but for the coming into life of my own stuff, I don’t want to be limited by a genre within who’s boundaries I am allowed to move. I rather try to figure out what would best serve the mood and atmosphere of the song – that’s a very subjective part, but funnily, the vibe can be felt and it allows to connect through it, that’s very cool.

What’s been one of the hardest things about releasing a first song would you say?

I was the hardest nutshell to crack. It all starts from up here, right, it’s was all in my head and I was sabotaging myself – I tend to do that. And at some point, without really noticing it or actively pushing it, the switch had flipped and I wanted to share it. As said, connecting through a vibe is just such a nice feeling and the thought of vibing with others onto something very personal that I created makes me very happy.

Second hardest thing is all that work that goes into the distribution and since I’m absolutely not tech-savvy, this process was just very nerve wracking and definitely contributed and still contibues to many white hair on my head.

Lxy is a very cool name…. where did it come from.. any background story here?

Well thank you, happy to know you like it. There’s nothing deeply philosophical to it, it’s just that there are so many Alex’s out there, so I went for Lxy – in fact, some of my colleagues call me that way, out of the exact same reason. The missing ‘e’ was an active choice though, it’s the missing part when you keep you music to yourself – that sense of belonging.

Snowflake is absolutely gorgeous- do you think you’ll stick with this sound or can you give away anything on what listeners could expect next?

Thank you, that means very much to me, that you could connect to it – I can’t think about an adequat word to discribe that feeling. I think for the time being, I want to stick to that vibe and atmosphere creation and whatever sound or ‘genre’ will serve the song best and what I want to convey. So I’ll probably will be sticking to that instead of a specific sound. That said, I’m always up for discoveries and new things, all the those magical things the creation process has to offer, and many more.

Which is more important… music, chord progression or lyrics? (the age old question!ha)

Ha, the vibe, the atmosphere, that is created when all of these elements come together.

Are there any words of encouragement you’d give to someone just starting out with songwriting at the moment based on your experience over the last few years and getting to this point?

What I tell myself – just do it, work, enjoy every step, live every step, get stuck, get down and up again and tell yourself ‘ you did well’ for every little step, just do you and be confident that when you show your heart, a heart will see you, love, always.

Huge thankyou for speaking with us, we wish you the greatest success with snowflake and all musical things to come! Congratulations on a gorgeous release!

Thank you to you and all the listeners and readers and lovely hearts that had a space for Snowflake, please stay tuned, as there is more to come

Watch lyric video for snowflake here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1fLhSUrkhE

Listen on spotify: