Interview with INES#talent LILY ARBOR
gigmit: Hi Felicia & Lovisa! What are you two working on at the moment?
LILY ARBOR: We’re currently working on our debut album, which is due for release this year! So keep your eyes and ears open! We’re also longing to play live again so hopefully, you’ll see us on stage when that time comes soon.
How did you get into music?
We both loved to sing when we were children and that has never stopped. As we ended up in the same music class, our love for music naturally grew and it was so fun playing together, and that was that! We have an organic sound, inspired by the 70s folk scene as well as today’s folk/pop music, and harmonies often pervade our songs. We usually write our songs separately and then arrange them together later on.
Tell us about your musical inspirations.
Lately, we’ve been listening to artists such as Adrienne Lenker (Big Thief), Daniel Norgren, and Kate Bush, they have all been big sources of inspiration for our new songs. When we wrote our first EP ’Longing for the Sun’ we were very into the Lumineers, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, who we still admire.
What do you miss about in-person performances?
Put simply, everything! We miss the feeling of people looking at you, every sound they make, and also the silence from people’s intensive listening. We also miss the preparation and nervousness before going up on stage. There’s no other feeling like it!
What’s your view of the music industry today?
We think it’s really hard to get noticed today. You really need to stand out and work hard to get attention, because there is an abundance of music being released and streamed today. We prefer the old method, buying records in the store! But also, it’s great having access to music digitally, where you can listen whenever and wherever you want.
Do you face more difficulties because you are women?
We’ve experienced a music industry focused on men and it’s hard changing that. We want men to encourage women to play, invite them to your jam sessions and step back for just one second. It’s like men are afraid to lose their positions like we’re a threat? We’ve been asked several times “do you have a boyfriend or such to help you with the sound technology?”. We’ve been told not to drink before a gig, although the men could drink as much as they wanted to. We also had a photographer once who had edited our faces when we got the pictures back. He had deleted our wrinkles and folds. Men expect us to be ignorant, to behave well on stage, to sing pure, and to look nice. So please, just treat us as equals and let us do our thing!
Before you go, what advice would you give to an aspiring musician?
Get out there and play as much as you can! When people see you, they will talk about you and spread your name. Get yourself some good people around you to work with, it’s very challenging to do it all by yourself, we’re so glad to have each other. Also, use your social media to let everyone know that you exist!
Thanks for talking to us, LILY ARBOR! We look forward to listening to your new album upon its release!
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