Early Interviews

honeybadger · September 25, 2022

Pre-2008

September 22, 2006. WLSC Finalist Interview. LINK (Video)

Spoiler

It’s pretty exciting to have made it all the way to the finals. Uh, I hoped that I would, and I think we all agree that we wish it could last even longer cause we’ve had such a good time. Everybody’s been so much fun, everybody’s so good, so… it’s a nice thing to be here. I’ve met people who, uh, who know that music is the only thing that they wanna do with their lives, and that’s always reassuring to me. Cause I don’t have a backup plan.

It’s unusual. I think that kind of camaraderie is, um, well, that’s what can make you a good performer and that’s what can make performing a good time. And as far as other perks go, we’ll see, but I met one of the judges at my round and, and um, I think we’re gonna talk, and so, that should be good too, so yeah.

2008

Unknown (Pre-October 21st), 2008. "Lizzy Grant". Brea Tremblay, Index Magazine. LINK

Spoiler

I'm waiting at Alice's Tea Cup, a café on the Upper East Side, when Lizzy Grant saunters up. She's wearing skintight black pants, a vintage floral blouse and a red letterman’s jacket. Her bright blonde hair is piled on top of her head and her eyes are rimmed with sooty eyeliner. If we were in a movie, her entrance would be scored with a vamp, the bass line revving to announce the arrival of an enchanting young ingénue.

But since we're not in a film, she's scored her own entrance with her CD Kill Kill. Produced by David Kahne (Regina Spektor, Sublime, Paul McCartney), the music is lush and cinematic, with strings, Wurlitzers, and electric guitars, recalling 50s-era Americana both sonically and thematically. The mix is anchored by Lizzy's voice, which twists between a smoky gravel and a breathy Marilyn coo as she wails about the timeless ache of love in a modern world.

Her EP, also titled Kill Kill, is out October 21 with a full length LP due in February ‘09. Over coffee, we discussed her music, her trailer home, and Tiger Beat.

Brea: You describe your music as Hawaiian glam metal and surf noir. How did you come to those descriptions?
Lizzy: At first I didn't know why I liked the “Hawaiian and glam,” idea but as I started listening to more artists I like, it made sense. There was just something about the look of Hawaii and then I started thinking more about Elvis and I couldn't believe how many Hawaiian references there were in his work. And the glam came from an old boyfriend, who was very handsome. He said that his music was glam, so I copied him. And then I started to look at other glam-y artists and movies-- you know, like “Velvet Goldmine,” and I thought, this is what I've always wanted to do. I'm very into a drag queen world-- anything showy and gold.

Brea: And what about metal?
Lizzy: The same boyfriend taught me all about Van Halen and Poison, and he called them metal bands. As soon as I heard them, I thought, “these are my people!” And then it was all that I listened to, so... When I met with all the big record labels, they didn't like the term “metal” at all, because admittedly the music doesn't sound like metal. But, it is influenced by men who like metal.

Brea: And surf noir is the similar to the Elvis references?
Lizzy: Surf noir is one of those two word phrases that came together for me. I was listening to a lot of Beach Boys and watching a lot of movies and I just felt like what I wanted to be was something “surf noir.” But then I started searching for the words together, and there is a movement called surf noir, but it’s a style of cinema… I couldn't buy Surfnoir.com.

Brea: So the EP has three songs-- any plans to release a full CD?
Lizzy: Yes, when I recorded with Davey [David Kahne], we recorded 13 songs. So I was never expecting to release an EP, but when iTunes came to us, and became fervent supporters and said, “put out anything and we'll give you the artist's spotlight.” We decided, okay, we'll just put out an EP, which was released on October 21.

Brea: The instrumentation is very theatrical and I was wondering what sort of process you used in writing those parts. Was it collaborative?
Lizzy: Before we started, we spent three weeks with really thorough emails back and forth-- I really liked the sound I had and I wanted to make sure to keep it. I told Davey that I wanted to sound like black and white, and I wanted it to sound famous and like Coney Island and like a sad party. And he wrote back, “I can do that! I understand that perfectly.”

Brea: How do you feel about how it came out?
Lizzy: I am pleased. The funny thing is, if it was exactly the way I wanted, then I would say that I am completely pleased, but because it's different than I expected, I'll be pleased if many other people like it too. I feel like a shithead saying that...but I hope it gets some kind of recognition just so that I can move on and do some different things.

Brea: What type of things would you move on to?
Lizzy: I always expect that once I do something, I'm going be able to transition into this better life, like maybe move somewhere else or get to know more people. Ideally, I would like to move back to a little part of New Jersey or Coney Island and have people to work with on little projects like music videos, because I do much better in a box. Performing is really, really hard for me, so I would just like to have more people and more money to do more sexy projects.

Brea: Sexy projects!
Lizzy: Yes, I just want to have something to do all the time-- and it's easier to do when people think you're great.

Brea: Where do you see a record like this being played?
Lizzy: That's a good question. I was sure that I knew, but I've been wrong. For instance, I've been singing recently at private parties for young Wall Street, and not so young Wall Street, and I'm surprised that they like the music. I guess that's not really a demographic though is it?

Brea: A recently unemployed demographic, but...
Lizzy: [Laughs] And I started singing at places in my hometown like the American Legion, and the friends I have here-- biker guy transplants from small towns. So maybe them too?

Brea: I thought it was really interesting that you use a lot of very feminine cultural signifiers with references to Daddy figures and pinup styles. At the same time, it feels modern because the narrator of the songs is very clearly the one in control. Do I understand it correctly?
Lizzy: I think you do. I guess my songs started being songs that I liked when I stopped being nervous about the content. I do like singing about “Daddy” and “baby”-- “Daddy” being the man and me being the “girl.” I didn't know that that had been such a prevalent theme in the Fifties, but now that I’ve listened to more music from that era, I see that it is. And I’m very relieved, because I don't want it to seem like I have a complex! But it's something I can't get over. I want to have a life where there's just one man in it, and I haven't found that.

Brea: But then in the song “Gramma Blue Ribbon Sparkler,” it seems your grandma is telling you that there will be one guy, and you respond that you want to be “the whole world's girl.”
Lizzy: That's funny. I mean, that was the last song we recorded and I already had the choruses, and I got to write the verses while I was living in a trailer in New Jersey. The best part of it was the light rail that ran from the Park to Hoboken. I wrote the verses on that, back and forth, because that’s the best view of the city. I think that was one of my happiest times, and I think that makes for happiness in the verses. And I remember telling my grandma, “I wish I could meet someone.” And she said, “When I was young, we didn't have the chance or the choice to try and see a lot of people-- you had to meet a man and that was kind of it-- but don't be afraid to meet everybody.” And I thought, you're the first person in my family who's ever made me feel like it’s okay to want to try and find the right thing.

Brea: Were you living in a trailer when you were making the record?
Lizzy: Yes. And I know how that sounds. But the fact is that I always thought it was a dream. It was the first place that was mine. And the people-- it's a real community. People decorate their homes.

Brea: Speaking of embellishment, it seems like style is very important to you and you have a very cohesive package in music and your look.
Lizzy: Well, wanting to have a defined life and a defined world to live in has been a lifelong ambition and desire for me, but it has changed a lot. Which is fine.

Brea: Now, it's very retro-inspired but modern, similar to the music.
Lizzy: A lot of the songs on this record came about because I didn't have a lot of exposure to all things cool, but now that I do, I just realize that I fit in perfectly. So I plan on just gratefully incorporating more of it.

Brea: Sounds very organic.
Lizzy: Yes, though now that I have been exposed to more, it's getting harder. I don't want it to feel like I'm copying anyone.

Brea: Did you ever read Tiger Beat magazine?
Lizzy: Tiger Beat? Like Jonathan Taylor Thomas?

Brea: Exactly! They always do quizzes about things people like, so I thought it would be fun to give you a little Tiger Beat style test!

Lizzy: Cool! That's a big deal.

Brea: Three things you always have with you.
Lizzy: Three things I always have with me… [rummages around in her bag and pulls out items.] A sparkle notebook. Lip liner. Cayenne pepper.

Brea: Cayenne pepper! Why?
Lizzy: When I get nervous, I put Cayenne pepper on my lips. It calms me down.

Brea: Best pickup line ever used.
Lizzy: It was something like, “If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?” I didn't get it at first and I was like, well no, but that's very nice.

Brea: Most embarrassing song on my iPod or generic MP3 player.
Lizzy: I would say a self-help audio-book.

Brea: Favorite food.
Lizzy: Coffee. And pie.

Brea: If you could kiss any celebrity, who would it be?
Lizzy: Oh that's good. Antony. From Antony and the Johnsons.

Brea: Describe yourself in three words.
Lizzy: Confused. Floral. And ah, odd?

Brea: I was expecting Hawaiian glam metal.
Lizzy: Oh, that too!

November 7, 2008. "Lake Placid native Lizzy Grant is making a name for herself in NYC" / "What you see vs. what you get". Andy Bates, Lake Placid News / Adirondack Daily Enterprise. LINK

Spoiler

Lake Placid native Lizzy Grant is making a name for herself in New York City. Actually, she’s making two names for herself.

Take a name like Lizzy Grant, add a beautiful face and a platinum blonde head of hair, and you have the ingredients for the quintessential pop star.

But here's the hitch. While the Lake Placid native and burgeoning New York City scene performer may look the part of the pop star primed for a spot on stage with Simon Cowell and his "American Idol" cohorts, her look is the only thing that actually fits the mold - though she admits that route wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. "The thing is, in a way, I wish I could be like a Britney Spears. It would be easier to make music like that, and it's good music," Grant said in a recent interview with the Weekender, "but it's just not as fun."

Neither, apparently, is her name. For a while, Grant was operating under the pseudonym Lana Rey Del Mar because, she said, "I always wanted a different name, and some people said it would be good to come up with something in case I ever wanted to use it."

The fact is, both names work, but for different reasons. Lana Rey Del Mar seems to conjure the image of a glitzy 1950s Hollywood star or a smokey jazz club singer. Take a look at her music videos on YouTube, and you'll see how the name fits. With grainy and somewhat drab shots of Grant in various garb dancing and singing, spliced with old Hollywood cuts, the mood is akin to David Lynch's opening sequence in "Blue Velvet," where a seemingly wholesome and innocent facade is undercut with a sense of uneasiness. The name Lizzy Grant works similarly because it's so disarming in a way. Without a listen and only a look, the listener (or onlooker in the case of her videos or live shows) might expect a bubbly performance with a catchy synthesizer riff. Instead, you're treated to a lyrical sensibility and vocal delivery that seems to be simultaneously fragile and sultry, but direct, determined and well poised.

The name of her EP, "Kill Kill," released in October, only adds to the realization that what you see on the surface, and what you may expect, isn't what you're going to get. Grant's sound is at times spooky and on edge. At other times, it seems soft, mellow and sure. It's like being in a county fair funhouse.

Still, some reviewers may have missed the mark a bit in describing Grant and her music with words like "sinister" and "disturbing," especially since Grant said that wasn't necessarily her intent.

"I can't say I'm shocked, but I can't say that's what I was going for," she said. "Deep down, I consider them pretty standard love songs."

In fact, the title track off her EP was originally called "The Ocean," but upon showing it to a record producer, who lambasted the title as boring, Grant said she went home, crossed it out and, in a bit of frustration, wrote "Kill Kill" above the lyrics.

Nevertheless, at their core, there is a bit of ambiguity in her lyrics that lend themselves to interpretation, which is the hallmark of a good songwriter. If she's to be labeled anything, that would be a good start, and her latest release is evidence of that. The tracks on "Kill Kill" seem simple, but polished, and have a sort of carnival feel to them. While the EP is just a few tracks, it has just enough on it to keep the listener satisfied yet wanting more.

"I'm always waiting for a good song to come along, and it usually happens when I'm struck by something I see that I like," Grant said of her approach to songwriting. "If it's beautiful enough to me, the words and melody come pretty quickly."

For Grant, it's been a long, somewhat meandering journey from the streets of Lake Placid to a New Jersey trailer park and the bars and clubs of New York, but she's beginning to make a name for herself. On the heels of "Kill Kill," it's time to move ahead. "People keep telling me to just keep playing shows, but that only seems to work if you have people already watching you and following you," she said, which is where her online video posts seem to work best. Using those two mediums in tandem, she said, is something she plans to continue.

"At this rate, I can tell you I have no idea what the future holds," she said. "I guess I'll keep playing shows and making videos and, little by little, you hope more and more people get involved."

For more on Grant, visit www.lizzygrant.com.

November 23, 2008. Interview with Brea Tremblay. LINK (Video)

Spoiler

Full Transcription

L: Okay so the first place I should show you is Dixie's house... one of the most, uh... famous.. trailers. Yeah, the first one you see. And uh, he's always got his radio on, even at night, when you come in. He's got a little cat, too. So this is one of the most fun ...

Brea: Has there been a crime here recently?

L: Nope!
Brea: Okay, I was just curious, because there are police lines running across all over the trailer.
L: Oh geez, well maybe [?] I don't know.
Brea: He looks fine. Um, and when did you move here?
L: I moved here last October, and, um, I stayed here for about a year, and... it was really nice. Everybody was just so nice.
Brea: Lovely. And you wrote the record while you were here.
L: I did. I did!
Brea: And... do you feel like it influenced the writing on the record?
L: Yes!
Brea: Good...
L: I do, I do.
Brea: I- I know that the trailer park has a very special place in Americana.
L: It does, in Americana. And it does in my heart as well.
Brea: Excellent.
L: Yeah... careful of the car. Um, yeah, just because, you know, it's like, uh, to have... it's like... you can have your own place, and you have, like, a chance at your own life, and you... it's a big deal!
Brea: Absolutely. Um... did you know your neighbors?
L: I did!
Brea: Is there anybody around here we should [?]
L: Not yet!
Brea: Okay!
L: (to random guy) Hello!
Unknown: You like the car?
L: It's beautiful! Nice... I wonder [?]. I never met the girl who took over the trailer.
Brea: It's a surprise!
L: It is fun in the summer though because everybody has their garden... I had a garden.
Brea: Oh, what did you grow?
L: It was a fake flower garden!
Brea: That's nice. The Jersey special!
L: But we, but I grew blue hydrangeas. And ivy.
Brea: Aw! Love it. Love it. Now, forgive my stereotypes here, but anybody play Bon Jovi?
L: Not that I heard.
Brea: That's too bad.
L: This is it!
Brea: Yay!
L: This was it. Lot 22, the royal executive. [?]
Brea: I love it.
L: I wonder if the techno music's coming from there. Yes, so, it was really fun... it's kind of in a state of disarray, the patio, now, but we did have good like, little barbecues, and picnics, and I'm so happy you guys are here!
Brea: So did you have like, guitars, keyboards in there?
L: I had guitar. And, that was it. But I listened to a lot of music.
Brea: I noticed on your youtube channel that you have lots of videos of yourself with what seems to be put together atmosphere that I would say was this fabulous trailer. Is that true? Did you make those here?
L: Um... well I- yeah! Well, I made it on my computer while I was here. And... I like making the videos.
Brea: They're beautiful.
L: Thank you.
Brea: Wanna tell us about them? Like – what you’re going for?
L: I don’t know what I’m going for, but I do hope, one day, like, I can work with somebody who actually knows how to make videos. Like John Waters or David Lynch. I would like them to somehow be involved.
Brea: Right.
L: Yeah. How’s everything going?
Molly: Well… how was your … how did you decorate it?
L: (gasp) Well that was the best part. Look! There’s a kitty. [?] Um, I had tinsel, year-round–
Brea: As you should!
L: –one of the benefits of… yeah! And um, I had, I had, um, lots of like, big vases, and like, you know, fake aquariums, and pirate ship clocks, and sand shell pictures… hi kitty-kitty! And, um, it’s just, it was really fun. (to cat) This might be Martha. This might be Dixie’s Martha. But um, it was just fun because I uh, I moved in here pretty much when I started recording the record, and um, you know, we recorded that record for 3 months straight. And worked like, from 3 to 3 every day. And then I’d come home here, and I’d like, lay in bed all day and listen to the Beach Boys and drink pink lemonade… you know, [?] see David Kahne, good time.
Brea: That sounds great!
L: Yeah! Um… she likes you!
Brea: No.
L: [?] yes.
Brea: Anything else that you’d listen to?
L: Um, just the usual suspects. We had the Beach Boys, and The Flamingos.
Brea: And you talk some about metal. And that you like boys who like metal.
L: I do! I love boys– you hear that?
Brea: And we are in New Jersey.
L: We are, thank god!
Brea: So this is, this is sort of like, ground zero for boys who like metal.
L: Yeah, it’s pretty much why I came here. You know, it’s like a call. So here it is! Come find me. Um…
Brea: There any uh, romances in the trailer park?
L: Well, mmm, um, yeah. Well, not, like, from within [?]. But I guess it did enter into the trailer park. And I had some good friends, Bill and Jim, who’d come and pick me up and drive me around and find a new 7/11 to go explore. Um, but yeah.
Brea: A new 7/11 to go explore.
L: Yeah!
Brea: Is this… are they building lots? Like… what’s the story behind that?
L: Not really. But I like to get dressed up and just go find a 7/11 to buy something at.
Brea: As one does! What do you buy?
L: Slurpees!
Brea: Classic choice. Classic choice.
L: Classic choice. Right? Um… but, it’s just, I mean, it does kind of look different right now than it does…
Brea: When were you last here?
L: I was last here in August. Late August.
Brea: Okay. And then you moved to the city.
L: Yeah.
Brea: Okay. And, were there any neighbors, other than this one?
L: Yes, yes, um, they’re right here. (Points with foot)
Brea: Who are these people?
L: Well, we called each other a different name every time. But, Manuel.
Brea: Is that the, uh, the name of the day, or the actual name?
L: That’s the actual name. But … and then, um, the guy who has the red car, he always had the best fake flower garden, so I was in competition with him… but I never won.
Brea: Is that an actual Jersey muscle car that we’re looking at?
L: I like to think so! It’s not like, a real, well, yeah!
Brea: I feel like this is the Discovery Channel.
L: I wanted– it is the Discovery Channel! That’s true!
Brea: In their natural habitat! We see the Jersey muscle car.
L: It’s wonderful! It’s, like… yeah, I mean, I wanna get back here. That’s my ivy. Still there. Sorry guys.
Brea: Still looking just as fresh. So what does the inside of, like, one of these look like?
L: Well, every one is really different. But mine had um, like, shag brown carpet. And there was a bed, right there, and a couch, and then the kitchen, and a bathroom, and then another bedroom. So, there’s a lot of room.
Brea: It’s larger than my apartment in Manhattan.
L: Yeah, and probably cheaper too.
Brea: Yes, I would imagine so. How much do these things cost?
L: Mine was $525 a month.
Brea: Excellent.
L: Yeah.
Brea: This is, uh, [?] place.
L: Well, it’s fun, because when everybody’s out, you know, like, on their tricycles and stuff you feel like you’re a part of a community and–
Brea: Are these children on the tricycles?
L: Yeah yeah yeah.
Brea: I was like, if you’ve got adults on tricycles and it’s $525 a month, I am here. Sign me up!
L: We can go and do it together!
Brea: Yeah, there we go.
L: (to random person) Hello!
Unknown: Hi.
L: How are you! (standing silently) Sorry.
Brea: I was telling Molly earlier, I was looking at like, the police history?
L: Oh really?
Brea: To see if there were any like, dramatically cool crimes that happened here?
L: Oh geez.
Brea: I didn’t see anything. There was nothing that happened while you were here?
L: Yeah, no. And, I mean… no.
Brea: Okay. Well, it’s a little disappointing, but [...]
L: I think it’s different everywhere, but it was pretty, um, it’s pretty quiet here. Like, if I left, you know, I would have someone, like, they would know when you go and then they would, they would watch your place.
Brea: Oh, that’s great!
L: Yeah, I mean, there’s nothing to this, you know? The lock doesn’t even work. I mean like, look, there’s a chain on the gate. And that’s it. But–
Brea: So a family, sort of.
L: Yeah, yeah. I guess so.
Brea: And why did you decide to move out here?
L: I mean, it was, it was, uh, pretty… like I always knew I was gonna try and get here. To right about here.
Brea: Why, um, this particular part. Is there any meaning to it?
L: It’s the closest one, the closest trailer park to Manhattan. I mean, I think there is one, um, like, near… Liberty Harbor or something? But I couldn’t figure out how to get there.
Brea: And when we were coming on the train today, we saw that phenomenal view at the end. It’s amazing.
L: Oh my god! So that was, so that was, like, a big part of the inspiration for a lot of the songs – definitely for Blue Ribbon Sparkler Trailer Heaven. Um, just because, yeah, what a way to appreciate a city, right? It was pretty, wasn’t it?
Brea: A beautiful angle. You were saying that you wrote a lot of your lyrics there, right?
L: I wrote some of my lyrics here. I wrote half of my lyrics here, and half of them were already done. But, yeah. Definitely, like, the more upbeat ones were written here. Cause I was happy.
Brea: I can tell!
L: Yeah. It’s easier to write when I’m happy. Then everything comes really quickly.
Brea: Are you writing now?
L: Yeah. I don’t like much of it, but I keep writing still. Yeah.
Brea: Are there any other neighbors you’d like to show us?
L: Well, I wish Dixie was out, although, I– you were right about that police tape.
Brea: I didn’t know if it was part of, like, the permanent exhibit or something? Or…
L: Well, it didn’t strike me as odd, so maybe it is. I don’t know.
Brea: I’m sure Dixie is fine. Who’s living– you said you didn’t know who was living here now?
L: I don’t know… we could knock, we could see?
Brea: You want to?
Molly: Yeah!
L: (knocking) I see the padlock is on the… she coulda have very well, left or something. But, Martha said she’s very nice.
Brea: Who’s Martha?
L: Martha is the, um, landlady.
Brea: Oh! What’s Martha like?
L: Wonderful! I called Martha when I saw the listing and, um, she came and got me that day and brought me here. And I got it that day! She was so nice, and then she came back with me and moved all of my stuff out of my boyfriend’s house.
Brea: Now, was this a musician boyfriend?
L: Yes.
Brea: What did he introduce you to? How did he influence?
L: He influenced me in a big way. He was the one who got me closest to my sound before I started working with David Kahne. And he recorded my demos with me that I then took to David. He’s very smart. His name is Steven, Steven Mertens, Steven Saint. So, he came and saw this place. He liked it.
Brea: Great. And did David come out here?
L: No, but we talked about it a lot. And he liked the idea of it.
Molly: So why did you decide to move to Manhattan?
L: After- you mean after I lived here? Really, honestly, just because it got too expensive. Even though it was cheap. But I don’t really have another job other than singing at night, when I can. And, so, it was kind of a phenomena to ever even get my own place at all. But… yeah, so then I moved. And now I just kind of live with… everybody.
Brea: And did you record out here? Or in the city?
L: I recorded in the city. In David Kahne’s studio. On [?] street. And he is an angel. I love him.
Brea: How did you meet him?
L: We sent him demos, we sent him demos of a few songs. We sent them to a few producers and he was the first person to call us back. And then I went down and met him.
Brea: Had you heard his stuff before?
L: Yeah. I didn’t know it was his.
Brea: I think everyone’s probably heard his stuff, actually.
L: I think they probably have, cause he’s done some really good things. Yeah. Yeah, and then I met him and um, we started working together right away.
Brea: And you recorded for 3 months.
L: Yes. Which was definitely, like, a life in itself. And it was really good. And the record is good.
Brea: It is good, it’s wonderful!
L: Thank you!
Brea: And the full record is out in February.
L: Yeah.
Brea: Okay.
L: February… 14th. If all goes well.
Brea: That’s a good day for a record release!
L: Valentine- little, little love day.
Brea: Absolutely. There is, uh, there’s a lot of love on the record, too. It’s um, a lot of, trailer park romance, sort of…
L: There’s a lot of… I don’t know what it is. But it’s, I think it’s a good first record.
Brea: And not to, I don’t know if this is off topic or not, [?] to be distracted, but um, these are amazing eyelashes.
L: Thank you.
Brea: Tell me about these eyelashes.
L: I just… I can only say that I wouldn’t be without them.
Brea: I love them. They’re like, blue lined, or something? It’s phenomenal.
L: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Gracias.
Brea: And just to continue on the makeup theme, lip liner?
L: Always lip liner.
Brea: Is this a Jersey special? Just kidding
L: No… it’s an essential everyday.
Brea: This is true for everyone.
L: I think somebody asked me, if I was on a desert island… no, nevermind, I won’t even go there. But I have, I do always have lip liner.
Brea: The cayenne pepper and the lip liner.
L: Hey! Good memory!
Brea: I wrote it down!
L: (to Molly) Is that a flip?
Molly: Yeah.
L: I have a flip.
Molly: Yeah? They’re so great!
L: The thing about it though, is, um, I don’t know, I lost my wires to charge it, now, uh, it lies dead.
Molly: Mine has batteries.
L: Hmm…
Molly: Maybe there’s different models?
L: Yeah, mine is a little smaller.
Brea: That’s the first I’ve heard of it was today. Seems quite nifty.

December 3, 2008. Kill Kill EP Interview with Michael Mizrahi (speculation). LINK (Video)

Spoiler

ARCHIVE LINK: http://web.archive.org/web/20220722145210/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnr5kLQJ_VQ

Well, I made the record with David Kahne, who is a very good producer. And, um, it took us 3 months to make the record and we recorded it every night from, uh, 3 to 3 in the morning. I guess when I, like, when we were deciding whether or not we were gonna work with each other, I sent him a list. I said, can you make the record sound like a black and white movie? And a sad party? And can you make it sound famous? And so I thought, yeah. He’s the right guy.

So, I would say that the style of the record, we call it surf noir. I guess we wanted the record to be really visual so you would kind of see all the places that influenced it when you hear it.

I did use to live in a trailer park. And, it was very nice and everybody was very friendly, and, you know, I like trailers, and everybody in my family likes trailers too, and, um, it was in New Jersey, which I love, and I was living there when I was making the record. And I think it mainly influenced the record because I was happy, and I can only write when I’m happy. Like, I love the- I like the writing process. Just going to diners, and writing. And that’s the best part of it, and then, like, I like to work in a box. Like, I like to work in the studio, and I like to make my videos, my little music videos.

Yeah, I think so. I feel nostalgic. And I don’t even know what for. It just feels like home to me. And it just feels… I don’t know, like, it feels the most familiar.

Ideally, in the future, I would… be performing regularly, between Coney Island and Las Vegas. And working with people like David Lynch, or John Waters. So, that’s… that would be good.

2009

February 9, 2009. "Lizzy Grant, on songwriting, Surf Noir and magic". Michael Mizrahi, Knocks from the Underground. LINK

Spoiler

It was a full house in the back room of Arlene’s Grocery in the Lower East Side, packed with sixty or so people. Four other bands played on the snowy Tuesday night, sharing a bill titled “No Pulp Music” with an $8 cover.

If you were looking to bang your head and lose partial hearing due to high decibel guitar chords while you hallucinate on some good chemicals, this was not the show for you. At a Lizzy Grant performance, expect a Las Vegas show presence on stage with a flawless female vocalist turned up. She looks barely legal but sang like an experienced woman, both in her voice and lyrics. Lizzy, about 5’6” with platinum blonde hair, dressed in a red sequined tanktop and black pants with American flags painted on each of her fingernails. She banged out seven original songs, including “Queen of the Gas Station” and “Trash Magic,” mostly to do with meeting men, going to questionable places and having dysfunctional relationships. When I asked for her interpretation, she said, “They are all love songs.”

Lizzy was backed by a four-piece band, including drummer Doug Yowell (formerly with Duncan Sheik and Susanne Vega), Eric Paparazzi on keyboards (formerly with Cat Power), guitarist Julian Maylee and bassist Jeff Allen. The band has been playing together with Lizzy for the past six months, already demonstrating a very tight, rehearsed sound. Only months after releasing her first EP on Five Points, Lizzy Grant was voted iTunes top ten best new artists of the year. Her new CD, produced by David Kahne who previously produced impressive acts such as Sublime and Paul McCartnery, will be released in May 2009, to be followed by a 30-city tour.

Q & A

S. Where are you from?
LG. All over.
S. No, really.
LG. No really, all over. I’ve lived in Lake Placid, New York, Birmingham Alabama, Coney Island and New York.
S. Tell me about growing up? What was life like before coming to New York?
LG. Hmm. Growing up was just waiting to come to New York.
(Lizzy requested not to talk about her life before New York in any more than a general way. She did reveal she was bred and buttered in Lake Placid and sent to boarding school at 15 years old, never to return except to visit her mom, dad and little brother, who still live there.)
S. Okay, no questions about your life before New York. What’s your favorite color? Or do you prefer not to talk about it?
LG. I like blue. I like gold. (laughs)
S. You’re signed to Five Points records. How’d you get the record deal?
LG. I entered a song writing competition in Brooklyn, my first and almost only competition. And Van Wilson was a judge there.
S. Who’s Van Wilson?
LG. Van is the A & R guy for 5 Points Records. He was a judge on my night and he asked me to call him and so I called him right away.
S. What did you and Van talk about when you made that phone call?
LG. I was (pause). I felt desperate. I had a lot of questions. I didn’t know who to ask them to? I didn’t know what he did? I just knew he said he was in the music business and I didn’t ever know any one who said they were in the music ‘business’. So I thought, you know, when you find some one who’ll talk to you, you just ask them anything. So I asked him everything. I asked, do you think I can sing? Do you think I should sing? Do you think this is stupid, to want to be a singer and he said, for you no! Not for you. For most people I don’t think it’s a good life, but I think you can have an audience. I asked him, how do I do it? And he said you just play, just play and sing.
S. So you met the right guy and got the right phone number on the first shot.
LG. Yeah.
S. That’s pretty much the dream, isn’t it? I mean, I don’t know, but I hear there are a lot of creeps out there!? A lot of liars out there that might say they’re something they’re not…
LG. It’s true.
S. You only hear that in the movies.
LG. It’s true. I’m going to have to keep that moment in mind when things are hard.
S. Did you win the contest?
LG. I won my round. I didn’t win the whole thing. The song writing competition loved that for PR.
S. How do you characterize your music?
LG. Well, I say that it is in the genre ‘Surf Noir.’ One of the first producers I worked with, Steven Saint, learned a lot from Dick Dale (father of surf music, pre-Beach Boys) so the beginning of the sound was influenced by some sounds from Hawaii and surf guitars, so that’s where the surf comes from. And the noir comes from, I like old movies and I just listen to old music cause it’s good. Eh, it just sounds good!
S. What kind of music do you listen to? Who do you listen to?
LG. I like The Flamingos and I like Elvis. I feel like they are my contemporaries. They’re my friends. I like the Beach Boys.
S. Who’d you listen to today?
LG. I listened to Elvis and the Flamingos and myself. I like myself too. (laughs)
S. How many songs have you written?
LG. Oof, a hundred. A hundred good ones.
S. What would say to some one who wants to become a singer? I mean, your conditions are extraordinary.
LG. Yeah, yeah, it doesn’t usually work out like that. With that being said, I guess you gotta ask yourself are you good. Either you have to be some one who’s really good, or some one who can be better than any one else who’s around. Or if you think that music is something that you want to make a life at, well, you just do it! Just don’t stop.
S. Regrets?
LG. Probably. But all the cool people say they have no regrets.
S. What don’t you like about the music business?
LG. I’d like to feel like I knew what I was doing.
S. I hear you don’t have a manager right now? Can you talk about it?
LG. Yeah I can, I’m just not sure what to say. It would be fun to have some one who could snap his fingers and make things happen. Especially since we’ve had good magic with the project and it seems whenever some guy, some big wig gets involved then good things happen. I feel if I had a new manager I’d have some new projects going on. I got a little bored but I’m having fun making my own movies and writing.
S. Movies?
LG. I have little videos.
S. The youtube stuff. You make those?
LG. I do.
S. Tell me about one of your songs. Tell me about writing “Mermaid Motel.”
LG. I wrote “Mermaid Motel” because I was so happy. I was on such a roll. I wrote three smashing songs, in my opinion. I wrote “Queen of the Gas Station,” “Jump,” and “Put me in a Movie” in a week. And that’s how it happens. I have to wait so long, I never know how long, could be years (for inspiration), but I know exactly when I have a song, and it comes all at once. It doesn’t take long to write. It comes with the melody. It comes with the harmonies and I have to take as long as it takes that day, because then it does leave.
S. Anything else about your songs you want to talk about, anything that inspires you, or any story you want to tell about any of your songs?
LG. I don’t know, there are certain visuals that seem to keep coming up like things that are gold, Vegas or handsome guys or motorcycles.
S. You mean things that keep coming up in your songs? Is that where your head is at?
LG. I don’t know. It must be, ‘cause they reappear. …I don’t get tired of them (Laughs).

After the show, I spoke with Doug Yowell from the band. I asked what his thoughts were about Lizzy Grant’s career and he said, “Lizzy has the X factor.” He explained that her voice and her stage presence have a superstar quality to them already. He went on to say that she has trusted people around her, to guide her and prepare her for that “inevitable opportunity.”

Check out this talented and beautiful force of a singer/songwriter at her next New York show, February 17th at Pianos.

February 20, 2009. "Singer/Songwriter Lizzy Grant on Cheap Thrills, Elvis, The Flamingos, Trailer Parks, and Coney Island". Felicia C. Sullivan, Huffington Post. From February 5, 2009. LINK

Spoiler

New York City songstress Lizzy Grant makes her debut into the music world with a video for her single, "Kill Kill." Armed with her three-track EP, devastatingly retro-sexy look, and haunting, soulful voice, Grant is one to watch in 2009. Lizzy Grant is the kind of singer/songwriter that walks into your home and has no intentions of leaving. And just when you were about to draw an easy comparison to Cat Power, Billie Holiday, or Aimee Mann, Grant's voice pulls the proverbial rug right from under you.

Grant's music is impossibly original, her sound decidedly anti-genre: the songs on her splendid debut, Kill Kill offer an eclectic mix of jazz, pop, electronica, rock, blues and hopeful melancholy. Her videos are quirky, odd, magical and infatuated with Americana. And while scores of other artists attempt to craft pithy esoteric poetry, Grant's lyrics are wholly dark, elegant, and beautiful.

Where is the strangest place you've ever performed? Ever written a song?

LG: Strangest performance: Alone in a basement for a handsome record executive. Strangest ever written: Back at his office while I was making out with him.

I love that Coney Island figures so much on this album, indirectly or otherwise. You feel the evocation of a place in Brooklyn, New York that's at once a symbol of the beautiful and macabre. A place that has this magical boardwalk but also a ghoulish House of Horrors. A place that's real but isn't -- a place that symbolizes escape. Can you talk about why the amusement park was a touchstone of the new record?

LG: I like that, "...real but isn't." All the good stuff is real but isn't, myself included. Coney Island is a place people go to escape, but whatever you choose to be your reality is your reality. So, in a way it's just as real as anything else. I mainly let my imagination be my reality. Fantasy is my reality.

I never saw Coney Island when it had all its big attractions, but there was something desperate about the boardwalk, and I related. There was no end in sight to it, and there were people in bars you didn't know were there. Maybe the amusement park was the touchstone because I have such a history with cheap thrills. I like things that go fast, things with bright colors, things that taste good. At Coney Island, you can get a Coca Cola, ride the roller coaster, and watch everybody.

As an author I often tell people that I'm sometimes more influenced by a David Eggleston photo or a Nick Cave song as opposed to immersing in the work of other writers. In the end, I find my influences or inspirations where I can. If a song or image gets me where I want to go, I'm happy. So where do you find your influences and inspirations? Who or what affects the songs you write? The videos you produce?

LG: It seems to be that way for me too. Mark Ryden's pictures drive me crazy, and Vegas makes me shine. Daytona and the Jersey Shore just kill me. Yes. Even pictures of other performers do it for me. I knew Elvis' songs would be the soundtrack to my life as soon as I laid eyes on his photograph. I know when I love something as soon as I see it. Then, I write about it. Speaking of Elvis, it's unfair not to mention the Beach Boys and The Flamingos as my other constant companions.

My mood affects the songs and videos I make the most. Only when I'm in a good enough mood will I write about, and film, myself. I definitely won't get on camera when I'm not feeling hopeful.

What I love most about Kill Kill is my inability to easily classify it, to place it in any one genre. It's blues, but it's jazz, and it's also pop. "Yayo," for instance, is more haunting and melodic, while "Gramma" has more of pop feel. When writing these songs, were you conscious of your sound's direction? Of what form each song will take?

LG: Writing to me doesn't feel that much different from talking, and my new shrink says that I talk differently from most people he sees. Maybe that has something to do with why the songs sound unique. I knew how the songs felt to me, but I was surprised when they translated the right way to other people. It's the only thing I've ever done the right way.

My producer, David Kahne, and me got along very well because he knew that I lived in my songs, and so he just tried to make them better. He asked me in a letter what I wanted the record to sound like, and I said, "I want it to sound famous, like a sad party." He thought that was a wonderful idea, and we began working the next day. I like to think we're birds of a feather.

Many artists today are deliberate in the way their image is packaged and how their music is positioned. Their sound is neatly manufactured; one sometimes wonders if lyrics were written by committee. And then there are other artists -- renegades and risk-takers. Their sound is a hybrid of genres; their videos are odd, magical, unexpected -- a visual representation of the songs and stories in the artist's head. I dare say that I'd include you in the latter. Your music is organic and daring in the way that artists who try to find their story, work out their obsessions, and find themselves, often is. Have you considered yourself an artist who refuses to color in the lines? How important is it for one to be as unpackaged as possible?

LG: I guess I haven't colored in the lines of a corporate picture, but making up the rules for myself comes with just as many problems as following someone else's. It's not important to me to be unpackaged. If it looks like I don't know what I'm doing, it's because I don't. But, if someone came along with a better idea of how to do things, I would take it.

I think obsession is a good word to talk about. I live in my obsessions and then the music comes from there. Living that way and writing from that place doesn't make for a "color in the lines" mold. And yet, the songs and the videos and the image go together well because they all come from the same place. So, maybe I'm not deliberate about the packaging, but I am deliberate at trying to do things that I adore.

Would it be safe to say that the songs on Kill Kill tell the story of precocious, but strong-willed woman on display -- whose uncertain of herself and how unique she truly is - trapped in a dismal trailer park, and her dreams of escape, of being whisked away by the good, decent man she deserves?

LG: Well, I would say I do well on display. . . as long as I don't have to talk. So that part is true. But, no one has put me there. I know what I'm good at and what I'm not good at. I write about what I know, and I know about putting on a show.

I didn't feel trapped in a trailer park. I felt trapped before I got to the trailer park because I had nowhere to live. When I got my trailer, everyone there had the same taste as I did. We all liked giant, lush, fake flower gardens and liked to decorate the walls with streamers even if it wasn't our birthday. I couldn't have been happier there. Before that, I did dream of escaping. I always just figured it was gonna be a man who would take me away. I don't know if I deserve a good man, but I think about it sometimes.

Did you know that as with other Long Island barrier islands, Coney Island was virtually overrun with rabbits (which makes me think of children) in the 1600s- Coney Island's name was actually derived from the Dutch Conyne Eylandt, and rabbit hunting was common until the resorts were developed? And then in the 1800s it became a resort, a refuge from daytrippers wanting to escape Manhattan summers?

LG: I didn't know that! Saying that it reminds you of children reminds me of the story "Runaway Bunny." I love bunnies.

From American flags and classic cars in the "Kill Kill" to Calico Hills, Las Vegas, sparklers, Planet Hollywood and images of you as a flower child and Marilyn in "Yayo" -- your videos have such a wonderfully nostalgic, classic American feel. Even the way the videos are shot is retro -- at times you feel as if you're transported back to 1950s-1960s America. Can you talk a bit about how your videos are conceived and how it's a visual representation of the album?

LG: Vegas is a place that seems magical to me. I'm very swayed by how things look on the outside. Though I have been burned by what's on the inside of them so many times -- don't get me wrong, but I still have love for something that hits my eye right. A flag waving or a Pontiac Grandamn -- I didn't even have to know what those things stood for to know they were beautiful.

I once had a boyfriend who talked about all the reasons why he loved flags, Rock-and-Roll, and America. I didn't know much about all of that, but I did love him and I wanted to be just like him. So everything in the videos -- the Vegas pyramid, the brides' smile, the groom motioning "cheers" -- they're all different expressions of the happiness I had when I loved a man who loved me and America. Vegas and sparklers and the 50s are all things that are beautiful, and they're all a big part of my film world.

February 26, 2009. "Style Questionnaire: Lizzy Grant". Deirdre Sullivan (speculation), ideeli. LINK

Spoiler

Singer Lizzy Grant has been called the 'unofficial sweetheart of rock and roll' by the finest of hipster musicologists. Her latest triumph is her new EP titled Kill Kill available now on iTunes. The sound of the record defies genre, as Grant sings the narcotic blues in the David Kahne-designed world of electric flourishes and orchestral bangs. She recently took a moment out of her touring schedule to fill out our Style Questionnaire.

Name and where you are from: Lizzy Grant - from All Over.

Describe your style: Alabama Dark meets Dope and Diamonds. Lots of flowers in my hair and violets around my wrist. Gold Lamé.

Tell us about your music: It falls under the genre of surf noir. It feels like the 4th of July. It is influenced by Elvis, the Beach Boys, and Nirvana. The lyrics are inspired by true love and being born bad.

What do you find inspiring? Doing dangerous things. Making movies. Sparkling on stage at the Coney Island Grotto. Jesus, Daytona, Chandeliers, ex-heroin addicts (emphasis on EX!).

Top ten tunes on your play list: Click to listen. (Broken)

Most treasured item(s) in your closet: I love a black corset.

What item do you covet? Diamond Eyelashes.

Fashion heroes? Divine. David Bowie. Statue of Liberty. Britney Spears.

Favorite fashion period? The 50's or ancient Egypt.

What do you plan to wear this spring? Acrylic Nails - sporting American flags on each nail.

Famous Last Words: I do.

March 25, 2009. "Lake Placid's Grant knocking out first full-length album" / "Local girl cuts first album". Jon Hochschartner, Press-Republican. (Link not available)

Spoiler

LAKE PLACID — Lizzy Grant, a musician who grew up in Lake Placid, is hard at work on her first full-length album, "God Bless America," scheduled for release this summer.

The title was partly inspired by the late Kate Smith, an internationally famous area resident best known for her performance of the song of the same name.

Grant was signed to Five Points Records, an independent label based in New York City, less than two years ago after being discovered at a Brooklyn song-writing competition. At Five Points, Grant's output was produced by one of her musical heroes, David Kahne, who has produced artists ranging from Sublime to Paul McCartney.

"We sent the demos to five different producers, and (Kahne) got back to us that night. We spent three months straight just working together," Grant said. "You know the way you apply to Harvard, and that's your reach school? It's like getting into Harvard."

HUSKY VOCALS
Grant said the sound of her upcoming album will be similar to her three-song EP "Kill Kill," which was released last October and has since sold more than 6,000 copies. While she describes her catalog as "happy" and as "all love songs," her music so far has a sedately sad quality to it, dealing primarily with failed relationships. Her husky vocals and retro beats could appeal to fans of Cat Power and Amy Winehouse.

Even at an early age, growing up in the Adirondacks, Grant was interested in music. "I was singing when I was really little. I didn't think I would be able to do music, but I wanted to. We didn't know anybody who actually had a career as an entertainer, so that seemed out of the question."

She credits St. Agnes Church of Lake Placid in helping push her toward music. Peggy Malone, a retired parish director of religious education, was not surprised that Grant ended up in the music business. "She led the music at First Communion, and I guess she was 7 or 8 years old. (Her voice) was like an angel; she was uninhibited," Malone said. "I always kidded her, 'Don't forget where you got your start. So when you go for your Grammy Award, make sure I'm in the audience.' It was a running joke from when she was just a little girl."

While Grant is nervous playing live, she hopes to return to play in the local area soon. "So many people in the Adirondacks did so much for me," she said. "Where I grew up was such a small place, and it was so beautiful. No matter where I go, I always know I'll come back there. I have a standard to live up to — there are people I come home to, and I want to make them proud."

April 20, 2009. Sarah Grant, Blurt Magazine.

Spoiler

I’m in the process of a name change,” Lizzie Grant whispers. The transformation from New York City bar star to glamour girl “Lana Del Rey” has not been easy for the New Jersey native, who grew up looping around The Cyclone and idolizing Elvis like a teenager in the 1950s.

Del Rey’s October-bound album has been in the works for over a year-and-a-half, which has given her a chance to experiment with the sound that works for her voice. On “Yayo” she drags her airy vocals up and down the minor scale, while slinking around in bed sheets, looking remarkably like one of her fashion icons, the doe-eyed Tuesday Weld. A more recent recording, “Hundred Dollar Bill,” has her sounding like a retro Gwen Stefani, singing deadpan against a thick hip-hop beat.

When the saucy Lana Del Rey reverts back to Lizzie Grant, she admits to owning an embarrassing amount of self-help books. “It’s gotten to the point where I can’t hide it anymore!” Grant giggles. She is also hesitant to call herself a “blonde bombshell”, despite all her Harlow-esque come-ons. “One time I dyed my hair brown,” she said, “but I got in some trouble for that.”

August 26, 2009. Keds Collective. LINK

Spoiler

https://vimeo.com/264269953

I’m Lana Del Rey, and I’m a singer.

And I just write about what I know. Francis Ford Coppola, he said if you sit down to write at the same time every day, then the muse knows where you are. So I do that too.

I just wanna do something that I can be the best at.

2010

January 28, 2010. "Lizzy Grant aka. Lana Del Ray releases album". Jessica Collier, Adirondack Daily Enterprise. LINK

Spoiler

When she was growing up in Lake Placid, Lizzy Grant used to perform in choirs and school plays at St. Agnes and Lake Placid Middle/High School, and though she was still young, audiences could see she had the potential for a future in music. "Even then you could tell that she had a very different and powerful sound, because she could mesmerize the entire audience even when she was little girl," said father Rob Grant.

Now 24 years old, Lizzy Grant is on her way. Earlier this month, she released her first professionally produced album, "Kill Kill," under the stage name Lana Del Ray on the label Five Points Records, and it is now available for purchase on iTunes and other Web sites.

Lizzy recorded the album with producer David Kahne, who has worked with well-known musicians from Paul McCartney, Cher and Bruce Springsteen to No Doubt, Guster and Matisyahu.

"He produced most of the major music groups that have come out of the last couple of decades, so she was very fortunate to get a producer of that world-class caliber," Rob said.

When she was recording, Lizzy even got to meet Paul McCartney. McCartney came with his son, James, to start working with Kahne on an album of his, and Lizzy decided she wanted to meet them. She knocked on the door, saw McCartney and waved to him. "David's like, 'Oh my God,'" Lizzy said. "Paul didn't care."

Lizzy said she saw a toy piano that made what she called a "sparkly jewelry box sound" and said she wanted to use it for her album, but Kahne said she couldn't since it was already on McCartney's. When she made a face, McCartney tried to comfort her. "He said, 'Don't pout, Lizzy, don't pout,'" Lizzy said. "'You'll find another instrument.'"

Grant said she worked with Kahne every day for about three months recording the 13-track album. "We were pretty obsessive about it," she said. Lizzy said she liked that Kahne quickly understood her vision. She told him she wanted the album to be cinematic. She was also hoping it would reflect her affection for nostalgic things like Coney Island and black and white movies. "He kind of got my whole vibe right away," she said.

That nostalgia, which often has an eerie tinge to it, is a big part of her vibe. The music videos she has posted on YouTube and MySpace are shot in the style of the '50s and '60s and include plenty of B-roll from that era. The promotional photographs she posts on her Web sites and provides to the media highlight her platinum-blonde hair and mod-style makeup and feature washed out colors reminiscent of earlier decades. Much of the nostalgia is heavy on Americana themes, including images of surfing, carnivals and Lizzy dressed as Marilyn Monroe or wearing an American flag and a military ball cap with U.S.A. embroidered on it.

Lizzy's music is difficult to place. Her heady, jazzy voice often sounds like a '50s nightclub singer, and the music at times is highlighted by heavy burlesque-style drumming and cascading wurlitzers. There is also a modern element to much of it, though. Some songs verge on electronic beats, and her vocals sometimes slide into whispers and minor chords reminiscent of Courtney Love or Fiona Apple. Grant's MySpace page describes her music as glam/surf/Hawaiian.

"It's been described as a very smoky and provocative kind of voice," her father said. "It kind of catches you off guard. It's not predictable."

The album has been getting some attention, including a review on the Huffington Post Web site and a two-page Q&A in Index Magazine.

"I'm glad I'm singing," Lizzy said. "I don't really know what else I would do."

She plays the guitar and the wurlitzer, but prefers to stick to singing when she's performing a concert because her hands get too nervous. She said she likes to have video of 1950s Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra and similar images to project onto the backdrop so the audience watches that instead of her. Her venues vary from ballrooms to burlesque clubs to private parties. She said she doesn't have a single type of costume when she plays a show. She'll vary from going all-out glam to wearing cutoff jean shorts and a white t-shirt.

"If I know it's mostly business people, I will specifically dress down just because I know that it makes the whole show more weird," Lizzy said.

She writes all her own music, and she said her lyrics tend to be a reflection on actual incidents in her life. "There will be two true verses, then I'll make up the third; just rhyme it out," Grant said. One of the most catchy songs on "Kill Kill," "Gramma (Blue Ribbon Sparkler Trailer Heaven)," is about a conversation she had with her grandmother, Cynthia Grant, who lives in Lake Placid.

Her father, who has a history in advertising and has been helping his daughter market her album, said it's very exciting to live vicariously through her. "It's a girl from an upstate New York town who may be on the verge of something great,' he said.

June 15, 2010. "Lana Del Rey: On Her Past, Present & Future…" Steve Bateman, REPEAT Fanzine. LINK

Spoiler

“You might recognise Lana Del Rey already... perhaps from an old movie somewhere, but look closer and you might not. Lana Del Rey is a young singer weaving cinematic dark pop for the 21st Century – music wrapped in smoky, sultry and glamorous overtones. Born in the rural town of Lake Placid, New York, Lana then relocated to a series of places: Alabama, New Jersey and New York City, but now spends most of her time in London. No matter where in the world Lana is, her love of film noir, Italian landscapes, big churches, roller coasters and the memory of faded stars like Bette Davis, Kurt Cobain, Nina Simone and Elvis are the chorus line for her music, and her love of New York is her heartbeat.” OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

“Lizzy Grant’s lyrical connotations are at once sexy and sinister, while her vocal delivery carries a slinky, determined innocence straight from the trailer park, supported by throwback grooves evocative of Nancy Sinatra, with a jazz attitude. Her visual messages are dangerously alluring. You won’t be able to leave her songs without assigning your own personal meaning.” THE SMUDGE

Hawaiian, glam and surf noir, are just a few of the labels that Lana Del Rey (real name Lizzy Grant) has used to encapsulate her delectable, hypnotising and nostalgic songs, that are impeccable in both composition and performance! Called the “unofficial sweetheart of rock and roll” by one journalist, in late 2008 she released her debut EP, Kill Kill, followed by her self-titled debut LP in February 2009 on the NYC based label, 5 Points Records, exclusively through iTunes in the USA – both of which were produced by David Kahne (Paul McCartney, The Strokes, Regina Spektor). And with music, vocals and lyrics that are a match made in heaven, the record sounds “black and white, famous, like Coney Island and like a sad party,” as Lana poetically put it.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, when quizzed about her infatuation with Coney Island, Lana – who at one time lived in a New Jersey trailer park – replied: “All the good stuff is real but isn’t, myself included. Coney Island is a place people go to escape, but whatever you choose to be your reality is your reality. So, in a way it’s just as real as anything else. I mainly let my imagination be my reality. Fantasy is my reality. I never saw Coney Island when it had all its big attractions, but there was something desperate about the boardwalk, and I related. There was no end in sight to it, and there were people in bars you didn’t know were there. Maybe the amusement park was the touchstone because I have such a history with cheap thrills. I like things that go fast, things with bright colors, things that taste good. At Coney Island, you can get a Coca-Cola, ride the roller coaster and watch everybody.”

For music fans who may not yet know much about you, could you give us some background information on your musical past / tell us about when your love of music first began?
“Well, I was the cantor in my church choir when I was younger and I was in choirs all throughout highschool. I didn't listen to much popular music when I grew up but I did watch a lot of movies, and I was always writing music. When I got into highschool I listened to a lot of rap and techno and eventually found different types of music that I loved like elvis and van halen. My teacher in highschool Mr. Campbell, taught me who all the greats were in every genre and eventually I came to know what good music was.”

Was it a conscious decision to be a solo artist, and where does your stage name Lana Del Rey come from / why did you choose to use this instead of your real name?
“No. I wanted to be a band but the label I was with and the team I had around me absolutely wanted me to be a solo artist. Lana Del Rey came from a series of managers and lawyers over the last 5 years who wanted a name that they thought better fit the sound of the music. My music was always kind of cinematic so they wanted a name that reflected the glamour of the sound.”

Turning old-school for a moment, if you were to make a Mixtape for me, including one of your own songs, what would you put on there + title the compilation?
“It would be called 'Sex on Ice' and I'd probably put Gangsters Paradise on there…

2. Flamingos 'I Only Have Eyes For You'
3. Britney Spears 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'
4. The Godfather Theme
5. Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra 'Some Velvet Morning'
6. Lana Del Rey 'Hey Lolita Hey'
7. Scarface Theme
8. Ennio Morricone 'Once Upon A Time In The West'
9. Mickey Avalon 'So Rich So Pretty'”

Why do you think you are so drawn to vintage ‘50s / ‘60s America?
“I don't know if I'm drawn to 50s music, but I'm drawn to the quality of the recordings just as I'm drawn to the quality of the way movies were filmed in that era. There's a feeling of lasting integrity and beauty in most of the 50s music, but I suppose what mostly draws me to that musical era is that there were good singers. Today, anyone can be a singer, but back then, you had to have something special, a shining personality, whether it be good or bad.”

At the moment, you’re currently based in London, when and why did you decide to relocate here?
“I relocated to London because there were a lot of writers and producers who wanted to work with me. I've written in L.A. and New York, but because what I'm doing is darker and more classic then most American Pop, London is the right place for me to be. They don't expect me to dumb anything down here. They're all about the smart.”

When did you first realise that you had such a special voice / how do you take care of it, and is it important to you to keep pushing yourself vocally?
“Vocally I never did anything to take care of myself. I'm on the run, I'm always screaming and I eat tons of chocolate and milk, so I shouldn't be able to sing the way I do. Thanks for saying I have SUCH a special voice.”

What was the first instrument that you ever owned, and is there anything that you always play when trying-out a new instrument before buying it, or any chords that never fail to fill you with inspiration?
“Other than a kazoo I guess the first instrument was a guitar. If I'm looking at a new guitar to buy, I just play one of my songs I've written. But I'm shitty at the guitar so I don't find that much I can do that inspires me musically. I'd rather have Frank try it out for me and play a Van Halen Riff or something.”

Do you adhere to any rules when writing and recording, in terms of how a track will sound musically, melodically or rhythmically + is there anyone whose opinions on your songs you value greatly?
“Um, I go back and forth sometimes, I'm like Maria Callas, and sometimes I'm like Bob Dylan. Dylan is a 3 take man. I can usually do exactly what I wanna in 3 takes. But sometimes I like to take a long time and piece a lot of different takes together like Maria, especially if I'm working in some kind of operatic bridge.”

If you could ask a musical hero anything, who would it be and what would you ask them?
“I would ask Elvis if he would kiss me.”

Does writing lyrics come naturally to you and is there much revision involved or do you trust your initial instinct + can you tell us about your homemade videos, as for me, visually and thematically, they seem to have been sparked off from your lyrics?
“Yeah writing comes naturally to me, I spend most of my time writing and lately I edit everything because I'm working with so many writers. But my first record, even though it took years to write, was very instinctual. Yes indeed I can tell you about my homemade videos, writing songs first ~ movies next, but the songs first come from memories I have. So then I go online and try to find footage that is the equivalent to my life experience. It's usually super 8 footage that you can tell means a lot to whoever it belongs to. I like to take it, make it mine and mix it with footage from my own actual past. I love making movies, it's my passion. I like it as much as I like singing. The editing is the part that makes the movie special, the timing of the scene changes and use of brief flashes of light or scenery.”

As you like metal and because your songs are much softer than this musical genre, from all of the artists / bands that you admire, what are some of your favourite noisy and gentle tracks?
“Um, well Nirvana is my first love. I was in love with kurt and the band as soon as I heard them. In terms of softer songs I like, the flamingos, a beautiful doo wop band who sounds like heaven.”

You’re currently in the studio working on your new album, so will this be a continuation or an evolution from your debut long player?
“Well at this point, I've written so many songs that I don't know if I'm regressing or evolving. But I do the same thing I've always done ~ I write about what I know and I try and find the most beautiful melodies I can.”

I read that you “live in your songs,” so what does it mean to you to play your songs live and have there been many memorable shows for you to date?
“I do live in my songs, and so I love singing them at shows or at home alone. The shows all just blend into the rest of my life since I sing all day long. But they are always memorable since I have so many weird and sexy people who come to say hello. It's always a freak show and I enjoy every show.”

If you had to go shopping for someone and buy a record, a book and a film – what would they be and why?
“I would buy the same things for anyone. I think everyone should have the book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. The movie "Don't Look Back" by D.A. Pennebaker, and for a record, I would get "Agnus Dei" composed by Samuel Barbe.”

Lastly, chips or cream buns?
“I would truthfully do both. I'm an American girl and I'm the junk food queen. I still have a banana split almost every morning and I have french fries for dinner. I have the same tastes that I did when I was a little girl.”

A very special thanks to Lana and to Ben @ SSB, for all of their time and help.

Unknown Date (~2010). Daft Dog Productions, London. LINK (Video)

Spoiler

(Intro: Dangerous Girl)

Welcome to the Big-Dog Diary Room. What is your name?

I'm Lana Del Rey.

Occupation?

I am a singer and B-movie actress.

Where do you live?

I live in New York City, in Greenwich Village.

Are you signed to a company?

I have management and I have a lawyer here in London, so I'm working with Ben Mawson and Ed Millett and we're looking for a new deal.

What have you been doing in Daft Dog?

At Daft Dog we have been working on a song about an all-American relationship gone wrong. Is that too vague?

Future plans?

Have fun, have fun, have fun. Do good things.

What is your favorite food?
When I eat, I eat a lot of junk food, but usually I just drink a lot of coffee and do my lemonade-maple syrup diet. That's pretty much it.

honeybadger · September 26, 2022

calling my lizzy grant historians for help in case i'm missing anything (i definitely am but my head hurts)

baddisease · September 26, 2022

I wonder if there's anyone (not journalists) who has followed her from her AKA days.

Surf Noir · September 26, 2022

OH MY GOD!!! this is amazing!!! :crying:

you probably are missing some

hint: type in lizzy grant like this: “lizzy grant” and filter the search by the dates, such as jan. 1st 2007 - dec. 31st 2010 and you may be able to find old interviews that way

also check out the tumblr account lizzygrant4ever i know they posted some interviews there

also, this is really specific but i remember finding an interview on a website where somebody asked her what she would ask elvis if she could ask him anything and she replied with “i would ask him if he would kiss me” idk if that’s here lol but yeah!

sparklrtrailrheaven · September 26, 2022

You’re my personal savior :icant: this is so great to have, thank you legend!!!

Surf Noir · September 26, 2022

i’m gonna read through these, and make a list of all of the interesting information that i find, perhaps it could be added to the original post if you’d like?

honeybadger · September 26, 2022

10 minutes ago, Surf Noir said:

also, this is really specific but i remember finding an interview on a website where somebody asked her what she would ask elvis if she could ask him anything and she replied with “i would ask him if he would kiss me” idk if that’s here lol but yeah!

yes, that's the repeat fanzine one! also the one with the "sex on ice" mixtape and her talking about how all she does is eat banana splits and french fries and drink chocolate milk, extremely iconic <3

i actually had a question related to that interview as well (idk if anyone can answer it). there's this quote at the beginning but i can't find anything concrete about it and whether or not it's an actual separate article. if anyone knows where it's from i would love to know!

3 hours ago, honeybadger said:

“Lizzy Grant’s lyrical connotations are at once sexy and sinister, while her vocal delivery carries a slinky, determined innocence straight from the trailer park, supported by throwback grooves evocative of Nancy Sinatra, with a jazz attitude. Her visual messages are dangerously alluring. You won’t be able to leave her songs without assigning your own personal meaning.” THE SMUDGE

Surf Noir · September 26, 2022

5 minutes ago, Surf Noir said:

i’m gonna read through these, and make a list of all of the interesting information that i find, perhaps it could be added to the original post if you’d like?

actually maybe i’ll do this some other time because that’s going to take me all night :defeated: still about to read ALL of these :trisha: also that deirdre sullivan interview is so scary & iconic, i want to be her

Venice Peach · September 26, 2022

24 minutes ago, baddisease said:

I wonder if there's anyone (not journalists) who has followed her from her AKA days.

I knew a guy that actually bought (or at least listened to) AKA when it was released cause he saw the cover and loved it and was a fan ever since :hide:

It has to be so crazy to discover a random unknown singer through iTunes and a year later she becomes huge. I feel like now in the streaming era we have access to way more music and artists so it wouldn't feel that exciting :um2: