What was life like for you before you got into music?
It’s hard to think of a time when I wasn’t involved in music in some form. I played instruments from the age of 6 (piano and then violin). I was in orchestra and choirs during High School. I’ve been a radio and club DJ, a music writer, and singing/songwriting is another string to my bow! As well as my marriage to a lead guitarist, Mike, who produces my records.
What’s the live music scene like in Auckland (New Zealand) right now? Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
Live music here is funny. I grew up around Sheffield before moving to Leeds, Manchester and London, so I have been spoiled by the quality of live music and venues in all of those cities. Manchester had such a unique mix of international and local artists and many ‘scenes’.
I lived and breathed music in those cities. For Auckland, it is a shame that many international artists fail to stop in NZ and just tour Australia (for cost reasons) and also that local acts are not getting opportunities for support slots for those that do come. Having said that, we have both spotted Lorde, The Beths, and Neil Finn around the city, which is evidence of what NZ has produced rock/pop-wise! There are several great local acts and I would shout out Fazerdaze, who is doing big things over here, Fables, Surf Friends and Greta O’Leary, the latter whom Lexytron played with at one of her very early shows!
It seems like being a social media curator has become added to the many jobs of a musician, how do you feel about this?
While music should be the focus in an artist’s life, social media can be very creative and fun in its own way. Having said that, I can see how it can be a pressure to create content all the time, to be seen and heard amongst all the noise, but on the other hand, it’s great that you can speak directly to your fans.
I opened a TikTok for this album, but it’s not really my thing. I like to focus on sharing my music, playlists and artistic endeavours but less about the minutiae of everyday life just because that would sap too much out of me! I’m OK with not having a viral moment! But I do love the passion behind those that dabble in this world!
How do you manage engagement on your socials?
I used to be better at it, but I took a long break in between albums because I didn’t have time (especially now as a working mum) or inspiration to create content, but I have had fun getting back on the horse. I manage all sides of my music myself – including my social media, so you guys can tell me how well I am managing!
What’s your view on the Music industry today?
The music industry has always been a tough industry from what I understand. From the outside, I can see the problems with it – streaming sites and record labels are not distributing the wealth to the creatives. If you’re a small and/or indie artist, you can’t make a sustainable living from streaming. It’s interesting that both Lily Allen and Kate Nash, once darlings of the NME and major label stars, are now finding it more profitable and/or necessary to support their art and touring by displaying their feet and bums!
What does that say about the music industry? I also think you have to a thick skin in an industry like that – it sounds like artists can either struggle to get signed and when they do, they are fighting to not be dropped, so I imagine that takes a toll on you mentally and physically.
Chappell Roan spoke about the labels needing to do more to protect artists, like offering them health insurance, so I imagine – like many other industries – there is work to do there! On the flip side, the cool thing about the music industry is that there is platform for creatives to share their music with the world and (love them or loathe them) streaming sites do support that.
I think it’s cool that anyone can make music now, in or out of the music industry, and upload it and be heard anywhere in the world at the same time! That’s what I do!
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
I’m not in the industry! I’m an independent artist and as I said earlier, I run all sides of ‘Lexytron’. I recorded this album in my home with my husband Mike producing it. The album is self-released and a passion project, but we’re passionate that it is a quality album with decent tunes on it! We hope people will give it a listen and hopefully enjoy it!
Whats the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
That you need to have and spend lots of money if you want to be successful in the music industry! It has been eye-opening this time around to see how many people want to make an unscrupulous buck off DIY musicians when you’re starting from a deficit having invested in making your art.
I’ve been approached by scam artists posing as journalists on social media and dancers who send AI-generated emails saying ‘Dear Great Artist, here’s my price list’, and I have been pretty appalled by it. I hope people are not getting fooled by them! And that’s just the promotional side of things – let alone the costs of touring, but that’s no new lesson for me. My husband was playing gigs for little to no money when he was in his previous band, but he loved doing it and was prepared to put his earnings into it.
What was your best experience on stage?
I played regularly at a bar in Greenwich with Marco Meloni, who mixed and mastered my first and second albums (Something Blue and Something New), and I had a violinist come and watch me. He got really into my song ‘Gypsy Blue’ from ‘Something Blue’, so the following week, I pulled him to the stage to play it with us, totally off the cuff. That song seems to bring out the best in people when you do it live as I had some Ukrainians stop by one week and they were wooping, clapping and joining in with the ‘la la la’ chorus even though they’d not heard it before.
What was your worst experience on stage?
At High School, I entered a talent show as a pianist and was so nervous my legs were literally bouncing up and down as I played. Apparently, I pulled it off, but it was never an easy thing for me to perform. I somehow just learned to care less with time!
Tell us something about you that you think people would be surprised about.
Mike loves Gabrielle and he’s not secretive about it, it was his first ever concert. And I have managed to tip my hat to Gabrielle on this album, so that’s one at least!
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
‘Something New’ is a bit like ‘Something Blue’, my first album, in the sense that I don’t stick to one ‘sound’ on this album, much like many of my favourite artists, but in my view, it is a more cohesive record.
I think these are good indie/rock/alternative/pop songs about the subjects we all want to talk about that deserve to be played and, in some cases, dissected. We’re also lucky to have nabbed Gwyn Owen, who is now part of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who plays trumpet and horns on two tracks (‘Disco Jenny’ and ‘Your Love’).
I have the talented vocals of jazz singer Letizia Cuofano, pop diva EVA and the lovely Elen Cowlishaw across four of the songs, as well as a bombastic bass from Stephen Lake, famous in the Southeast London indie scene for his swagger! It’s been a joy working with these friends and I’m grateful they came on board to support the project. I’m more interested in letting the music speak for itself and I know you guys are reviewing the album, so I look am interested in seeing your take on it!
What was the recording process like?
Fun! I would play the songs to Mike that I had written and leave an outline for him and then he’d call me in with his interpretation of how the song could work sonically and then we’d work on it together. I loved seeing what he had come up with because his influences (although broadly in the same genre of ‘rock’) are different, so he’d make something that might have sounded like Buddy Holly sound more like The Cure or QOTSA! He’s an excellent lead guitarist and I think that really shows in some of the solos!
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
I (Lexy) write the songs for Lexytron but on this album, there is one song that was written by Mike (‘Every Little Thing’) and one that we co-wrote (‘Disco Jenny’) and that was where I learned something because I wrote around Mike’s riff rather than just doing the melody, chords and lyrics all together, which is what I usually do. For me, this felt more like what professional songwriters do and it was an interactive process which arguably produced one of our best songs. I’d like to try write more like that in future.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
I wouldn’t because even though it is flawed, it is honest and is a snapshot in time like any memory. I could always re-work my vocals as they are always getting better the more you sing something – and now I get daily vocal practice in with singing for my young daughter, but having said that, I’m really happy with some of the kind things people have said about my voice on the album!
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Please listen to ‘Something New’. Give it one listen from end to end. The album is kind of like two halves with some sonic twists and turns and an electronic sheen. I’d love you to take away something from it even if you don’t listen to it again.
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