Indie Band Guru had the opportunity to speak to folk artist Lizzy V, a Netherlands-based singer-songwriter who seeks to spread happiness through her music. Watch and read below to hear how Lizzy V responds to her own music, goes through the songwriting process and gets inspired to write her joyful songs.
You’ve recently released your new single “Out of Time.” What was the inspiration behind that song?
Well, getting older is pretty much the inspiration. Everybody tends to say that getting older sucks, it’s a bad thing and “my bones are getting stiff and stuff,” but I was like, “Every phase in life has its own upsides and its downsides, and everybody tends to talk about the negative sides but not about the positive sides. So I was like it would be cool to have a lifeline in a song and just share that you should be happy to grow up instead of just staying where you are right now.
You have two singles out right now; the other one is called “Faces.” There is this constant theme of joy in your music, and is that purposeful? Is that just natural to you?
It’s pretty natural to me. Making music to me is like spreading happiness and making people happy, and because the world is such a sad place already– everybody is just so negative about everything and everybody’s scared; there’s always something bad happening. And I just want to have people smile again and have some enjoyment in life and listen to happy songs so they can feel good about themselves.
I couldn’t help but smile when I heard “Faces.” Do you find yourself smiling to your own songs a lot?
Actually I do, and I sing it alone in the car and just when I need a happy vibe. I just play it and sing along and then I’m like, “Yes.”
So when did you first get involved with music?
I sang from when I was two. When I could talk, I sang. I didn’t know that I could sing properly; I figured it out when I was eleven and I was doing musicals… People came up to me after the show and said, “That was really great.” It felt like being home being on stage. There was a competition for small kids, and I made it to the top 80 of the country and it was my first song I had ever written and my first experience with music at all.
You got to sing with Hunter Hayes, so how was that?
That was pretty much my only dream in music. I don’t really idolize people, but Hunter Hayes I secretly do. He was playing a show and I was like, “I’m gonna try to sing with him.” I wasn’t nervous at all – I expected myself to be super nervous and to break down crying – but I didn’t.
What’s next in the future for you?
Releasing many more singles and more video clips. I’ve been writing and doing a lot of studio stuff, We are going to do a trip for Stockholm for songwriting and doing shows there. Nashville is coming up too, and a lot of great stuff is going on. I live by the week now!
I have to ask, did you actually see a face in the crowd when writing “Faces?”
Well actually, what “Faces” is about to me is the first sentence: “Sometimes I feel so lonely while moving through a crowd.” That’s hard and deep and true, so it’s more about the social part of the song is what I relate to. But actually, yeah, I did. I was in a public transport, in a tram, and there was a super cute guy and we lost each other. But yeah, that stuff happens too.
Is there any underlying sentiment with you in these songs?
Yeah, I try to do that in every song that I do. First, share happy vibes and make everybody happy about anything. But if you listen super deeply to it, then I hope that somebody finds the deeper sentiment about it and finds some reality or something to think about. I think that’s really important.
