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Indie pop artist Lisa Crawley, who makes portraying vulnerability and songwriting seam effort list. Lisa has built a career as a multi instrumentalist and in demand session player and songwriter, spanning multiple continents, four Silver Scroll Award nominations and countless countless live performances. Lisa has a new EP that's just come out today called New Girl Syndrome and where a focused single. Call it a Night and Lisa Crawley joins me Now Lisa.
Today, Hi Tim, nice to see you.
Yes, we actually go back away because you're sort of ready for overnight success having been in this business for quite a while, haven't you ready?
Yeah? For ever an emerging artist?
No?
Yeah, how long ago was it? Should we even mention how long?
No?
Let's just leave it, keep it, keep it to ourselves.
They really need to go. No, you can go through Facebook and find those.
Really don't really want to encourage them to do that.
But nice to see you again.
Yeah, you tell me how do you like to describe yourself as an artist?
I would say that I am a singer songwriter that sort of falls into the indie pop world that's heavily influenced by retro music over the years and the instruments that have played. And yeah, I would say that I have reinvented my musical life a couple not life, but I've traveled with music and managed to do that my whole life. So and I am always striving to write a better song.
So is that the.
Secret to keeping going is that you've always got this You're always striving for something new. I guess the simple question is are things going as you planned it when you're first starting getting involved in writing your own music and performing?
In some ways, I in some ways things are not how I might have planned it. That translates to my whole life and not just music. Yeah, you know, we always have these ideas and my upbringing, I thought certain things that maybe didn't happen, But sometimes you have a
better result than what you thought might might happen. Yeah, I feel like there's different things I need to remind myself that hey, the younger, your younger self would have been thrilled to hear that you're playing at this place, and you know, surviving as a musician on the other side of the world in one of your favorite cities.
Because your CV and we work and the people you work with. It's the sort of stuff of dreams in a way. But I guess it also it's hard work, very hard work, really hard work. Do you think people realize that or not? You just have to sell the sort of dream and that's part of the buzz.
I don't think. I I think I'm pretty well. I like to perform.
I mean I love performing, and that's never changed. And the different environment there's always gonna be different environments even now, like in Los Angeles and playing such a variety of places. And I don't know if I'm selling an idea of a dream. I feel like I think people now appreciate more than ever the honesty of.
I mean follow I mean following the idea of a dream or something. And I don't know. It's just tons of way of asking a question.
But there's the dream of the music, then there's the hard slog and then moments in between you have these, you have the great times as well, have the.
Great times that sort of keep you going. Yeah, sometimes I have questioned if the we call it the slog is too much. But yeah, I think I'm in a place now, especially after the last five years of being in America. Moved a month for the pandemic, so I started over, and now I'm reminding myself that I'm performing in places that I really wanted to play when I.
First moved there, or before I moved there.
Yeah.
Yeah, but there's always something around the corner. You're like, oh, well, you know, funny I was doing this or that. But yeah, I had so many great moments and a great musical career overseason, and it's great to come back and play here as well.
What's the fun stuff? Because you're a solo artist, But do you how do you find collaborating?
Is that sort of.
Something you absolutely love or is it I'm going to put up.
With such and such now It's both and when I've really loved I've always liked collaborating. I went to Avondale College in west Auckland and I first joined my first band and when I was about fifteen there and that I wasn't the main I guess.
Main songwriter or singer.
I was a new addition to the band and that was my sort of my first taste of collaborating in a band setting. But from there, from traveling, I really found a lot of joy in doing my solo stuff. And then along the way there's been different bits and pieces, joining Rodney Fisher and being as playing keys for other
artists and whatnot. But yeah, I think that where I'm at now, there's a lot of collaboration that I'm involved in, but I'm also did the hard work in the last few years in America to really now refocus on my own stuff and trust my own songs.
What's the bread and butter for you?
Okay, so I'm on a I'm an alien over there. I'm on a visa where you have to work in music, so end up times nervous times, Yes, indeed, so well, my bread and butter is using the skill of knowing about three to four thousand songs and having people ask for that song on the spot and me having to be able to play it.
Seriously, Yeah, you can recall thousands of songs.
I'm not saying they're all going to be like.
You're not going to have exactly the right quarter.
It's over the year.
But so my bread and butter is, yeah, and I used to sort of be not embarrassed, but I was like, oh, this is you know, but it's such a great way to learn the songs and the craft of songwriting as well. So now I for work and I do call it work over there if I'm doing one of those gigs, so all requests from the audience.
That's that is an amazing memory. But I guess.
That it's not that lyrics. You know yet about the lyrics, So that's musically, I sort of have a really good memory for melodies. Lyrics sometimes a little harder, and sometimes i'm site reading and site singing a song on the spot to you know, a few hundred people that request a song, and so it's better we.
Say okay, good luck, Lisa. Good But that's just a job. That's yeah.
Kind of this piano piano bar world that's sort of taken me to some interesting places. And I also monitor how much I'm doing that so I don't can completely lose you know, creative motivation.
As you as well, And so what's the ultimate gig for you?
What's what's the stuff that gives you your joy in music?
I think my happiest more recently, my happiest day of night in la I've had was doing a launch for the last two singles I put out and having a band collaborate with me for that because I play. There's a lot of great singer songwriter showcases, but you know it's it's costly and you got to pay everyone. So I'm putting on my own launch makes me really happy. And I love writing songs to brief as well, whether it's for different TV or movie placements, and you pitch your song and I.
Like the challenge.
And I work online writing lyrics for people as well and stuff like that, so that.
All helps you are keeping yourself busy. What about this EP and actually that even the title new Girl Syndromes tell us about that.
Well, yeah, that's an a lyric in one of the songs, and that can stem from a conversation with my friend who also has.
Reinvented her life.
She's based herself in different places as well, and we're sort of talking about this sort of thing you go through, being the new person, and how it can be hard and also can be exciting, and also you know what happens when there's someone newer and there's something shinier comes along. And then living in la is a prime example of that,
but just knowing you're worth and sticking with that. And also, yeah, I have lived based myself and did Melbourne before moving to LA for five years, and just that kind of energy and also you know, in relationships there was something new and so it's kind of a combination of those things. And the name just kind of stuck into my head for some reason. And yeah, it's a lyric from the second track on the EP.
You're going to sing for us this morning, aren't you?
I would love to sing for you this morning, my favorite time to sing.
And we are with indie pop artist Lisa Crawley and Lisa what are you going to sing this morning?
Okay?
This song is called what You Can Do and it's the first single off the EP. I put it out a couple of weeks ago, and this one, I suppose was since my timing of moving to LA, which was a month before COVID And yeah, I didn't, I didn't have a Yeah, I actually full disclosure.
You got dropped off by a cruise.
Ship and I'll, you know, for to start my life there to get some startup money.
Wors Now, I didn't.
Yeah, And it was just a couple of weeks because they would pay for my flight, and I was like, okay, well I'll start my life in La January twenty twenty. And so then I was going, okay, well I came here to do this thing and now I'm only allowed to legally do this thing, So oh, well, what have I got going on for myself? That's not a song Like people always say, oh, that's who you are, but that's who you are, And so I suppose it was that.
I know a lot of people found that would have been different careers if they can't do their thing, Like who are they without their work? And what else do you have going for yourself? And sometimes it just kind of made me look inward because I was so isolated for you know, many of using.
You there and just going, oh what else do I like doing?
What else?
Who am I with that?
So that's kind of the best story, and yes, saying you you're more than what you can do.
So I missed the boat, I miss the train. I'm standing alone again, trying to be a friend to myself because I got a head thoughts run to the speed of light. I give myself right. Wish I could say good night when you're far away the clouds come out to play.
And now there's my saying it's raining.
Uh.
But you can only do so much.
Baby, You've got your work outfield.
And take a breath in fact, go and take to you. You want more than what you can do.
Longing to say no MP wanting to stay home in the wrong setting, forgetting why standing alone again?
Wish and lazzi and.
Of the show because you get me hind there's a party in your mind by her. You don't invite yourself child with someone else and you've been here before. Stop keeping score. Go play the game. No one's a played.
But you can only do so much.
Baby, you've got your work cut out. You got your work cut off, and take a breath in fact, go out and tact her.
You are more now what you can do.
The pedestal you put me on foul down. I'll keep my feet on the ground. But you can only do so much. Baby, you've got your work cut out for you, and take breath in fact, garb and text you you want more.
Than what you can do, and you can only do so much.
Baby, you've got your work cut out for. You got your work cut out for and take breath in fact, Garb and tact you you want more than what you can do.
Hey, Lisa, thank you so much for that. It's been so nice to see you again, but also just amazing to hear all the work you're doing. Good stuff, and tell us about where people can get hold of the Yeah.
So, I mean, if you want to support us indie artist, the best way to buy the EP is from band Camp, which is uh, you know, equivalent of a lot of streams by buying buying your EP on band camp for five bucks. It's Lisa Crawley dot band camp dot com. That's at least Crawley dot band camp dot com, and that's where you can support artists. Otherwise it'll be on all the streaming things like yeah, you know, until I press my vinyl which was in the works.
Good story, Okay, Hey Lisa, great to see you again and all the best soon.
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