SXSW: Interview with Lisa Light of The Lovemakers

Lisa Light and Scott Blonde of The Lovemakers

The Lovemakers – Lisa Light
SXSW shows: Mar. 20 @ The Wave (SFxSXSW showcase)

While many bands choose to stay up in San Francisco where the local music scene is more compact, this band has never let us down. Their frequent shows at The Blank Club are epic dance parties of sexual tension and gyrating pop tunes. “We always have so much fun in San Jose,” says Lovemakers singer Lisa Light. “People definitely know how to party down there. I think every town has a style of seeing a show, which can be capitalized upon in certain ways, so I think why we like playing there is people are really open to dancing and just kind of being a little bit rowdy.”


The Wave: So, what are you up to?
Lisa Light: Well, I’m lying in bed with my cat right now. I’m a little bit sick. No shows this week. We are leaving on a little short tour out to South by Southwest. We’re leaving on the 14th and we’re playing some California dates on the way out.

TW: Hope you feel better before that starts.
LL: I do too.

TW: Have y’all played SXSW before?
LL: Yeah. At least three times. It’s totally fun. I think the first time we went, before we were on Interscope, we were just kind of doing our own thing and crashed the town and played some college dorms. So that was our introduction, because we didn’t know what was going on or how it was supposed to work.

TW: Was that when Times of Romance was out?
LL: No, this was before that when we had our self-titled record out. It’s always just so hectic that it’s best to have no expectations except for parking trouble and to just try to have a good time.

TW: Do y’all have time to relax and wander around the town?
LL: Austin is different because it’s just like a big party and we have to be there for a few days, so there’s time to wander around. Touring in general there’s not really any time for anything because it’s just always in the car.

TW: Do you enjoy touring?
LL: It’s a band of fun versus hard work, a lot of boredom and driving. It’s just like its own class of living. I’m sure people have weird ideas about what it’s like. It’s 15 hours in a van, you get to live your life for 45 minutes each day, but those 45 minutes are what you’re there to do. It’s really cool to play every day and get into a groove of performing really well and being really comfortable on stage. But everything is always changing and the more you play in a row things just gel. And then of course there’s always weird sh** that happens that would never happen if you were just sitting at home.

[Eds. note: Due to space, and time, Ms. Light's long anecdote about playing a police officer's benefit concert deep in the Australian Outback was removed.]

TW: Let’s Be Friend is the new album. Is it still slated for a summer release date?
LL: I don’t know. We just got done mixing. We’re actually shopping it right now, meaning we’re looking for a label to put it out. So that’s what is pretty much happening now. Talking House is a production house, they are also a label, but to a lesser extent. It’s possible we could put our record out with Talking House, but we’re just exploring some options.

TW: Can you tell me about the sound?
LL: It is a lot of pop songs, as we do. If you were to play it side by side with Times of Romance I’d say it’s a little more rockin’ and a little more raw sounding, however, it’s similar, we have the same person mixing, Cliff Norell, so sonically it’s similar, and kind of how we always do a little bit of this, a little bit of that. There’s a few ballads as well. It’s kind of what you’d expect from us, lots of dancing numbers and weird off-the-cuff stuff.

TW: Y’all just played the Blank Club in February. You play there a lot and are kind of one of the few bands that still come down to San Jose and doesn’t forget about us down here.
LL: Well, we always have so much fun! There’s always a really good crowd down there. People definitely know how to party down there. I think every town has a style of seeing a show, which can be capitalized upon in certain ways, so I think why we like playing there is people are really open to dancing and just kind of being a little bit rowdy.