Lights Camera Action

In 2006, Lights (aka Valerie Poxleitner) began her professional music career by composing songs for the TV series, Instant Star. Four years later, she has matured into a versatile and accomplished artist. In a recent phone interview, Lights talked to Youthink about the success of her debut record, her first reality TV appearance and her charity work with World Vision.

YT: How’s your current tour been going so far?
L: Amazing. It’s been really good – better than expected, you know? The first show, which was in Thunder Bay, was amazing. It normally takes one or two days to get used to being on the road. The first couple of days are normally pretty rocky, but it’s been fantastic.

YT: It’s been over a year now since you released The Listening. How has your career changed since then?
L: Actually, I was just thinking about that. It’s quite crazy, I mean, it’s hard for me to notice because we’ve been working and touring pretty much non-stop since it came out. But now I’m starting to realize the change with all the crowds who seem so excited and know all the words. On this tour, especially with the Canadian dates, we’ve been doing a lot of the same venues that we did exactly a year ago opening for Keane. So it’s kind of cool to know that in a year’s time, you could be headlining at venues where you used to open at. It feels pretty good. It just makes me so, so happy to know that this is going somewhere.

YT: I understand that you produced the majority of The Listening yourself. Do you think that sort of creative control sets you apart from other musicians?
L: I definitely couldn’t do it any other way. I mean, I co-produced it because one of the things I’m not good at is getting the quality of the sound that I’m looking for. In that way, I definitely can’t take all the credit for it. But, I mean, I think that it’s just the way I am. I gave them an idea for the way it should sound and I don’t think there’s any reason why I shouldn’t. So yeah, I definitely contribute my ideas. I think some people don’t because they don’t have any ideas. But for me, I do. My ideas are part of who I am so I think it’s important to make sure that they come across.

YT: Normally when you write a song, what kind of sources do you draw inspiration from? Any unusual or unconventional sources, maybe? I mean, your sound is quite unique.
L: Why, thank you. It’s funny because they change all the time, depending on what I want to write about. The content of the song is definitely a huge indicator of how the sound is going to turn out. I mean, with the new single that I just put out, there was definitely a different process. This past January, when I wrote it, I was out in a cottage studio with one of the guys I write with. We were just out of Toronto and it was just beautiful. It was the first time in my life seeing winter work so beautifully and I was inspired by it. I mean, as Canadians, we need a winter song! I wanted to write a good song about winter. I didn’t want to dive into any deep emotions; I didn’t want to throw my heart out there. I didn’t want it to be a painful and emotional song; I just wanted to write a nice and easy effortless winter song. So I mean, where I am and what I’m doing at the time – that’s where the inspiration comes from.

YT: Your sound usually revolves around synthetic instruments. Why did you choose to release an acoustic EP?
L: The production of my music and the synthetic instruments – that’s all just gravy. They’re decorations, basically. I put so much more effort into the sound than the production because I think that if you can’t strip everything away and have the sound come out on its own, then you don’t have a song. I think it gave me an opportunity to show people the songs themselves. You might be able to hear something in those songs that you couldn’t hear before, without all the other stuff, you know? That was a goal for it for sure.

YT: I read on your website that you experimented with different music genres when you were younger. Do you think you’d like to try something other than synth-pop in the future?
L: Oh yeah, for sure. I’m definitely not ruling it out. Right now I love what I’m doing. What I’m working on right now, there’s still a lot of synth stuff, but I also have more live instruments in it. There’s a guitar, there’s live bass. I mean, I’m pushing outside the comfort of synthetic instruments. I still have a fascination with the limitless sounds I can get from synth, so I’m still in love with it. I’m probably always going to do a bit of synth, but who knows? I’m not ruling anything out. I was just on the new Bring Me the Horizon record, which is like really heavy metal, so it’s completely different from my music, but I was glad to try something different there. So who knows? There’s no one telling you what sound you have to make. Well, I guess some people are going to get in a crabby mood if you change your sound, but at the end of the day, it’s who you are. You can’t stay the same forever.

YT: You got to appear on an episode of MTV’s The City last season and you caused some drama when you took off the Whitney Eve jacket that you were supposed to wear throughout the set. What did you think of your first appearance on a reality TV show?
L: It was amazing in terms of having the opportunity to show my live concert on TV. That was awesome. So many more people were exposed to my music because of it. The interesting thing is, well, it’s hard to say, but I actually didn’t know the whole thing was going to come out like that. In reality, I actually wore the jacket for half my show. I guess they just edited that part out.

YT: Well, it’s reality TV, right?
L: Yeah, when I watched it I was like, “Oh, well that’s news to me that I didn’t wear the jacket! (laughs) It was a bit shocking. I was a bit disappointed because I had a great experience in terms of the people I met. They seemed really cool. Then, the episode came on TV and it made me look quite different than I really was.

YT: I guess they need the drama in reality TV.
L: Yeah, I guess they need it to keep everything interesting.

YT: Would you ever want your own reality TV show?
L: Never. (laughs) Not after that! I would hate the idea of coining something as reality but having to make things up so it could be more interesting. If reality is not interesting enough for you, then don’t make it into a show.

YT: Well, you’re obviously known for your love of comic books and video games. Have you ever considered maybe making your own comic book or contributing to a soundtrack of some kind?
L: Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard about Captain Lights, but I have 10 episodes of it that are online right now. I teamed up with Tomm Coker of Marvel Comics and we released 10 virtual issues of Captain Lights. It’s like a semi-animated comic, basically. It’s definitely worth checking out. I did all the voice over parts for it. She’s kind of like me and she’s just this intergalactic, sci-fi girl. She’s awesome! It’s a really fun thing to do. I’ll definitely continue doing that.

YT: I’ve noticed that you have quite a few tattoos. Which is your favourite?
L: I love all of them. I wouldn’t get something on myself that I didn’t love, you know? I’m always very cautious about what I’m going to get. One of my favourites would have to be the laser gun on my hip. It’s right on my stomach and it’s a purple and yellow laser gun. It’s one of my favourites. It’s actually the Captain Lights gun. She keeps it by her side so I thought it’d be really cool if I got it tattooed on my hip in real life. It’s right on my stomach and it’s a purple and yellow laser gun. It’s one of my favourites.

YT: What’s been your most memorable encounter with a fan?
L: There’ve definitely been some amazing ones. There are times when people come up to you and say that they might not be alive had it not been for a certain song that you wrote. That’s hard stuff. But then there was also a time at a London show where someone was like, “Can you sign my ankle?” I was like, “Sure!” Within an hour, they came back with it tattooed on them. That was really cool. I’ve also gotten some really cool pieces of art that people have made for me. A bunch of people got together and made me a CD called, The Listener instead of The Listening. All the songs on it were direct interpretations of my songs. People get really creative and it’s just so awesome to see.

YT: Wow, that sounds really cool. I actually have a friend who’s a big fan who’s been waiting at the Vogue since 6:00 this morning for your show.
L: No way! That’s amazing! Normally, when there are people waiting, I try to get there early and say “hi” to everyone. Unfortunately, I was not even in town this morning, I was with my family. Otherwise, I would’ve gone. Tell them I said “hi!”

YT: I definitely will! So, what kind of advice would you give teenagers who are in the same shoes as you were when you were first experimenting with all this music stuff?
L: I would say to make sure that you’re proud of everything you’re doing. When you’re proud of it, and when you want to stand on the top of a mountain and tell everyone what you’ve made, that’s when you know it’s ready to go out there. Once it is, take advantage of all the platforms that you have now. YouTube, MySpace… there are so many ways that you can put your music out for free and people can find it instantly. I would advise people to not put anything out until you’re really proud of it. You might regret it later!

YT: Do you have anything that you regret now?
L: There are a couple of small things, but not much. I always knew that I don’t want to put anything out there that I’m not so proud of. There’s no other reason for doing this other than just being really proud of it, right? You have to do it because you love doing it.

YT: For sure. In the future, are there any artists or bands who you’d like to possibly collaborate with?
L: Who knows? I mean, it’s completely open right now. I love to collaborate with people who are just so different from me. It depends on what opportunities present themselves. I don’t want to force anything. I like to just kind of go with it. Who knows? That’s the beauty of it. I hope someday, I’ll be able to work with Deadmau5. I just love him! He’s a musician and a comedian. It might just be my infatuation with him.

YT: What do you use as a reality check when things get crazy?
L: Definitely my parents, my family. I mean, I call them all the time. They always remind me that at the end of the day, music isn’t everything. There are far more important things in life other than music. Another thing is getting involved with things like World Vision. I have World Vision with me out on the Canadian tour. My goal every night is to get a couple of kids sponsored. At the end of the day, that’s far more important. I went to the Philippines in August with World Vision.

YT: Didn’t you grow up there?
L: Yeah, I did. It just broke my heart to go there and see people living without the basics. I’m less afraid that I won’t be able to sell a record. It takes the pressure off of what I’m doing. In comparison, it’s really not that important. I’m just making music. If the world ends today, I’d rather help people out than sit there and try to get famous.

YT: What’s up next for Lights?
L: For the new single, there’s going to be a couple of remixes coming out, including a remix that I made. I’m really looking forward to that. The tour is going to go on until November 27th and then I’m going to start working on a new record in the winter. Hopefully, that’s going to be out sometime next year. Obviously, it’s not done now. But yeah, new stuff... someday.