Q&A: Liv Slingerland Takes Center Stage with Debut Single “Hey You”
A DAZZLING LGBTQ+ POP-ROCK ARTIST — Liv Slingerland is here for a good time and a long time. The up-and-coming artist isn’t messing around when it comes to being a front person for her own music. Having been someone who’s always written music, Slingerland found herself pursuing her dreams in school. Instead of fronting a solo act right then and there, her talents as a guitarist opened up some incredible opportunities to play with others.
Since then, Slingerland has shared the stage with some of the biggest pop stars in the world, including Olivia Rodrigo and her current gig playing with Halsey on tour. Slingerland’s passion for songwriting never ceased, though, and the downtime of the pandemic allowed her to settle in and focus on the production skills she needed to bring her intoxicating single, “Hey You,” to life.
All about putting her all into everything she does and enjoying the process each step of the way, Slingerland is taking everything she’s learned on the road — in rehearsals and sessions with other musicians — to create a project that resonates with the rest of us. With hypnotic synths layered underneath her entrancing, low vocals, Slingerland is an artist you have to put on your radar now.
We got to speak to Slingerland about her experience creating her upcoming debut solo album, due to release on August 5 via the newly created label Righteous Babe Records. Follow along to hear more about Slingerland’s journey below.
LUNA: Starting off, we love the single “Hey You” from your upcoming album. The message is extremely relatable to anyone that has experienced self-doubt. Did you want people to immediately relate to you when you released this track?
SLINGERLAND: I definitely wanted it to be relatable. I think it sprung out of needing to get those feelings out at the time. I wasn’t thinking about being relatable when I wrote it but, obviously, it has one of the most universal themes. At the time I wrote it, I was really going through it in my little room in Echo Park. Just sad but thinking, “Hey, at least I can do this.”
LUNA: The album is coming out on Righteous Babe Records, right?
SLINGERLAND: Yeah, it’s coming out [on] Righteous Babe, which is Ani DiFranco’s record label. I’m really excited to work with them.
LUNA: What is it like transitioning from supporting some of the biggest pop stars on the stage to being the front person of your own project?
SLINGERLAND: I guess my goal as a musician, or what I’ve always wanted to do, is have my own music and band. I went to study music at USC. I was like, “Yeah, I’m going to do it; it’s going to be me — I’m going to have my own band like I was doing in high school.” Then I kind of had all these opportunities open up to play for other artists and took that to see where it would lead. It was great for financial stability and amazing opportunities as a musician. Now I feel like I’m rebalancing to pursue both of those things equally.
LUNA: You’ve talked about getting involved in other artists’ work and that it’s shown you different aspects of music that have influenced your songwriting. That being said, how has your songwriting process evolved as you started putting out your tracks?
SLINGERLAND: My songwriting process has changed so much. I’ve been able to go from where I started, writing songs on my guitar and bringing them to musicians I played with, to being a part of other artists' processes. But there’s such a huge spectrum of songwriting. Some people arrange and produce everything on their own and it’s less collaborative. It’s interesting to see the levels — bigger artists have big teams and music directors that tell you what to play. I’ve been able to see a lot of different processes.
LUNA: Which process resonates with you?
SLINGERLAND: I’ve been way more into recording and producing on my own since the pandemic. It’s very efficient for me — for a lot of this record I did everything except the drums from home. Then I worked with my friend Matt Bishop, who recorded drums and mixed everything and did production. I like it all — I just haven’t had the chance to get together with my band and play. Now that things are opening up again all the people I work closely with are out touring with other artists.
LUNA: Speaking of touring, what are some of your favorite parts of being on tour?
SLINGERLAND: I love traveling and being in different places every day. Being on tour with Halsey, it’s nice to see how the whole team works and is set up and what things audiences like and what artists want to do to elevate their shows and give their opinions. You’re right there learning, and it gives me a lot of ideas of how things resonate on a larger scale. Seeing all of the visuals, lasers, and pyrotechnics and hearing Halsey’s take in rehearsals and seeing the vision unfold is helpful. The music director we work with — we’ve worked closely together and it’s given me so many ideas of how to make a show exciting and not fall flat.
LUNA: So you’re learning how to be involved on the road. Are you also interested in doing your own production for your music?
SLINGERLAND: I am heavily involved in the production and that is one of the most fun parts for me. I think it’s super helpful to get feedback from Matt, and he is good with drums and synth stuff. Then we go back and forth to add details. I would like to produce for other artists as well and immerse myself in that as much as possible. A lot of the music I had written before… I had released some singles in 2017 that are now taken down so I can start fresh with this album, but a lot of those are songs I brought to my band and didn't have any synth elements. So I just wanted my music to be a little more pop-leaning, pop-rock so adding synths is pretty important. Big fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers — perfect example of to-the-point rock but pop songs.
LUNA: You’ve noted that working on being a front person has helped you “channel grief and honor sacrifices that your dad has made in your life.” Was that relationship with your dad something that has helped you create your presence as a front person and pushed yourself musically?
SLINGERLAND: My dad was always the biggest supporter of me playing music. He was always happy even if I was just playing in other people’s bands. I started music because I liked writing music. I need to honor my dad and his support of me my whole life and just go for it. I want to put everything I can out there and throw things at the wall and see if they work. He passed away in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, but having the time at home was helpful because I didn't know that much about recording myself at that point. So I decided I was just going to jump in and learn this. He had invested in my instruments and college degree so I should know how to do this. So, let’s just do this and go from there. Before, I would work with a producer and book a recording studio and do it like that but I owe it to him to be as resourceful as possible.
LUNA: Switching gears a bit, the visual for “Hey You” is stunning — are you involved in the visual aesthetic or your artist project?
SLINGERLAND: I feel like for the two videos I’ve done so far, I’ve found people that I’ve wanted to work with and just trusted them. I like to find people where it's like you can just take it all of the way. I would like to get more specific but I like to see other people's takes on things and it makes it more interesting for me. I knew Rob through a few mutual friends and saw a video he did with The Linda Lindas that I liked. I was about to leave on the road so it just made sense to do an animation. I think it'll be a process of honing in on the visual aspect for me. I just like to get other people’s takes and it makes it more fun for me. I admire people that have the whole thing but it’s also a journey.
LUNA: You talked about your love for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Are there any other musicians that inspired this new album?
SLINGERLAND: I have a lot of references, like Tom Petty, Chrissy Hine, The Pretenders, Joan Jett. I struggle with new artists but my favorite is Sharon Van Etten. I always think my references are lame because they're old classic rock (laughs).
LUNA: As an LGBTQ+ artist, are you doing anything to celebrate pride this month?
SLINGERLAND: I’m in the midst of this tour with Halsey, so it’s like a whole pride celebration the entire time! Every night she’s been like, “Who’s celebrating pride?” Halsey’s fans are really fun so it’s been great, and sometimes we get to go out and upgrade people to the pit. Me and my other band member Bonnie will go out and they think we’re weird but they take the tickets and they don’t realize it’s us until the show.
Actually, a funny tour story: We were playing rehearsals in Orlando, FL for a couple of weeks and went to the same coffee shop with the same barista every day. Then we played another show in Florida a few hours away and the barista was in the front row of the pit and you could see him realize it was [us] when he got there. It was just awesome to see him figure it all out.
Be sure to listen to Liv’s latest single, “Hey You,” out everywhere now, and check out her album coming out on August 5!
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