Lala Lala – Lillie West
Lala Lala is the project of Lillie West, producer, engineer, and artist. Earlier this year she released, Heaven 2 on Sub Pop.
Heaven 2 includes the singles “Does This Go Faster?”, “Even Mountains Erode”, and “Arrow.”
For many years, West lived in Chicago where she established Lala Lala as an integral part of the city’s indie scene, releasing two albums – The Lamb (2018) and I Want the Door to Open (2021) – on the Sub Pop imprint Hardly Art. They were powerful statements from a curious artist: catchy guitar-pop songs about being stuck in the ups and downs of life, the struggle to stay sober, to leave town, to blow up your life. West left Chicago to search for more and, in the process, wrote Heaven 2. On her journey, she landed off the grid in Taos, Iceland, and London. Following a residency in a tiny Icelandic town, she made her way to Reykjavik and released an instrumental album, If I Were A Real Man I Would Be Able To Break The Neck Of A Suffering Bird (2024), and finally headed to Los Angeles, where she has, almost surprisingly, fallen in love and found herself settled.
West has always made her music in response to an itchiness to always be moving, but as she developed a burgeoning desire to settle, she found the surprise realization that steadiness can beget creativity. That evolutionary tension is what fuels Heaven 2. The album was co-produced by West and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte, who provides a strong punchiness as a bed for West’s warm, rounded vocals. Duterte and West performed almost all of the album’s instruments with a few crucial guests, including Sen Morimoto, Macie Stewart, and Porches’ Aaron Maine.
FEMMUSIC e-mailed with West briefly about the album
#lillielala_music
FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making Heaven 2?
LW: Time? Being disorganized? It took a really long time to write and I wasn’t living anywhere in particular for most of the writing process and it gets hard to keep track of things when you’re always on the go… which demos are where and all that. Otherwise it’s the same challenge as always. Can I do this? Is this an album? What am I doing with my life?
FEMMUSIC: What was your vision for the album?
LW: We talked a lot about Oneohtrix Point Never. I wanted to emulate him. I just wanted the album to be fun and dramatic and immediate.
FEMMUSIC: Why did you choose Melina Duterte as co-producer on the album? What were you looking for in a co-producer?
LW: I had tested out working with a few producers and they were all great, but I just felt Melina and I really clicked. She has a very quick and effective way of working and she’s an amazing musician so it’s really easy to bounce ideas off one another and get things going… I also just love to be around her. We had a lot of fun.
FEMMUSIC: Heaven 2 makes your debut on Sub Pop. What is different from being on Hardly Art?
LW: Mmmm not very much! I still work with all the same people, which is what I was most interested in – I absolutely love everyone at SP HQ and it’s been amazing to work with them for so long – almost 10 years!!
FEMMUSIC: How has your songwriting technique evolved over time?
LW: Definitely but that kind of thing is hard to track really. I would say I’m better at telling what I like, what idea to follow, what is moving to me, but I’m still surprised all the time. I think now I really know most of the time the song doesn’t come unless you sit down and work on it. You might wait forever for inspiration to strike.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?
LW: Oh god… forgive me… more money. Health insurance. But I think it’s one of the most fun and easy jobs in the world so I’m really not complaining.
FEMMUSIC: What has been your experience as a woman in the music industry?
LW: Aside from the odd sound person that doesn’t take you seriously, I’ve been lucky to consistently work with people where it wasn’t a part of the conversation