Brooklyn based Lost Valley gives us a few minutes to chat about influences, the new album, and navigating this digital world as an independent musician.
Full Q&A as well as a stream of the album are below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
i was in a guitar band for a long time – build by animals. it was great and performing was fun, but for a while i’d been playing around with more electronic stuff on the side. finally i decided to take a break from rock and get weird with some electro pop. that’s lost valley.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
just a few months on this project – but i’ve been in bands since high school. i’m addicted to writing music.
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?
i try to write about real stuff. my real life. what else can i really write about honestly? and if it’s not honest, what’s the point? i think there’s a connection between honesty and good music. emotional honesty, that is. lyrically i’m all over the place – but people have told me i’m really sincere – sometimes to a fault. what keeps me going? booze, mostly.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
with lost valley i’m trying to make something NEW and HONEST. taking all the influences from all my favorite music and smushing them all together with lyrics true to my life. hopefully other people will relate. people seem to be digging it so far. so that’s nice.
What was the last song you listened to?
never be like you by flume feat. kai. the beginning’s a cornfield but once the beat kicks in it’s pretty hard not to get real into it.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
gotta go cd’s. i’m a 90’s kid. but in reality – i’m just not cool enough to be into vinyl.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
spotify because it’s easy and everything’s on there and it’s so cheap and you can listen on the subway. but i guess in terms of artists getting paid – um – bandcamp, right?
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?
i still have a full time job – i have to pay rent and support myself and pay off my various debts – that’s definitely the biggest obstacle. wish i had more time to rep myself. money would be nice too. gotta keep playin those bingo doublers!
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?
not yet but soon! i wrote, performed, recorded, and mixed pretty much everything on the album – so that took all my focus for a while. now i’m diving into the live show – working on a tripped out light/video show for sometime this fall – so people have something to look at besides me singing along karaoke-style to my own tracks.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
- https://soundcloud.com/lost_valley for free streaming
- https://lostvalley.bandcamp.com for free downloads
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
thx to arunabha chakravarty, morgan von ancken, and matt graff for their contributions on the album – and thx to middle tennessee music for bein so damn cool. i don’t have any wisdom. in general i’m not very wise. i do like wise brand potato chips though. so – i recommend eating those. if possible. just the plain kind or salt ‘n vinegar though.
