Liza Owen Is Starry Eyed

Um… that is a loaded question! I’ve been good. I feel like in the grand scheme of things I’m healthy, I’ve got a roof over my head; you know I’m good, I cannot complain. But mentally, have I lost my mind a few times… yes! It’s been a journey. I think like creatively last year was tough for me just right at the beginning to feel inspired and everything got turned upside down. So I was just like ‘what the hell do I do with myself’, pretty much like everybody else, and it’s been a learning curve just figuring out how to do the most with the least. I think I’ve just learnt how resilient I can be, how resilient we all are, and I have just headed into this year with an open mind and a positive mind and like I said just trying to do the most with the least.

I mean, I love it out here, it’s pretty great. I’m stuck here right now because of all the travel bans and stuff but there are much worse places to be stuck so I can’t complain.

I’m a very big dreamer, always have been and always was. I was raised with the attitude of ‘there’s nothing you can’t do’ and I think I obviously got that from my mum, but I think I got it growing up just in a tiny town where there really wasn’t much to do, or a lot of opportunity, so you kind of had to dream big. That’s all I did and I was just waiting to get out. Then I moved to London, and London for sure taught me about hustle. It was my first experience really in the music industry. I’d always just been writing songs by myself at home and it was just the first time I started to collaborate, meet producers and songwriters and other artists and going to shows, discovering new sounds and genres and everyone in London was so free and expressive. So I think that just really eye opening for me. And then LA has been a trip to say the least. I feel like LA was the first time in my life that I’ve really been on my own completely. No one’s a drive away and I was completely out there on my own and that’s just been a wild journey. I partied a ton, I’ve f*cked up a lot, met so many new people and I just experienced so much, that those stories can’t help but filter down into my music. I’ve really found my people out here and I’m learning so much about myself in LA and I’m finding myself and I think that’s a beautiful thing when everything else has been such a whirlwind.

I think the biggest lesson is just to follow your gut and listen, like today’s mistakes are tomorrows lessons. I think there’s this thing, we all do this, that everything is so precious. It’s like if we didn’t write an amazing song today, or the meeting didn’t go the way you wanted it to, or something fell through; whatever it is, we tend to hold onto that sh*t and harbour it and everything feels so final… and it’s just not. The next day something amazing happens and you’re like ‘oh okay, it’s fine’, its just a roller-coaster. So I’m just learning to take it easy, everything going to be okay. Go with the flow.

Yeah, embrace the moment more. We’re always looking to the next thing and I think if anything this last year has taught me is that life move really fast and is really precious. So just try and be more present, in the moment and enjoy what’s happening.

Yeah, she’s superhuman, she’s incredible.

I mean, it’s been incredible to have somebody like that, who’s got that experience, to take you under their wing is an amazing thing. I think we should all have mentors. With Ali, we just clicked instantly. We were set up to write on my first trip out to LA and every other session got cancelled that week; this famously happens in LA, it’s cancellation central. So every session more or less got cancelled that week except the ones with Ali and I was really bummed, I was like ‘what the hell, I’m only here for like ten days’, and thank God because none of that even mattered because it was just incredible. We clicked creatively and on a personal level and just from there it started this beautiful relationship. I signed my publishing deal with her and reservoir. So she’s my publisher, my co-writer, my friend, I’ve just learnt everything from her about song writing, I really feel like she helped me to hone in on that craft. Before, I was always just writing for myself, I didn’t even think about pitching my songs to other artists. She really opened up my mind and she’s an incredible lyricist and has an incredible way with words, and I think just getting to be around her and witness what she does I’m just better for that. Lyrically, I feel I’ve learnt so much from her. I could talk about Ali for days.

I mean, yeah! Ali and I wrote this song together with my executive producer Paul Famous and a producer Julian Bunetta and we’re all really really good friends so we were just having a very open and honest conversation about the industry, and we were talking about stars who sort of have lost their minds and sad things have happened and it’s a really really tough industry to be in when you look at people at the top level. Even last night I was watching the Britney documentary and I was like ‘damn, this is it’. Ali was just like “it’s crazy you want to be an artist” after discussing these terrible things that can happen with celebrity. But why do we still want to be like them even though all this f*cked up stuff happens? And so that was the kind of conversation that was happening even before we started writing the song. And it was just almost funny that you’re in a place like Hollywood that people think is so glamorous and it’s just so not that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing, I have had the best time; but you can get caught up on this wild ride, and I definitely have had my fair share of nights out wasted, walking home and you know right at the beginning no money in the bank and you’re walking down the sunset strip looking up at these billboards with faces of icons that you idolize and it just presents a really ironic image. We just wanted to open the song with a really poignant picture.

I think it’s never quite what it seems. After spending a few years out here, there’s always cracks under the surface or a struggle that I think a lot of people have struggled to get where they are but you just don’t see that; it’s not something that’s pictured in the media.

Firstly, my EP will be out this summer and its completely autobiographical, and it talks about my stories and touches on this subject quite specifically and I just think that’s going to be part of my journey. After being out here for a little bit, I’m still close with my best friends from home but you lose touch with people. I’ve had people hit me up and be like ‘oh are you too big time for me now’ or whatever and you have no clue. They just see someone from a small town who got out and has moved to LA and they have this glamorous image of what they think your life is and it’s just not that in the beginning. Its almost like all your favourite Disney movies when you were a kid, the old ones not in HD; if you rewatch any of those now it’s just not the same, you’re looking at it through different eyes and it’s lost its shine. I feel like that’s almost what coming to LA was like. And it’s not a negative thing at all, it’s just part of growing up. Honestly that’s almost what ‘Starry Eyed’ is all about, you’ve seen between the cracks, you’ve seen the dark side of this sh*t and what can happen and it’s like f*ck it I’m going to do it anyway because of how fun it is.

Yeah, that’s my therapy. Writing songs is my therapy. It’s the only way I know how to write, and when I’m writing for myself, I have to connect to the song. It has to be me and my story otherwise it just doesn’t feel right and I wouldn’t want to put something out that wasn’t directly something I’ve experienced because otherwise how can you relate to the audience, your fans and people listening to your music? I think sometimes people mistake vulnerability for weakness but it’s not, and I have found it very empowering to be very open in my lyrics. And sometimes it gets you in trouble cause people hear those songs and they’re like ‘is that about me?’. But my next single which is coming out is really, really, really autobiographical. And I feel like the lyrics flow out of you and they come very easy at that point. Most of the time I feel like you find the lyrics, and the story gets written in the conversation about what you’re going through and what you’re feeling when you first get to the studio and you’re just talking to your friends and the song is in there.

For me, its usually directly related to something that’s happened. And it could be a huge moment like a break up, or it could be as seemingly insignificant as a conversation that sat with me weird. But usually somethings happened and I’ve come into the studio fired up, pissed off or sad or happy, whatever it is. The song that I write that days is a direct reflection of the mood I’m in or what I’m going through and I just try and get it down as soon as possible on a page, in a song.

Thank you! That was Julian, he’s a beast. With that one I think we just started on guitar, Julian picked up the guitar and we knew we wanted the song to feel a certain way. It’s almost got this 90s rock feeling to it and reminded me of a lot of old bands I used to love. We knew we wanted it to feel a certain way and he started messing around, and you just start with melodies usually. We had the topic, we didn’t have any lyrics or a title but we just had this powerful conversation of what the song was going to end up being about and we just started with melodies and the chorus came first. I think the first lyric was ‘all my heroes have lost their minds’ and kind of went from there. You carve out the melody and once that starts feeling really good you start fitting lyrics to it. And for this chorus specifically, we wanted every single line to be as powerful as that opening line and almost could be read out as a poem.

Maybe…. Yes! I’m not going to say who but you’ll be seeing some collaborations this year that I’m really excited about, and I’m going to be releasing my debut EP this year which I am so so so excited about. I am in love with this body of work, I’m really proud of it. It’s my journey 100% and I cannot wait to release that and to be able to tell you the name of the EP soon. The next single from the EP is coming out next month so… you guys are not ready, that’s all I’m saying. It’s my favourite song on the EP, I’m so so so excited for this next song. Its actually the first song I wrote for this project so kind of paved the way for all the music you’ve been hearing from me, and will continue to hear from me. We just shot the music video for that a couple of days ago and it was insane! All I’m saying is, you ain’t ready!

In the meantime,  I just shot a bunch of acoustic versions to a of couple songs that I put out, ‘Starry Eyed’ included, so you can expect that in the next couple of week.

Yes girl, we are making moves!

Thank you.

I think just that I’m unapologetically myself. When you listen to my songs you are really really getting to know me; you are inside my brain. These are my stories, this is my life, and I’m going to keep it real and tell you 100% how it was and not sugar coat anything… Also I’m really f*cking fun; I’m a good time, come hang out with me!