Mellon-jolly pop queen LXANDRA talks being yourself, connecting with people around the world and growing up on a tiny island in Finland.

Pastel buildings line the gravel path around the small island of Suomenlinna, it is bitterly cold here but LXANDRA has a genuine smile on her face at all times. She shows me where she hid as a child in the island’s fortress walls.

 

Suomenlinna is stunning and the people here have mastered the harsh environment, the only thing left is to master the air, LXANDRA’S melon-jolly pop certainly does that.

 

We caught up with the rising star from the North Country to talk her latest single, growing up on a secluded island and what’s in store from the smalltown girl done good.

AG: Finland is a mystery to a lot of people from the UK, What do you think makes somebody quintessentially Finnish? Are there any stereotypes we should know about?

L: Well, there’s a view that Finnish people don’t talk much and are very straightforward, which is not always the case, I think all people are pretty nice and open up in the end… But! It is kind of a thing! I’m from this small island so that’s a pretty cool place…maybe people drink a lot of alcohol (laughs).

AG: When it’s this cold outside, it’s best to be warm inside…

L: Exactly, that’s the thing.
AG: So, you’re now living in Berlin. Coming from such a little island it must have been a bit of a culture shock?
L: Yeah! It’s a very different place but it was such a spontaneous decision to go there and I didn’t really plan it much, so I never really got that moment where I was like “wow” because I didn’t think I was going to stay there for long. But, then I ended up staying and I kinda had already got used to it in a way.
For sure though, it’s very different, if you go to a club on Saturday, you pretty much know everyone. But, especially on the island, there are only like 800 people living there, so it was always like a small village vibe and I didn’t like it as a teenager but now….Its great, cosy.

AG: Do you think these different places you’ve lived have made an impact on your songwriting?

L: I think yeah they’ve had an impact. I’ve always had such a huge love for nature that I learned on the island. I love this organic sound in my music, but the darkness also… because in Winter it’s dark pretty much the whole time – it’s probably night time now and it’s like 3 o’clock… And Berlin too, it’s kind of a dark, weird place. It’s quite hard to say what it exactly would be?

AG: Maybe just more of just an impact on you as a person?

L: Yeah, that’s it. These places change you on a personal level. When you write something so personal those changes do happen.

AG: With your music, there are pop sensibilities that are married with emotional awareness in the lyrics. Who do you imagine is a LXANDRA fan?

L: That’s hard! I’ve gotten mostly messages from people who are kinda similar to me… people who always felt like a bit of an outsider, very emotional, and these songs give them strength or maybe soothe them and that’s very beautiful if the music touches them in a way where they get something out of it. I would say that they would be an emotional person, probably a bit melon-jolly, a bit sad. I get messages from all over the world… through music, you can find there’s someone on the other side of the planet who feels exactly the same as you do. That’s the great part.

AG: Tell us about the next single ‘Glide’?
L: ‘Glide’ is the kind of song that just came out very quickly and easily. I wrote it in LA about two years ago. It’s about that feeling when you don’t know where something is going and it’s maybe not good for you but at that moment you just let it be and go with it, just glide.
AG: This year you’ll be releasing loads of new music including ‘Glide’, along with playing more shows. What’s the mission this year? 

L: I really just wanna put out more music! I guess getting my debut album out later on in the year would be amazing. Yeah, just doing more shows and getting better at everything!

AG: What’s some great advice somebody has given you on your journey so far? 

L: I’ve gotten a lot of great advice for sure… one thing that people have always told me is to stay truthful to who you are along the way. There are so many different opinions and with pop music, it can go pretty much any direction, you can do anything you want with it. It’s always been really important to always come back to who you are and what’s important to you. In the long run that’s the thing that will make you stick out and find your place… and also to not take this too seriously. Sometimes I do that and I find people are telling me “Chill”. It’s like I’m trying! (laughs) it’s just important to me and I can get really passionate about things.

AG: What would you tell your eleven-year-old self if you could go back in time?
L: Things never go the way you’d expect and that you are fine just the way you are. I was worried for a long time that I was somehow wrong. So, I’d definitely say “You’re good, stay with it”.

Dive into LXANDRA's new single 'Glide' below!