Diandra Interviews LPX: Pushing For Honest Female Representation
HAPPY MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The lighter you are as a person the deeper you are as a soul. That is what I felt when I interviewed LPX. It was on of the most exciting interviews I ever did because she is exciting. She is kind, bright, ambitious, generous, and trying to balance all of that, at once. For her latest EP, Junk of The Heart, she tried pack away all the romantic baggage and dreamed tropes of what it means to be “successful,” “in love,” and “happy” at age 30. In our interview, we discusses how her art has freed her from archaic ideas of “womanhood” that do not match the self-empowerment of women.
Diandra: With your new EP being titled, JUNK OF THE HEART, what is some of the “junk” you feel you have been able to get rid of from your heart through this EP?
LPX: I’m so glad you asked that question because I have not really been able to talk about it that much. This EP was really me wresting with a lot of questions and choices about my life professionally and romantically. I think a lot of that had to do with me turning 30 last year, and that coming with a whole new set of questions like, “Are you looking for love and marriage and kids?” or “Are you where you want to be on a professional road?” All those questions kind of made putting one step in front of the other, at least professionally, feel more complicated. I was excavating through all this internal debris, and that really happened by being in the studio and working through these questions creatively. Out of the wreckage of this chaos came out this EP, which is the diamond of all that turmoil. I don’t think I have come out, completely, from those questions, but I think I am one step more self-assured.
LPX – Give Up The Ghost [Official Audio]Diandra: Well, you have accomplished so much like, you founded a successful label, Neon Gold, and you formed a successful group, MS MR. Do you feel accomplished or has you prior achievements added a pressure to you achieving more?
LPX: First, of all! Thank you so much for saying that! That was really kind! (she laughs) It such a fun balance. I am certainly proud of myself and I worked hard. I am proud of my past with Neon Gold and MS MR, but it is sort of eclipsed by all I want to do. On one hand, I am like, “Oh my god! I am so lucky I play with so many cool artists and have travelled the world with my band!” These are concrete things that I am so proud of, and I feel like I am scratching the surface of that, artistically, with myself and LPX. I really do want to push for more female representation, especially in festival billings. I want to be a female executive at a bigger company and pioneer new territory. I am so hungry for the future, which I think stops me from looking back.
Diandra: LPX was created for you to self-explore. What do you feel this solo venture has brought out, from your inner self, to the surface?
LPX: So much of my intent of doing LPX was for self-exploration. I really wanted to do something that was totally mine: separate from Matt, from Neon Gold, from a relationship I was in. I really wanted to know if I could do something where I put everything I had learned and be myself, un-compromised. So I put myself in the uncomfortable position of being my own manager and label and putting myself in the room with people. Being LPX has really taught me that no matter how much I think I have done, I can always do a little bit more. I am capable of juggling things, all at once.
For so long, I trusted others more, and, now, I am trusting myself a bit more. Every accomplishment I am able to achieve is really in my own hands. It keeps me accountable and excited to bite off more than I can chew because I realize I can handle it. Beyond that, I think I am a better singer and songwriter than I was a year ago, and to see that growth has been self-affirming. I feel like I am actually living my dream and putting my money where my mouth is. The things I want to see in this industry, I am living by example: in terms of seeing more women in the business side of the industry. Its the idea of putting action behind the things you desire.
LPX – Might Not Make It HomeDiandra: How has being accountable for yourself taught you to love yourself?
LPX: it’s been challenging. Honestly, I love everything about being an independent artist, except the financial struggles, but I think having to be my own champion balances that. I have to be in the room with Spotify and Apple and “shamelessly promote” myself, which is really hard because, as an artist, you have this natural ebb and flow between thinking, “OMG! This is the best thing I have ever made!” versus “OMG! I hope this never sees the light of day!” (she laughs). Usually, you have a partner that keeps you grounded, but, as an independent artist, I have to steady myself.
Now, what I am trying to do, is wear that hardship on my sleeve and not try to hide it. I want to be honest about my struggles like, I want to always be on tour but I cannot only afford certain times a year. Its kind of how we started Neon Gold. Me and Derek started it from our dorms, after a million internships, and we asked a lot of questions and pushed it forward. I really admire artists like Lizzo and Donna Missal that are so good at laying out their own campaigns, navigating the industry, and promoting body positivity, while talking about their views on relationships. I think that is inspiring.
Diandra: You push so much for women’s representation, what do you love most about being a woman?
LPX: I LOVE BEING A WOMAN! (she laughs) There is so much I love about it that it is hard to point out. I think it’s ironic because my dad really pushed for me to love myself as a woman. He is an avid feminist and was raised by such a strong woman. I love her. I always felt empowered to be who I want to be, whatever that version of me is, but that felt specific to being a woman. I never feel weaker or smaller as a woman. On the contrary, it makes me throw my spirit forward that much harder.
I think a lot about how when I was growing up there were not too many female artists, and I feel like that is not the case anymore. Gender is should not be treated as a genre. Jessie Reyez, Ravyn Lenae, Maggie Rogers, Billie Eilish; there are so many women coming from different perspectives and lineages of female empowerment that it is expanding conversations.
Diandra: DAMN! You just gave feminist manifesto!
LPX: Did I ramble? Did I answer your question? (she laughs)
Diandra: I thin you answered with your personal history, which is our history. It is women’s history. Personally, I love being a woman, and I feel that, at times, I think people confuse me asking to be treated better as a woman for not wanting to be a woman.
LPX: Totally! Being a woman, to me, feels like being a superhero. It is a responsibility and its representation .I like to dress super loudly and revel in feeling comfortable in my body and power. Its a strength.
LPX – Black & White [Official Audio]Diandra: Well, you have have spoken about loving yourself. What have you had to forgive about yourself when it comes to love and dating?
LPX: That’s a great question! I am trying to think of a genuine answer about what that means to me. I think of relationships where, in time, they became really comfortable to me but the sense of support got lost from under them. Like, it would have been really easy for me to ride the ride or the routine. I think realized I have a lot of love to give, and I am a really loving person. I easily look for reasons to love a person, and it is a problem because then I give away my love so easily. There have been some recent relationships where I had to pull myself out of them so I can learn to love myself more. There have been plenty of relationships where I could have just ridden it out to marriage and kids, but I chose not to make those choices just because they were easy or expected.
LPX – Falling to Fall [Official Audio]Diandra: So would you say Lizzie, today, defines love as self-love?
LPX: No. (she laughs) I am learning to love myself, and I want to feel that way whole-heartedly. Because I am such a lover and I feel so charged by loving others, I do not really know what love is. I want to define love in realistic terms. I can be so romantic about it, and Junk of The Heart felt like if John Hughes directed Sex And The City in 2019. I wanted to re-navigate what love looks like in your 30’s. I wanted to show that having an equal and important relationship with yourself is as important as having it with others.
I really feel like I am not ready for marriage and kids so I am trying to write more modern songs about what love looks like in 2019. I don’t want to just go through the motions of love. These questions, like marriage and kids, are seeping into my head and thus my art. I am living in the chaos of this gray area, and it can be a masochistic routine to fall in love because you see everyone is dating. I, ultimately, want the LPX album to be a genuine perspective of what it is to be a 30 year old artist in this world. There are not too many 30 year old women making pop music. This industry can be ageist, and I don’t think our perspective has been woven into a pop landscape.
Diandra: DO IT LIZZY!!!!!!! (We laugh) It seems though that you are talking about transitions and transformations, and it makes me curious if you think people can change or do they just grow?
LPX: I think it’s a choice. I think there are people that are open to change and evolution and shifting patterns in their life. I think there are people that are scared to change because it’s hard to acclimate, especially as you get older. Once school is over, its hard to feel like there are milestones because they are not institutionalized. Now, it’s about recognizing what you want and steering your own course to them. I do things so that I challenge myself and sort of shed a layer. I am always working against myself to create a sort of natural balance with friction so that I am forced to level up. I think there is something exciting to when people give themselves a chance to evolve. I think if you settle in your ways it emotes a sense of entitlement. If you grow, it shows that you recognize there is always a better or more honest version of you out there. These are good questions! Am I answering them? (she laughs)
Diandra: Yeah, I think you are! If not, you might just be having an existential crisis out loud.
(She laughs)
Diandra: I think you have proven that you value happiness above all else, which would make John Lennon proud.
LPX: Wow! That is the nicest thing someone has ever said to me! I feel seen! I really do pride happiness, respectfulness, and honesty.
Again, I really like LPX. She is so thoughtful and what makes her work so exciting is that she is more than just her art. There are certain creatives, like LPX, that are constantly seeking to make pieces that will represent them, but the truth is they are too brilliant, as spirits, to be encompassed in a song. Thus, like Lizzy Plapinger,, they should aim to, instead, write about their time as a soul trying to figure out what it means to be a “soul.” She uses her music like a diary for her generation and herself, which makes her new EP, Junk of The Heart, and her future works feel like must-haves. For More Information On LPX Click Here.
