Lights lives in a world of her own – a world where she is constantly discovering new lands, seeking new experiences and battling to find her way.
The quirky 23-year-old from Timmins performed at the Turret on Nov. 25 and was received by a crowd of adoring fans.
The environment she created on stage simulated the feeling of being part of one of her fantastical music videos.
With lines of red and blue lights flashing with the synthesized beats of the keytar, the scene created a visual equivalent of her compositions.
Throughout the night, Lights performed her hit singles “Savior,” “February Air,” “Second Go” and her new single “My Boots.”
“I always picture things in a more grandiose way than they really are. I picture life like a battle field,” she said in an interview with The Cord. “If it was up to me, life would be a battle and you would get swords,” she added.
The singer-songwriter started writing songs as a young girl and has since gained international success.
Speaking about her beginnings, Lights reminisced about her dad’s musical influence on her. “He used to play his acoustic guitar downstairs and it would help me fall asleep and I remember thinking that I can’t fall asleep unless my dad plays the guitar. If music has that much power it’s something I really want to do.”
Through her self-declared “intergalactic electro” music, Lights is able to share glimpses into the world she has created.
She uses the term intergalactic electro to illustrate the discovery of sounds that she had never heard before.
She considers her hit single “February Air” to be one of the most exciting songs that she has ever made because it was written when she first experimented with the electro genre. “It was fun and it was exciting,” she said enthusiastically. “It was like exploring space.”
Despite the crowd of supporters on campus last week, Lights hasn’t always been as graciously received. She recalled, “Once I got bottled on stage. I got bottles thrown at me. As an artist you’ve got to go through all these things.”
Nevertheless, she’s proven that success is the best revenge. “I learned how to dodge bottles on stage, it was great,” she joked. “Then that night I was presented with my single going gold.”
Much of Lights’ inspiration for her music and lyrics comes from real life experiences as well as imagery from role-playing games such as World of Warcraft.
She is also a fan of graphic novels such as The Last Man and Wonder Woman.
“I think that Wonder Woman is an inspiring image for women to have,” she said. “She’s a very empowered woman, a strong warrior. I almost feel like I am that.”
Even though Lights identifies with Wonder Woman and other empowered female characters, she doesn’t feel that need to fake such a persona when she is on stage.
“I am the exact same person on stage as I am off stage,” she said. “But when I first started I thought you had to be a dwifferent person on stage and put on your show face and that was really uncomfortable for me to do. I thought that was the way you had to do it, but you learn about these things through experience.”
