Blinded by the Light

I interviewed Lights. Yeah. I know. Don’t worry. I got dis.

I wanted to be amiable. I wanted to be a guy to whom she could talk. I thought calling her Lights would have been too impersonal.

“Hi Valerie!”

“Hey, actually, I don’t go by that name anymore.” Light laughter.

Here I am talking to a beautiful girl, and I don’t even get her name right. Girls don’t like that.

Yes, that’s right, she legally changed her name about two years ago. And I thought Lights was just a stage name. I was totally blushing.

“I took the extra step to make that name my own,” she explains to me, insisting that I have nothing about which to be embarrassed (that’s what all the girls tell me). “I think it’s important to walk into everything that you do in your career with a full sense of commitment. My music comes from my soul, and it’s who I am.”

I wonder if her government IDs still have a surname on them. Do her parents call her Lights? So many questions. I didn’t prod.

The name change certainly reflects her passion, I’ll give her that much. The synth-pop indie songstress released a new song last month, “My Boots,” meant as a teaser preview of her still unfinished second full-length album that has a tentative release date of Spring 2011. With the exception of one new song that was featured on an acoustic EP released this past summer, “My Boots” is the first new material from Lights since her debut LP came out over a year ago.

“I wrote it this past winter when for the first time in a long time I saw winter looking beautiful. I was up in northern Ontario and staying in a forestry area and it was very serene. The scene inspired me to write a song that felt effortless. So many of the songs that I write are emotionally draining and end up being cathartic. Winter can be an amazing thing if you’re dressed properly, so the song is really nothing more than about putting on a pair of boots and establishing a really romantic relationship with winter.”

I told her the childlike nostalgia of the song made me feel as if it would make a good Robert Munsch story. He’s got a couple good winter ones after all, notably “Thomas’ Snowsuit” and “50 Below Zero.” She laughed: “I like that.” Good, I’m recovering nicely from the name mishap.

Despite that original setback, however, I think she appreciated my effort to be personable nonetheless. It is, after all, what she strives for herself. Although it’s becoming increasingly common and necessary for most bands and musicians to stay on top of the YouTube universe, Lights is proud to claim she always puts in extra effort. Lately she’s been posting several short videos as tour updates from her tour bus.

“I absolutely love doing it. It’s a way to stay in touch with my fans and for them to get a peek into what my touring life is like.”

When I suggested she serialize them, she laughed, lamenting that there’s just not enough time in the day.

“But I did do the Captain Lights YouTube videos after the release of my first album!” she was quick to remind me. Of course, how could I forget? "Audio Quest: A Captain Lights Adventure" was a series of short animated sci-fi videos, with Lights as an intergalactic action hero, out to defeat evil villains who are out to destroy her music. This girl’s kind of cool.

She’s going to have to revamp her MySpace approach, however. The website recently went through some renovations. Now when you click on a song on a musician's page, it tells you what other songs sound similar to it. I told Lights that according to MySpace, “My Boots” sounds similar to a song by The Devil Wears Prada, a post-hardcore metal band. Aside from the fact that about a year ago she was at one point in a relationship with that band’s drummer, and that she had toured with them I think at least once, I can’t figure out any connection.

“Neither can I,” she said while oscillating between being frustrated and laughing hysterically. “I’ll have to investigate. I certainly don’t want some of my younger fans to get confused.” I told her I was glad to be of service.

I ended things off by asking her about Twitter. “It’s funny you brought that up, because I’m just looking over my Twitter account at this very moment.”

Yeah, this girl always knows what’s on my mind.