Lily Elise and MADE IN LA

By starrymag | June 23, 2016

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) What is it about your song “Let Me Down” that listeners are connecting with?

Lily: I think, honestly, you can never really know with  a song. You have to figure out what you feel and that’s the main thing for me. If I really like one of my songs, all I can do is hope other people enjoy it.

Q) What was it like working together with MADE IN LA and how did the collaboration come together?

Lily: Well, we got into the studio because of my management. It was like as soon as we got in, we just kind of clicked. We were on the same vibe. “Let Me Down” was the first song we wrote together that day.

Cassio: It was exactly what Lily said. Elissa, Lily’s manager, was working with our publisher. She said that we should work with Lily. So, we got in a session with her and it was just fluid. It clicked!

Q) How did you balance the different parts of the song and dividing them?

Lily: I feel like we just clicked really well and had the same vibe so it wasn’t a thing about working out specifically who was going to sing what. We were just writing and in the moment. We would say, “It would be sick if you came in here.”

Q) For Made in LA, was there anything challenging about the recording process?

Marlon: I don’t think there was anything complicated about it. I think that was the most interesting thing about working with Lily. We had a preconception before we met her and really liked her voice. When we met her in person, we were just so in sync that it was crazy. The actual making of the song was quite easy.

Q) How much of a hand did you have in the production of the song?

Cassio: How Marlon and I usually work is that he writes the top line and I cultivate the sonics behind it. I create the music and he creates the top melody and the lyrics. With Lily, she came up with the verses and I had the idea for the chorus. I started playing it on the piano and Lily just started singing runs to it. We were like, “Wow! That sounds fresh.” So, we just laid it down a certain sound. Marlon wrote the hook for it while Lily had a whole verse already. I was making the beat as they were finishing the lyrics. Everyone was done at the same time, kind of, because it really flowed.

Q) Lily, did you feel comfortable advising on the sound for the song?

Lily: When I’m working on my own artist stuff, I do that. I’ll be like, “We should do this or that” because I have a sound in mind of what I want. In this session, it was us collaborating together and I didn’t have to tell Cassio to put what where because he just does his thing and it’s fire. There was no need for me to be like, “Add this here.” I’m big on vocal parts. That’s more my part. In terms of harmonizing, I would be like “We should harmonize that part.” Cassio had some ideas though because he is a producer in every sense of the word.

Q) What can fans expect from live performance of “Let Me Down?”

Marlon: Right now, the current set up is where Lily had her band (a bassist and guitarist) and Cassio and I play where he has a rig set up with his laptop playing keys and stuff. Lily also has her rig set up with a laptop. Then, we just kind of sing the hook together and Lily does all the rest of the verses.

Lily: I think the beauty of it is that they don’t know what to expect and that was something I heard a lot from fans, friends, etc. They would say like, “I don’t know who Made in LA is, but they sound really tight.” Then, when they came to the show they were blown away. I think that’s what makes it awesome when people don’t know what to expect.

Q) You have collaborated on other songs as well. When can fans expect to hear those tracks?

Cassio: Currently, we are getting ready to release our debut EP and we have a song on there featuring Lily that should be out in the near future, probably within the next two months. It might be pushed back, but we’re currently thinking June 24^th. That’s our second song that we worked on together. When we work with Lily, it really clicks.

Q) Who is someone you would love to collaborate with on a song in the future?

Lily: That’s a hard question because there are so many dope artists out there. So, there are a million people I would love to work with. I love Drake, who doesn’t? I love Miguel. Either of them would put me in heaven.

Cassio: I am not really sure, actually. We are so open to hearing new sounds. We would love to work with certain producers and songwriters that we love. As far as artists, that’s a hard question. I can’t really say.

Q) Lily, your song “I Don’t Know Why” on your last EP went to Number 14 on the Spotify Viral Charts. How does that make you feel?

Lily: I don’t even know! There are no words! It was so good! I feel like I’ve been working for such a long time. I feel that song, this music is me, it represents me and is something I really mesh with. “I Don’t Know Why” was my favorite song off my last EP so for that to be the one people took to surprised me; but, I was just happy people were understanding the same thing I was understanding. I’m always worried that if I like it what if no one else likes it. Sometimes as a creator you just don’t know. So, it was good to have the confirmation that other people liked what I liked.

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your music?

Marlon: I would say that ultimately for us, as MADE IN LA,  we find that we want people to get from it is that it is new sounding and not boxed in by a certain genre. Ultimately, we try to make pop music, but don’t try to box it in by only making it certain sub genres. For us, the most important thing is that people see it as a good song rather than maybe a good R&B song.

Lily: For me, personally, I’m all about getting emotional and getting into feels. I’m all about lyrics. So, I just hope that people can relate to my stuff. When I write a song, I want someone to listen to it and feel something from it or feel like they know what you are going through or maybe change their mind about something. I want to influence people with my music.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your music?

Lily: Thank you so much!

Cassio: Thank you so much! We greatly appreciate all the support. It really, truly, means a lot to us that we are allowed to do something we love as a living and make people happy with it.

 

 

 

All Questions Answered By Lily Elise and MADE IN LA

(Cassio Lopes & Marlon McClain)