Liz Vice – A Soulful Holiday with Liz Vice

By starrymag | March 29, 2022

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound? Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) I tell people soul, gospel and R&B, but for the most part I’ve been told “you’re folk-y, you’re rock-y.” But I really don’t know. There are times where I feel like I hear myself and I sound like my mom. My mom was a singer and my dad was a funk musician. I think I’m a little bit of everything. I just love music and listen to everything there is. 

When I was a little girl I listened to Top 40 music, so Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, James Ingram, Vanessa Williams – just pop music. And I also listened to instrumental classical music. I also love soft rock like Rod Stewart and Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis.” I just listened to everything.

 

Q) What inspired you to want to create a holiday album?

 

A) I always felt like I’m too young to do a holiday album. Too young in my career, too young in age. It’s something you do on the side, just for fun, after you’ve established your career and who you are. But when I was presented with this option by my sync guy at Fine Gold, I reached out to the only person I knew who could pull it off with such a short turn around. And at this time I was on my way to take a screenwriting class as well. I was on my way to visit some friends in Greece, I was going to do some recording in Paris and then take a screenwriting course in England. And my friend had just gotten the gig as Harry Styles’s pianist. He was in London at the time and I just felt like we created this with the knowledge that this was going to be put in a movie or on commercials, and so we wanted to pick songs that would be fun.

I wanted to do something that was dancey. I love the harmonies of the 60s and 70s; they’re really fun. And my friend Niji was in London and he has so many connections we had to choose the best of the best musicians.  So, it was more of a challenge of “can I pull this off?” I knew I had a holiday song that I wrote with some people in Michigan a few years ago, maybe there’s a way to reimagine it. If we were to use the historical context within that song, what would the lyrics be? And so we came up with the song “Refugee King” and I just remember writing it, it was hitting me and flowing so easily. But that was a one off kind of thing. So getting this opportunity, it was more like me saying to myself, “Can I do this?” It’s not something that would necessarily represent my voice that people know.

 

Q) For your album A Soulful Holiday with Liz Vice how did you come to connect with the artists featured?

 

A) They were all friends with my co-producer Niji. We figured out the songs, I created some demos of songs, he created some demos and we meshed the two. And then he pulled in the top players that have played with Ed Sheeran, Adele and Lianne La Havas. And we only had one shot to do this because when he came to LA, we recorded “Jingle Bells” in his hotel room. And then I left the country for two, almost two and a half months. And then he was on the road for three months. So we were doing this in different time zones, different parts of the world. And we pulled it off, and I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done.

 

Q) What was the process for selecting the songs they would cover?

 

A) We wanted to pick songs that were familiar from the first note here. We wanted to make songs that were fun, like “Joy To The World.”  I just see people like doing backflips and wearing Christmas hats to that one. And it’s snowing outside and everyone’s having fun. We just wanted to pick joyful music. The song that’s been more popular was the song that I didn’t think anyone would really like, which was “Deck the Halls.” And my favorite song that I probably listened to a hundred times was “Jingle Bells.” The way we arranged it was so fun. We just wanted to pick something that was familiar for people and then take it in a different direction that was more fun for us to record.

 

Q) What song(s) on the album hold a special place in your heart and why?

 

A) Definitely “Jingle Bells.” I loved doing the background vocals to that track. I love how it started. It felt like a blend of my favorite genres. 

 

Q) For your own songs, what is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

A) I need them both at the same time. They go hand in hand and they follow each other. But I have written a couple of songs with a friend who’s a poet, who would send me poetry. And then I would turn them into songs. There were three songs on my record, “Fancy Feet,” “Brick by Brick” and “To Dance With Death.” I think that he’s one of the only people I can do that with. And then I have a song that I’m going to be releasing later, that’s based on a poem that he sent me. 

I am the worst. I’m not very disciplined. I also feel like I was just so burned out before the pandemic hit. I once remembered a man saying inspiration is for amateurs. And that just deflated me so much. I’m not someone who can force myself to make art. I just dig and dig and dig myself into a hole. I am someone that has to live life, and then be around the right people who feed me to be able to create and there are a few groups of people that I can do that with. Every time I go to Nashville this particular group of people that I work with inspires me to make art. And I usually record every song I write when I’m down in Nashville with my friends. 

I also am someone who has to go away to focus specifically on one thing. I took a screenwriting class in England because I wanted to write a comedy in England since I love British humor. But I wasn’t going to be able to write that in L.A. I felt like I knew that if I left and went to a place for that reason, that it would happen. And I wrote a forty page TV pilot. It was really an amazing experience. And I was so proud of myself. When I finished the class, I finished the record. And that’s the first time I’ve gotten a credit as a producer. Because a lot of times, number one I don’t know a lot of female producers. Number two, I’ve been in a lot of spaces where men are the dominant figure. And I always feel small. I feel like because I don’t talk shop or know what drummer played on this and that, then I’m irrelevant. I feel like I do my best work when I’m in a space where people trust me. And where people actually take me seriously, instead of just being a voice.

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

A) When I have a song, I make so many different versions and so many different demos. I’ve been working with this producer called Tyler Chester. He’s worked with some amazing people. And he’s one of two producers that I’ve worked with where I feel really safe with. And so we did a version of “This Land Is Your Land.” And I said, “I hear these two notes to finish the song where it’s not cool. It doesn’t feel like an ending. It’s an open ended song.” And I hear this note and that note and say, “Can you press that on the piano,” and he’ll do it. And I’ll say, “I hear this thing, can I try it myself?” And I feel like because I know he trusts me, and he believes what I hear, that I feel safe to say, “Can I try this thing?”

If I’m working with someone that doesn’t take me seriously, they’re not going to get the best product out of me. Because I’ll feel small and insecure. And I’ll start getting in my head and feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I want to quit music all the time. Because I have been around people who don’t really ask me questions. It just feels like when I worked in film, sometimes it can feel like a boys club. I’ve had to learn there are certain instances where I can speak up. And there are certain instances where I literally sing note for note what they want. I’ve had producers come into the sound booth and guide me to sing every single note that they wrote because they want the sound of my voice. And that always makes me feel small. But at the end of the day, sometimes you just need to make money.

But when I do feel heard, I am in the studio with a producer. And I speak what I hear. For my song “No Bread,” I wrote the string parts and I was shocked that they believed me. I have a song called “Promise Land” that I haven’t released yet and I wrote the string parts for it. I sat in the studio with them and said that I hear this really high pitched note and it goes like this, and a countermelody that goes over the rest of the strings. And they listened to me. It’s all about finding the people that actually respect me as a musician.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

 

A) One of my favorite places ever is Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia. The first time I played it, it sold out. One of the managers at Reach records, which is the label Lecrae started, came to my show and he told me, “I need to figure out how to get to Liz Vice’s show.” And at that time in 2015, I had just started touring. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I felt like I was supposed to do it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I felt like it was taking off faster than myself. And I got to this place I’ve never been to. I had to borrow a drum kit. This guy, Chris Queen, borrowed and brought a drum kit to this venue so I could play this show because I literally had no clue what I was doing. And everyone in the audience knew the words to my record. They sang along with me and they danced with me. And they laughed with me. I didn’t know that I had this. That’s one of my most favorite venues to play. I know it’s historical. John Mayer would play there all the time, The War on Drugs and then Brandi Carlile would play there all the time. I know a lot of people really started there. 

But I have felt the love in many other places I love to play. I mean, I can’t really remember them because they’ve been so many. It’s the small venues that trust the booker. Those are my favorite places as well. I’ve played Largo in LA and my friend told me it’s going to be one of the best audiences you ever engage with and they really are. They go there because they love the Watkins family and they love the guests that they bring. When I play a show, I try to make the audience feel seen. I’ll call people out, I make them stand, I make them hold hands and I make them wrap their arms around them to close the gap of separation that we have today, especially in our political climate. With everything turning to politics now, and no room for middle ground, I think about what it looks like to just let people come and feel safe.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I just sang with Crystal Lewis this past week. She is a childhood dream to sing with. She can sing her ass off. I would love to sing with Adele. I would do background vocals for Adele. I just want to harmonize with her. Natalie Bergman, I really like her music. I would do something with Leon Bridges. We played Pickathon at the same time, where I’ve gotten to sing with some really cool people. I’d sing with War and Treaty. When we did this music cruise, which was really amazing, he shared a stage with Indigo Girls and Shawn Mullins and Wood Brothers and Emmylou Harris. 

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

 

A) I love British soul R&B. It’s my jam. I feel like they’ve done a really good job at capturing the essence of 60s and 70s, soul, funk and R&B, so like Lianne La Havas and Laura Mvula. I feel like Laura Mvula is a modernized Nina Simone. She is an incredible producer and vocalist. Her music is so visual to me. I love Adele. I listen to everything. I even like French hip hop. 

I really just think they’ve been able to capture the sound. I love the American soul R&B scene like Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone and Otis Redding. There’s a guy named Jacob Banks and his voice is so gritty and beautiful. I am really inspired by that sound. And my friend Phil Simmons is an amazing musician. He sounds like Coldplay mixed with soul and hip hop and it’s just so fun. 

There’s just this sound that they’ve been able to preserve. I feel like Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak are doing that with old school funk. It just hits you, even watching like the Super Bowl halftime show. I felt emotional watching that because I was just too young to really be listening to hip hop, and I was terrified of it. But seeing Snoop and Dr. Dre, watching documentaries based on how they’ve gotten there and then knowing the history of conservative parties with hip hop culture, and the first hip hop show to play at the Super Bowl in LA. – I was so proud of them for this/ We’re alive and making it out of the hood. It just felt so historical. I was really, really proud of them.