INTERVIEW: Lily Papas on new single 'Encore' - "Women get put in a box of ‘you should be this way’: allow yourself to be ten other different versions of yourself."

Singer-songwriter Lily Papas first came to attention on the music scene late last year with her debut single ‘Wild’, a sweeping, deep pop track with elements of electro, rock, artpop and traditional balladry wrapped up in Papas’s remarkable bluesy, hypnotic voice.

Earlier this month she released her third single, ‘Encore’, a soaring ballad which details her first meeting with her now boyfriend and letting previous hurt slip away and allow love to consume her. It is a gentle yet passionate song and like all of Papas’ music is full of the feels and effortlessly winds its way into your soul.

With an astoundingly mature and confident clutch of singles already under her belt so quickly into her career, it is clear Papas is shaping up to be one of the next big artists in Australian music. We recently caught up with her to chat all about her career and music.

Hello Lily! How are things with you?
All good. It’s a bit like…an anticlimactic whirlwind?

I like that! An anticlimactic whirlwind.
It was going well! Last time we spoke was as I was about to release ‘Wild’ and everything was looking up and then it just kind of got put on hold. But I've been well otherwise just really focusing on being me and taking time learning to be me again.

Let's talk about ‘Encore’. And can you please take one? Because it's such an incredible song. My goodness
Thank you so much. It seriously means the world to finally have it out there. I actually wrote that song four years ago now. So it's been a process to get it out in the world. It's pretty cool finally having it out.

Oh, it's just so captivating. And your voice just pulls it through. But I love how it just builds to that amazing, gorgeous anthem. You said the process for this one was stretched over four years, can you tell me about where this majestic creature came from?
I had a little studio set up at my parent's place and this one night, I was I suppose wallowing in my own feelings. And I just picked up my guitar. And I had that first idea: “One night / This was no final / Club lights / You're the only face I see”. I had actually met my now partner out at a nightclub, and it was like everything moved in slow motion at the time. So I had this image of flashing lights that were just going in slow mo and his face was flashing. And that's the original idea that I had for the lyrics of the song. It's kind of hard to explain it because it just poured out of me - it was one of those songs where I kind of just pressed record. And then I sent that demo off to my manager and the label. To get to where we are now has been two different recordings, different production, but to me, the storyline has still stayed the same.

It's beautiful. And of course, the accompanying video, it is like the final scene of everybody's favourite film, but in slow time and from the other side of the dance floor. Clearly, visuals inspire you as much as the music. How important is that for you, that visual representation to go along with your music?
I've always been a movie girl. Growing up writing songs I was, eight, nine, ten and obviously didn't have any life experience at that point. So I would write based off movies I remembered, and I'm a hopeless romantic so I'd watch old movies like The Breakfast Club or The Notebook and I would picture myself as the protagonist and write as if I was that person. Visuals are really important to me in that way when I write, it's almost like I am watching a movie happen at the same time. On this song, it was really important that I put forward my story because it was so vivid to me as I was writing. So it was really important that I actually got that across in the video, which I think we did, which was really cool. I got to be very involved this time, I feel like I had a lot of control with everything, I got to be the second director on the video and I went into the editing suite and helped edit because I'm very fussy and a perfectionist on what I want in the video. I think I really needed to do that because the song is so personal to me. The last two songs I've released have both been co-writes, this was just me, so I really wanted it to portray the story of me.

Encore is also the name of your much anticipated debut album, featuring the gorgeous ‘Wild’ and recently released ‘Jackson’. You've been working and performing as a singer songwriter for over 10 years, and I imagine you've accumulated a tonne of songs that we haven't heard and possibly may never hear. I just wonder how do you approach writing songs for an album, as opposed to your previous work?
It's really interesting. And I think that was one of the the coolest parts about going off to LA and actually creating an album. I used to always think ‘how do artists make albums, they just throw these songs together, and put them in the mix, and it's there’. This album for me was very purposefully put together, so the approach to it was different. Originally, it was only meant to be four songs. I was in the studio with Phil Simmons, who was the producer on most of the album, and we went with the concept. Most of the themes on the album are talking about love, the heartbreak that you feel in the relationship sometimes when they don't work and also finding yourself. I went through a period in my life where I didn't know who I was. And I was really struggling to find where I fit in and who I was as a person. So the approach was just that I wanted to create something, I wanted to make a point - that you don't have to fit in. You don't have to fit in anywhere, you can be whoever you want to be. I've got many different versions of myself. And that's why there's different themes on this album, there's different sounds on this album, I didn't want to be put in a pocket where I'm just pop or I'm just alternative or she only sings ballads and she only sings this. I wanted a blend of everything because I'm that as a person. Sometimes I'm insecure. Sometimes I'm extroverted, sometimes I'm introverted. It all makes up who I am as a person. I think that women in particular get put in a box of ‘you should be this way’, instead of actually allowing yourself to be like ten other different versions of yourself. And I wanted to put that across on this album. Whoever's listening to it, I hope that they can relate to it.

I'm so glad you said that. And you're so right. The way an album is made I feel these days is a little different to how it used to be, you know what I mean? Because people are just pulling songs apart. But an artist will choose to do with that what they will but the fact that you're you're going at it and still seeing as as a body of work and as a representation of self and possibly even more so for yourself than anyone else, that's so important. And just by doing that, it'll really resonate with the listeners.
Yes, and that's the biggest thing that as an artist you constantly want to think about. What everyone else wants is a sound - you get the pressure, not only internally from labels or managers, you also get opinions from the general public. Whereas this album, was very, 'for me'. As a songwriter, it's almost like therapy, where you're writing about your feelings, and you're exposing your deepest, darkest secrets. For a very long time I was holding on to a lot of hurt and pain that I'd felt, particularly in my relationship, things that happened that I never really got over. And so this was a way for me to break free of hurt, and to break free of the chains that I was keeping myself in. So I hope that when people are listening to it, they can relate to that sense of not knowing who you are. And if it's relationship drama, that when they listen to the songs, they can relate to that as well.

Earlier this year, pre- the car crash 2020 has become, you performed at the Girls Day Out concert in Melbourne and smashed it. How important is it within your own career trajectory to support women and give a shout out to these female events in the industry?
I think is so important. In the industry we don't get enough credit for how hard we have to work and how much harder we have to work. So when there's events like this, it's so important, particularly for younger girls. I had this moment when I was performing, and I always thought that my music was going to be targeted to ages over like 16. And I looked out and saw young girls kind of look up to me, the way that I look up to my massive, female artists inspirations. That was one of the coolest things ever. So I think it's really important for me and for other up and coming artists that we encourage the younger generation that it's okay to be yourself and to speak your mind and to speak your truth. I think sometimes you can get shut down and not be free to be yourself. That for me was a defining moment where I was like this is really important for me to stand up and start being able to talk to other women and encourage them to get involved in music and whatever their dreams are.

Awesome to support the women. You got to support the girls, I love that. And lastly, before I leave you, Lily, what is on the horizon for you?
I'm hoping that there's some more shows coming up in the next six months, as we start to move into the next stage of easing restrictions and lockdowns. Obviously the album, still to be confirmed but hopefully towards the end of the year or early next year. And then who knows? I hope that I can just start getting as many people involved in my music as possible and really just trying to take over the world!

‘Encore’ is out now via Neon Records. You can download on iTunes and stream on Apple Music and Spotify.

To keep up with all things Lily Papas you can follow her on Instagram and Facebook