We spoke with Lily Vakili of the Lily Vakili Band about her inspirations, new music, and more on the way. Read the full interview below.
When did you start making music? What made you decide to pursue it seriously?
I picked up acoustic guitar in my teens. I would listen to my eldest sister play. I was living in Puerto Rico at the time and was influenced by a wild mix of salsa, merengue, R&B and Rock. My late mother’s advice – “what is stopping you? No one else will do it for you.” – gave me the focus necessary to finally make my music – publicly and professionally.
How did you and your band meet? What inspired you to collaborate?
I kind of gathered band mates around me over a five year period – the composition of the band was fluid, but in the last couple of years, it began to gel and we started to generate a certain sound of our own.
Given the current situations in our country, how do the concepts and peace and justice play a role in your music?
If you write songs about people and their lives and their struggles, then peace and justice are natural companions to making music. Right now, we’re living in a powerful moment – and we have the opportunity and obligation to speak up on behalf of racial and gender equity, on behalf of a more just economic system and a less biased criminal justice system. Songs of protest and social justice are part of the mix and what we, as a band, can offer up.
We really enjoyed your newest single ‘We Got Dreams.’ What can you tell us about the song? What do you hope people take away from the record?
We Got Dreams is about the reality of hard times and the necessity of dreams. I’ve slept in cars and worked low-paying jobs, and I’ve never forgotten how being on the downside of life can feel. I know other people have been there and worse. My songs – I hope – are like friends that you want to hang out with because they get you.
What else do you have planned musically for the rest of 2020?
We’ll release a full album – American Storyland – in the fall. In the meantime, we’re playing house concerts and making new songs and rehearsing old ones, and finding new ways of making sound together.
How can fans support you?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on social media. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2_E5oOgVr95pCSq4Qj-LMA Buy our tunes on Bandcamp. https://lilyvakili.bandcamp.com/ We appreciate it all! XO – LVB https://lilyvakili.com/
