Lila Gold is figuring it out. The child of South-East Asian immigrant parents she grew up between Australia and New York learning to freely, unapologetically and passionately explore music. As Lila Gold she has opened for Empress Of, Wafia, Charlotte OC and dabbled in fashion with her brand Porcelain. We sat down to discuss mentors, messages and her time in the Future Classic x Dropbox studios this January.
What is your earliest musical memory?
Lily:“I used to go on LimeWire and download a bunch of stuff and was always on DatPiff and HotNewHipHop.com. My brother was really into making little CD’s and mixtapes so I would steal a bunch of stuff from him. I was always on the internet trying to find cool stuff to listen to. I didn’t have any rules of what I was and wasn’t allowed to listen to, so my music taste was huge and I learned how to navigate finding stuff on the internet when I was really young.. I was just like a little squirrel on the internet finding cool stuff[laughs].
What artists stood out to you back then?
Lily:“Early on in high school I found a bunch of Lil B and Clams Casino stuff and that was so sick. That was before he did stuff with A$AP Mob and I just thought the production was so refreshing. I’d been listening to so much hip hop but his production really struck a chord with me. Then I got really deep into finding alternative producers and music that didn’t have lyrics or vocals.”
Were you singing throughout the whole period of musical discovery or did that come into place later?
Lily:“I didn’t do music in school because they didn’t allow me to. I was really destructive in the class. I was really bored. I chose other electives. I had trouble focusing and reading music. They said if you can’t read music you can’t do the class[laughs] but I started using GarageBand and recording myself at home. I was singing and just experimenting and doing a bunch of random stuff.
When did it become serious beyond a hobby?
Lily:“I always knew I was going to pursue it. It was just“how”. Personally, if something feels good I want to do it again, and again, and again. I stopped going to school because I didn’t want to feel like I had to apply myself to anything other than music.”
What do you think is the most important thing about being an artist today?
Lily:“I think having a message is really important. I think there’s a lot of aesthetically, visually, sonically—cool shit out there but I think ultimately it’s about what you stand for. Because everything on the outside can be fabricated and curated and look really good but it’s all about the message.”
Do you know what you stand for or are you still figuring that out?
Lily:“I think I was born knowing what I stand for—doing what I do and making what I make, it goes against what society tells me I should be: as a young woman, as a POC, as a queer person—I can defy everything by doing what I’m doing.”
How have the residency sessions been going so far?
Lily:“It was kind of hard when I was a little sick for some of the sessions but I got something out of every session so I’ve been happy with it!”
Do you think the flow has improved as you’ve gone on?
Lily:“I think so yeah. My superpower is going into a room and vibing with someone in the first place so I was definitely in my comfort zone but I really like that people surprised me and were challenging me as well… It’s been really collaborative and I’m hoping more of the sessions will be like that as it goes on.”
You write with your dad though—right? So you’d be quite used to being collaborative.
Lily:“It’s kind of the same. When I’m writing with my Dad I don’t think of him as my‘DAD’per se—it’s just someone I collaborate with. Our dynamic is really different in the studio. When you’re in that environment you’re really respectful of other people creatives processes since it’s a very sensitive but open space and we’ve created this nice graciousness between us. If anything he has taught me studio etiquette and creative process etiquette and how to really get something from somebody and also give something to somebody in the studio in return.”
Who do you look up to right now in the music space?
Lily:“Let me have a think… I love Young Thug. I love Patti Smith and Elliott Smith. He’s probably my favorite songwriter of all time. Whenever I’m feeling stale emotionally or not feeling like I’ve been exuding my creativity I listen to him because he grabs stuff out of me.”
Lila Gold is figuring it out. The child of South-East Asian immigrant parents she grew up between Australia and New York learning to freely, unapologetically and passionately explore music. As Lila Gold she has opened for Empress Of, Wafia, Charlotte OC and dabbled in fashion with her brand Porcelain. We sat down to discuss mentors, messages and her time in the Future Classic x Dropbox studios this January.