Lila Forde: Honing Her Craft and Reaping Creative Rewards

Takeaways

• Stay true to yourself and your artistic vision, even in the face of external pressures 
• Log as many hours as you can to develop your confidence and expertise in whatever medium you choose
• Respect yourself as an artist

Resources

Listen to Lila’s music on Spotify

Watch her perform on YouTube

Go to her website and sign up for her mailing list at lilaforde.com 

Follow her on instagram @lilfody

Transcript

Lila [00:00:11] I’m Lila Ford, and this is no time to be timid.

Tricia [00:00:15] Hey there. I’m Tricia Rose Burt, and I want to ask you some questions. What creative work are you called to do but are too afraid to try? Is there a change you want to see happen in your community, but you’re waiting for someone else to step up and do it? Is fear of failure preventing you from starting new things that will make a difference to your life and to others? In this podcast, we look to artists to lead us and show us how they use creativity and courage to make changes in their lives and in the world. Pay close attention because this is no time to be timid. Welcome to the show. Before we get started, I want to say thank you to everyone who has written to us through email or on social media, telling us how much you’re enjoying this season. It means the world! And please keep reaching out. And I have a favor to ask. Please show us that love in a podcast review too on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen. Good reviews help build our audience, and our guests are so fantastic, we want as many people as possible to hear their stories, get inspired, and step into their own creativity and courage. So thanks for considering reviewing us and thanks again for all your kind words. One of our most recent reviews on Apple Podcast praised us for the diversity of guests we have on the show. A big shout out to Domystique21 — I’m not sure if I’m pronouncing that correctly, so forgive me if I’m not — who writes, “I love that a wide variety of creative people are interviewed. Writers, artists, comedians, magicians, bookshop owners. It reminds me that all of these accomplished people had to start somewhere.” And that’s what’s so special about this episode. We’re talking to singer songwriter Lila Forde at a launch point in her career. She’s a self-sustaining, working musician who’s been at it for years. But if you’re a fan of The Voice, you know that in season 24 last fall, Lila earned a coveted four-chair turn in about 30 seconds and went from a gigging girl in LA to one of the show’s top vocalist with adoring fans nationwide.

Song [00:03:32] Lyrics to “Can’t Find My Way Home.”

Tricia [00:03:38] Lila finished as one of the five finalists. Comparisons to Joni Mitchell are still being made, and John Legend, who was her coach, kept describing her as magical. I’ll described her as incredibly down to earth with a wisdom far beyond her years. In this episode, Lila teaches us the importance of staying true to yourself and your artistic vision, even in the face of external pressures; logging as many hours as you can to develop your confidence and expertise in whatever medium you choose; and respecting yourself as an artist. Lila is poised for a long and successful career, and I’m delighted you’re joining us for our conversation today. And one day you can look back and say, “you know, I heard Lila when she was just taking off.” Enjoy the show.

Tricia [00:04:31] Well, hey, Lila. Welcome to the show.

Lila [00:04:34] Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

Tricia [00:04:37] We’re very excited to have you here. So many of us, when we were kids, had these creative dreams, right? And then we grew up, and we thought we were supposed to be, you know, serious, practical adults to do practical things. I mean, I have I have a poster that says, “Please come see me in a play on Thursday at 1 p.m..” I think I did it when I was eight years old. Right? Because I was like always on a stage. And then I took like a 40-year detour. I didn’t come back to that for a really long time. And there’s lots of us who are trying to sort of reclaim or recover those creative dreams, and you seem to have just stayed on track. And so when was the first time when you were growing up, you’re like, oh, I’m supposed to be this. I’m supposed to be a singer/songwriter?

Lila [00:05:23] I mean, honestly, it was never a choice. That was what was going to happen. I never even considered anything else an option, because I felt like I was just born to do this thing. Luckily, I also had — I think it helps that my mother is a musician and my older brothers are both musicians too, so I was the youngest kid and so it might have been a tough conversation with my parents if I were like, hey, I want to go and like go to med school. They would be like, you’re an artist, you know? Whereas whereas, yeah, just the other way around, people who want to study music and parents are like, no way. But for me, it was like my parents were so accustomed to that world, it wasn’t anything new. And they had already done — it really was like when I was deciding where to go to college, where that it was like cemented, you know, are you going to go study music? Are you going to not study music? And I never felt like I even had a choice to not study music.

Tricia [00:06:22] In your heart as in your heart. Like that’s what was telling you what to do.

Lila [00:06:27] Absolutely. It was just there was nothing else I could possibly imagine. You know, I’m interested in in other things. I really like reading about things, and I have hobbies and stuff like that. But I couldn’t imagine myself in a lab or in an office or something like that. It just was like I felt like I was given something from God. Yet it’s so funny because I was so underdeveloped, like in high school as a musician. I was thinking back and listening back to listening to me play and sing back then. I’m like, wow, it’s pretty amazing that I still had that, like fortitude to go for it, even though, like, I sounded like a high schooler, obviously. It just it never felt like a choice. It felt like destiny or something like that. At the risk of sounding cliche.

Tricia [00:07:10] No, no, no. But what you did say, that’s really interesting. It’s like it’s pretty amazing you had the fortitude to move forward. This show is all about I mean, it’s caused no time to be timid. It’s all about finding that courage to keep going. And so, you know, you could have talked yourself out of something and you didn’t. But it takes courage to say, okay, now I’m going to step into this next level and I’m going to go — and you went to USC, right? When did you go see to go to school?

Lila [00:07:31] I did.

Tricia [00:07:31] How did that feel because I know you live in and just a beautiful spot in San Juan Islands in Washington, right? And then you go down to Los Angeles. How did that feel? And was that an easy transition, or was it like, whose idea was this, LA? I mean, what was that like?

Lila [00:07:48] LA is so different than Seattle. It’s so, I mean, everything you hear about L.A. is true. You hear about it’s so oversaturated with people who are moving there to like, chase their dreams to be the next big star, you know? So it’s so oversaturated with like BS at times. And I remember coming here and feeling — also going to USC, which is such a also a specific subculture within LA. It’s really wealthy. There’s a lot of, you know, it’s a huge like sorority and fraternity school. And I had come from like a really small high school in Seattle. And Seattle — it’s like this crunchy hippie city. I was like, singing in choir and playing ultimate Frisbee. And then I come to L.A. and it’s like way different. I remember, like at the very beginning of my freshman year at USC. I, you know, you’re desperately trying to make friends in the very beginning. And the friends that I was like, sort of had sort of found in the very beginning, they always were wanting to like go out to dinner and go out and do this stuff and go out and do the stuff. And I remember being like, I don’t have that, I don’t like, they just had like daddy’s credit card or something, to swipe to go out to dinner. And I was like, I can’t afford this. So I would like go to the dining hall first, eat there and then like, go out so I could still make friends because it’s like you’re desperate to make friends. But I was not, I didn’t come from the same background as so many of these like, USC kids. So that was a strange transition. And then, you know, I slowly found my people when I really cemented myself in the music school, which is like this really small ecosystem within USC that’s way different than everybody else. But it’s still full of those people that are desperate to to make it or to be famous or like sometimes, I always felt like people were almost in it for the wrong reasons. And I had to like protect myself from that. And also, you know, learn from that.

Tricia [00:09:50] Yeah, yeah. What did you learn from it? Like what did you what was your takeaway from that experience about how you wanted to navigate in the world as an artist?

Lila [00:09:59] Well, honestly, what I learned is you, when you’re in it for the wrong reasons, your art is compromised, and I’ve had the times where I’ve been like, for example, in this day and age, record labels and people, they all want you to just go viral. That’s the big thing. Go viral and we’ll sign you. Go viral and we’ll give you this, that and the other. I’m not, and I’ve had moments where I’m like, trying to write a song to, like, go viral, to be, like, popular on TikTok or like to be super catchy like that. And it feels really disingenuous, and it feels like I’m not being true to myself or true to what I am. And in that in those moments, it feels really like icky. Like I feel gross in my, not, but just like it feels really wrong. It feels like it’s not aligned with who I am as an artist. And if you’re in it to go viral, popularity, all these things, your art really is compromised. And I feel like that’s why, it’s actually what gives me hope, because I feel like I can stand out because I’m not doing that, you know, like I recognize it and I see it, but I’m not going to let that, like, affect what I do. You know, obviously I’m older and wiser now. So if I, you know, back when I was 18, starting school, I had to learn that I had to figure my way out. But, yeah, I would say that’s what I’ve learned.

Tricia [00:11:23] It’s a really important lesson and all of us need to hear it no matter where we are. Because I did this one-woman show and everyone was like, oh, you should turn this into a book. I’m like, oh, okay. I had no desire to write a book, but everybody told me I should write a book. And, you know, so I was trying to write a book that I thought other people wanted — it just was completely just, and it never got picked up. And it’s not a surprise. It just wasn’t aligned with what I wanted to do and what my voice was and

Lila [00:11:51] Exactly.

Tricia [00:11:52] And it was a hard lesson to learn. But but a good lesson to learn. Lucky you for learning it way sooner than I learned it by the way. But we, we it’s a spiral path. You know we’re going to get this lesson again and again. But so one of the things that I was really so impressed by and it goes along with what you’re saying right now, is that you were approached by American Idol first and turn them down. And that has to take a tremendous amount of courage if someone saying you have this, you know, it’s sort of tantalizing, here’s an opportunity to go on this fast track, if you will. Tell  me about why you said no, not wrong time. That’s not it.

Lila [00:12:37] Well, it just didn’t, yeah, exactly. Just didn’t feel right. It was like, first of all, the person that reached out to me was like, on line. It just didn’t feel like the right time. I honestly couldn’t tell you why. Just like, instinctually, I just kind of ignored it. I was just like, nah, because I knew I was also in the thick of the hustle, in the thick of the grind, and I couldn’t even tell you what made me move on from that offer. I just kind of did. And if I, I’ll tell you right now, if I had like, taken American Idol up on that because it had been like maybe a year prior, I forget, I wouldn’t have been ready and I probably wouldn’t have gone as far, and I probably wouldn’t have done what I did on the show, on The Voice. So I just kind of like, I don’t know, there was nothing like, conscious about, oh, I’m not ready for this yet. It was just sort of like I was preoccupied with other things. That wasn’t even a priority at the time. And the universe, I think, like, saw that and rewarded it and then presented the opportunity in a way that was really sort of divine. Like somebody heard me at a gig on New Year’s Day. It wasn’t, because you, everybody gets scouted online, everybody gets scouted online. This was like in person. I was playing a gig. There was this woman, she saw me, she heard me. It was like her day off. And she said, you know, I think I have an opportunity that I think would be really good for you. And there’s just something different about somebody looking you in the eye and having heard you perform, being in the same room as you and saying, I have an opportunity that I think would be really good for you. I was like, oh, okay. And it showed up at the perfect time. Like I said, if it had been a year prior, I would not have been ready for it. I wouldn’t have been ready for it. Like in myself, in my heart, in my instrument, in my artistry, in everything.

Tricia [00:14:27] Yeah, yeah. I mean, I just applaud you for trusting that and not second guessing that, you know, I think, you know, just not second guessing ourselves to go wait, this may not make any sense to anybody else, and this seems like an opportunity, but it’s just not, you know, that I, I really applaud you.

Lila [00:14:47] Thank you.

Tricia [00:14:48] You know, for doing that. Those are those are courageous choices to say no, I’m just I want to set the stage for this. What does your life look like when you’re gigging like pre this woman coming up to you at the mall. What what was your life looking like?

Lila [00:15:04] So okay, so before The Voice, because there’s a very big distinction actually between my life now after The Voice and before The Voice. So before The Voice, man, I was gigging all the time. Some weeks it would be literally seven days a week. Some weeks it would be like two, two days a week. Some weeks it would be four. It just because like the freelance lifestyle is super inconsistent. And at that point in my life, it was just like I was like a yes girl. I would take any pretty much any gig, because I am of the mindset that you can learn something from every situation that you’re put in, especially like a musical situation. So of course I’m speaking like before the show.

Tricia [00:15:43] Yeah.

Lila [00:15:44] Now at this point I’m like, things are a little different. I don’t say yes to everything anymore. I can’t. But before the show, you know, I would sometimes play like, you know, I live in LA and somebody would offer me a gig down in like, Manhattan Beach, say, and that’s like a 45 minute to an hour drive. So that’s already a commitment. And I remember these gigs would be pretty bottom of the barrel. They’re like bar gigs, which aren’t really my thing. And, you know, they pay like a hundred bucks and they’ll give you some beer. I’m like, okay. As a, as a, like a young person. I’m saying that now realizing what it sounds like because I’m not that much older than I was when I was but

Tricia [00:16:21] No, no, you’ve had major, you’ve had a milestone in between this.

Lila [00:16:26] Yeah. A milestone in between. And but you learn so much from being in a to put it frankly, in a shitty situation and at a shitty gig where sometimes there’s like a drunk guy screaming in your face, please sing Sublime, and I’m like, I really it’s really not my vibe. Like, I don’t really sing Sublime, but like, okay, how to deal with that? How to like, deal with, you know, a band leader that sucks. You know, just like all these different things. You learn the inner dynamics of the band. So I was saying yes to like every single gig that was offered me. And I’m, I’m so grateful that I did, because I truly believe that clocking all those hours made it that I, so when I got on The Voice, I could just like sail through and just do the thing I’ve sung for like literally hundreds and hundreds of hours. I performed for people for so many hours at this point. I know who I am, I know how to do this. I could literally do it in my sleep. Because for some people on the show, it was like their first big gig. Yeah, luckily that was not the case for me because I had been saying yes to every single gig I got, like from the second, I suppose gigs were starting to come my way, like when I graduated college. So, now things are a little different, but we’ll get there.

Tricia [00:17:44] Yeah yeah, yeah. Okay, so I want to get to that part of it. But I also want to say, I mean, I, I’m pretty sure that John Legend and one of the other coaches commented on it. They knew that you had been gigging because of the grace that you had on stage. They could tell that you had put in the hours. I remember that comment and some of the banter and conversation afterwards. And, it’s sort of like the artists know the artists, you know, the art.

Lila [00:18:11] Like, totally.

Tricia [00:18:12] We know that we’ve seen that, you know, we’ve seen that. So how did it go? So you’re so you’re in the West, is it the Westfield Century City Mall? Is that where you are? Okay, first of all, describe them mall for me. I need to know what the mall looks like.

Lila [00:18:27] I’ll tell you everything. Really nice. Really nice mall, Beverly Hills.

Tricia [00:18:30] Oh, it’s a nice mall. Okay. Beverly Hills, nice mall. Okay.

Lila [00:18:33] Okay. Very. Lots of luxury brands. Lots of, it’s huge also. Oh, man. I get every time I used to do that gig, I would get lost, show up, like, right as we were about to start because I didn’t know where I was going. There’s like 17 different parking structures with colors and numbers, the whole thing. So that day we usually play outside and they have this like food court area, but it’s like a really luxurious food court. It’s not like your typical mall. It’s like, oh, they have like leather couches. It’s really, it’s sweet. Yeah, it’s nice. But that day it was New Year’s Day. It was raining, so we were put inside. It was like the echoey food court. Lots of stuff going on, lots of chaos. And, we were playing. You want me to get into the get into how it happened?

Tricia [00:19:24] Yeah, a little bit. But then mostly what I’m most interested in is like, is you playing in malls and playing in lounges where people are probably listening to you with half an ear, right? Like they’re not totally focused on you, but then you make that move from that to being on a national stage where everyone is actually listening to every word that’s coming out of your mouth. Like was that, but she was just sort of said, it wasn’t that hard of a transition for you because you logged so many hours. Did you skip a beat at all?

Lila [00:19:56] Not really, because I love to perform and I really love to be in the spotlight. Truly. I really like thrive in the spotlight. I thrive when people are completely focused on me and listening to me. And I felt like always at those gigs, even if people weren’t listening to me, I was, the majority of the time really like zoned in to what I was doing because that’s just how music is for me. It’s not something that I ever want to like, phone it in, you know? It’s too precious. It’s too precious to me to, like, be unfocused and lazy and it takes the joy away from the music, and it’s such a like I said, it’s so. It’s just so precious to me. How could I not be like, 100% in it the whole time? So I think that’s why I was able to transition, because even if people were listening to me with half an ear, I was always performing as though I was performing at Carnegie Hall or something like that. So I feel like that’s the reason I was able to just thrive on national TV.

Tricia [00:20:58] And probably why that woman in the middle of the mall came up to you. She could sense it.

Lila [00:21:02] Probably, yes, exactly. Because she probably heard that. She heard that. Yeah.

Tricia [00:21:06] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she walks up in the middle of an echoey food court and says, hey, I got an I got something for you.

Lila [00:21:12] There were there were people actually listening, you know, we had a nice crowd. People were clapping after every song. It was New Year’s Day. People were, people were into it, you know.

Tricia [00:21:20] That’s great.

Lila [00:21:20] And, I noticed her because she was filming. And she was filming not like she was filming like a young, like teenager would film, like posting on their story or something like that. Like she was filming horizontally like this, you know? Yeah. And she was, she’s beautiful, right? She’s got this, like, gorgeous long red hair and she’s pregnant and she’s there with her husband. And I just kind of was like, you look kind of like, legit. I wonder who you are? And, she filmed multiple songs. She filmed like an original of mine. I said, oh, this is an original song of mine. She she immediately picked up her camera, and then she filmed another one, and, yeah. And then afterwards she said, can I have your email? I have an opportunity I think will be really good for you. And, you know, she emailed, she emailed me and she had the official, like, Voice logo at the bottom. I was like, oh yeah, this is this is legit for sure.

Tricia [00:22:16] Yeah, yeah, yeah. And your instincts are good enough to know legit. Not legit. Yeah. So you sang not only classic songs on The Voice, you sang American treasures. You sang, all the songs you sang were my friends. So I felt like the stakes were really high for you. One, you know, moving through in the competition and two, servicing those songs well. Did you pick those songs or were they picked for you?

Lila [00:22:43] Well both. So before the live shows they were picked for me, but from a list that I had given John and the producers. So I had said, these are songs that I feel represent me. I sound good on these songs. It was like they would give you a list of like a thousand songs. Then you’d make a list of 20 songs, and then from that list they would choose.

Tricia [00:23:05] Okay, I see. Wow, that’s a big responsibility to get up there and sing Fire and Rain. Yeah. These are songs that really matter to people. How did it feel to have that responsibility for those kinds of songs? Did it feel like a blessing? Did it feel like, wait, I mean, what did it feel like?

Lila [00:23:25] I feel like both, for sure, because I wanted to, it’s always a fine balance between paying homage to the original while also making it new and interesting. And but I think that’s kind of my my strength is that I’m able to do that because I’ve listened to, because I’m an old soul man, I’ve listened to all that music so much for some reason. It just resonates with me so much more than on a lot of the music being put out today. Like, the first band I ever fell in love with, like obsessed was The Beatles. Like, I know their discography like, better than any band ever. It’s so I’ve just been listening to these songs for so long that it feels like they’re sort of like saturated in my DNA. The original versions of them. But then I also have my own artistry, so I can come at it from a point of like knowing really strongly where they come from and how they they’ve been performed in the sort of tradition, but also having this like new perspective. I’m younger, I have my own style. I went to jazz school, you know, I also listen to new people. And, you know, I’m a product of my environment. So like sort of melding those two. I felt I felt, you know, confident in my ability to do that. So. Oh, it was a pressure 100% but also a blessing.

Tricia [00:24:51] Yeah. Yeah. Because I mean, I can remember when you walked out to do Angel from Montgomery, I was like. Yeah. Because that song, oh my God, that song. I love that song so much. And yeah, you hit it out of the park, but that it was funny. It was I, it was nervous making for, you know, those of us who treasure those songs, like, what is she going to do with that? What’s she going to do with that, you know? Watching on the show, and I’m assuming when you’re gigging, it’s a piano, a mic, a band, whatever. But on the show, you went from you pretty easy sets to suddenly like when you sang the River. We’ve got a set going on there. Like it got really elaborate.

Lila [00:25:30] We hear horror stories from these shows, right? You know, they they made me into something I’m not. They forced me to do something. They forced me to sing, you know, blah blah blah. Oh, we hear all these things. I’ll tell you, they never did that to me the entire time. They just loved me for who I was. And I really felt that in when I performed River, because, you know, my thing on that show was, I’m not a I’m not a big belter. I’m not a huge, crazy, big, loud singer like everybody else on that show. And I was never about to, like, compromise my artistry or try to change myself to, like, outsing somebody else. And that’s something that John really told me. He’s like, you just do you and you’ll be just fine. Don’t try to outsing anybody. Don’t try to outbelt anybody. You just do what Lila does and you’ll be fine. And he was right.

Tricia [00:26:16] Yeah.

Song [00:26:24] Lyrics to River by Joni Mitchell

Lila [00:26:57] I remember seeing the river stage and being so grateful to the show because I feel like what I do, there’s a lot of subtlety in it. You know, there’s a lot of like, nuance and subtlety in the way I perform it, in the way I sing, and it was almost as if the show was building something really elaborate and extravagant around me to, like, uplift the subtlety and the nuance of how I perform. And the fact that I closed the show that night was such a big deal to me. That was such an honor. And and we don’t find out until the day of we don’t until the day we’re performing for that live show, we don’t find out the order. And I remember, I remember seeing the list and being like, oh my God, I’m closing. I am the last person that America will see perform before they vote. And I remember just being like, wow. This show is really…I’m a I’m a different type than they’re used to having and they’re really rooting for me. So it felt like a really big honor. Something about that stage. I mean, that gorgeous stage, it was like unbelievable.

Tricia [00:28:09] It was gorgeous. We went from a bare stage to hello! It was a very theatrical production with Lila in the middle of it, it was like, did that like, were you aware of it or did you zone? Just like you were in the mall. Like were you just zoning or were you aware of everything that was around you? I would think it would be pretty intimidating more than anything.

Lila [00:28:36] I’m aware, but it’s just always for me, it’s just like the music. I’m 100%. Everything else is blocked out. Like I see John Legend there. I see Niall, I see Gwen Stefani and Reba. I see my parents up in the stage. I see the band over here. I’m like there are, I’m like freezing in my dress. Somebody’s like holding my dress, holding my mic, helping me up. There’s like such a production going on, but it’s just like, I have a job to do.

Tricia [00:29:02] Yeah.

Lila [00:29:04] Period.

Tricia [00:29:20] We’ll get back to the second half of our conversation in a moment. But right now I want to tell you about our sponsor Interabang Books, a Dallas-based independent bookstore with a terrific online collection. At Interabang, their dedicated staff of book enthusiasts will guide you on your search for knowledge and the excitement of discovery. Shop their curated collection online at interabangbooks.com. That’s interabangbooks.com.

Tricia [00:30:02] You really exhibited this combination of professionalism and artistry. You know which came through. You know, I produced live shows as well, and usually storytelling shows and I was like, ooh, she’s closing the show. I mean, you know, you it’s a huge deal, who closes the show.

Lila [00:30:19] It’s a huge deal. It was a huge deal for me.

Tricia [00:30:22] Yeah, yeah, that was very exciting. And what I loved, I particularly in the River, it was fun to see John Legend singing along with you. I mean, I don’t know if you could see it, but we could like, bless his heart, he’s like singing along with you.

Lila [00:30:37] I know that guy is really a special man. What you see on TV is just a the tip of the iceberg. And he really is truly that kind and that nice and that caring and more so in person.

Tricia [00:30:49] Yeah. That’s lovely. Yeah. Do you have are you able to have a continuing relationship with him?

Lila [00:30:54] I am, yeah. After the show ended it was like Christmas and New Year’s. And so it was just everybody was just like off line. Everybody was out after that. And then I reached out to John and I was like, hey, you know, I have this album. I would love to get your ears on it and hear your feedback and advice. Just like shooting my shot, seeing if like, the relationship still stands after this show because you know, he’s already onto a new season right now. But I also know that John and I, I think had a really like a connection for the one for the books, one for the books. It was definitely very different than I think he’s he’s had on the show. And, he emailed me back, Of course. Of course. I would love to listen to it, send it over. And, I sent him my album and the guy listened to every single track and gave me feedback and notes on all ten tracks on this album, like John Legend, The Busiest Guy on the planet. And it, like, seriously meant so much to me. Like just yesterday, he like, commented on one of my Instagram videos and said, like, love it. And I’m like, oh wow. I think I really do have a relationship with this guy beyond the show because you really you really don’t know. That’s not the case for some of my friends and their coaches. I will, they’ll remain nameless. But yeah, I’ve had friends reach out to their coaches and it’s not the same. So yeah, I’m really, really I feel very blessed for that.

Tricia [00:32:15] It’s lovely to hear because it did seem that y’all had a genuine connection. And and mentors are so they just matter. Mentors matter to really help us, you know, shape our voice, navigate the world. It’s hard being an artist and, you know, to have somebody that can cheer you on who’s been there before, it just makes a huge difference.

Lila [00:32:39] Totally.

Tricia [00:32:40] Half the time. Just to make sure you, to know you’re not crazy. Yeah.

Lila [00:32:43] Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tricia [00:32:45] I’m not crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m not crazy. So. Okay, before The Voice, I do want you to tell me the difference pre Voice and post Voice. But I know before The Voice, you just talked about the album, you had raised $16,000. Got your album recorded. Tell me a little bit about the album and is it now different post The Voice and post John Legend’s comments on it. Like, have you gone back and rerecorded it or what are you going to do with it?

Lila [00:33:13] That’s a great question. So, you know, John Legend’s advice on it — it’s it’s pretty much been recorded, so it’s kind of like fixed in tangible form and it like encompasses who I was at this time and these songs that I’ve, that I’ve written. And it’s really good. I’m really, really proud of it. And I think the advice that John gave me, I think will kind of more go, go towards future projects. And I also have to take into account, as much as I do hold John on this really high pedestal, he also is just a guy with an ear and a perspective, just like we all are. And if he says, hey, I don’t think this chorus is hooky enough, but it’s a chorus that I love so dearly and I think it means so much to me. I’m going to keep it that way because again, it’s all about being like, true to yourself, true to who you are, taking all the advice that you can get, changing things when it feels necessary and it feels like it aligns, but also just remaining like, I think it’s it’s great to have — it’ll be my first album and it’ll be representative of the writer and the the singer and the musician and the artist that I was at this certain time. And I think that’s really important for my trajectory for because I want people to be able to see who I was in the very beginning. And yeah, albums will continue to be written and get better and different and change and evolve and all that stuff. But I love that in listening to an artist like Bonnie Raitt, for example, that first album that she recorded in, like, what was it, 1969 or something? Or 71? I don’t remember, but she’s super young. And then all the way to the album she just released two years ago. And you can hear the difference in how she evolves and grows and I love going back to the very beginning and hearing who she was then and who she is now. So I want that and I want to give that to my fans and my listeners and stuff. So we are rerecording one song.

Tricia [00:35:13] I mean, here’s the thing that I found with criticism or notes or whatever you want to say. When they’re right, you feel it and go, yeah, yeah, because of that, you feel it in your body. Your body says yes to that one and you know.

Lila [00:35:27] And exactly.

Tricia [00:35:28] And so if you’re smart, you pay attention to that, you know, and you make the changes and the other ones can say maybe a little later or, okay, you know, and that there’s some that you go, yeah, that one’s a keeper. That one’s a right now one.

Lila [00:35:40] That one’s a keeper. Exactly. Yeah.

Tricia [00:35:42] So what’s the difference between you singing, you know,  these beautiful songs, these classic songs and your own music? What is the difference for you when you’re singing words that you’ve written and melodies that you’ve written?

Lila [00:36:00] It’s a good question. I mean, sometimes it’s like easier to sing songs that you haven’t written in a lot of ways for me, because it’s just been laid out for you, and it’s kind of like a playground for you to navigate. And sometimes, like songs that you write can be really vulnerable, really close to home and who you are. And oftentimes it’s like if you’re feeling those emotions so deeply, it can be hard to like, open yourself up to a crowd or to an audience. But that’s also the beauty in it. So I also just recorded an EP of songs that I did on the show that I’m going to release.

Tricia [00:36:37] Okay, great.

Lila [00:36:38] And which is super exciting, and I wonder if there if people will be able to hear a difference between how I sing those songs is how I sing my own songs. These are the songs that I’ve written there, so I feel like they really are representative of me, of my entire artistry. And I don’t know, you can you can hear that, and I can feel it in the way, in the way I perform these songs. It’s like everything you are. It’s not just your voice. Your voice is a really vulnerable, I think it’s the most vulnerable instrument to play because it’s literally your body. And then when you sing songs that you’ve composed, that you’ve written, it’s like one step further. It’s like, oh, here’s my heart too, you know what I mean? But, it’s really it’s really exciting to to tell your own story also on stage, you know what I mean?

Tricia [00:37:28] I do I mean, I’m a first person narrative storyteller. So I get up all the time and tell my own story. And so, I mean, I can’t sing as well as you like, which is why I just tell the story and don’t sing it. But it’s it’s very vulnerable. And that’s what makes a story good is vulnerability is what makes a story good. And that’s, that’s, that’s the key to a good story. And we always, you know, when I coach people who are storytelling and if they have a very tender story, if they can’t tell the story without crying, it is too soon for them to tell that story. Because you don’t want the audience, you don’t want the audience worrying about them, you know, you want to get through this story without crying. My guess is you have kind of the same experience singing.

Lila [00:38:13] 100%.

Tricia [00:38:14] Saying that, okay, I was listening to your music and you have several songs that I love. One though, you say this is a song I wrote about my dog. It’s How Do You. And I was like, weeping in it. So. Yeah, so, so, so tell me a little bit about that song.

Lila [00:38:34] I’ve never met a dog like this or honestly felt like anybody, human, animal, plant, anything has like understood me in the way this dog does. And this dog, his name’s Sinjin. He lives in Seattle with my parents, so I get to see him a couple times a year now, and we still have that intense connection. But he’s just like, this guy can read my mind. Like when I’m sad, he knows it. When I’m happy, he knows it. When I’m feeling mischievous, he knows it. I don’t even know how to describe this connection, but I wrote that song when I was out on San Juan Island with him. And we’re just, like, tromping through the woods, exploring, doing things. And he’s right there with me. He goes and runs off and then comes right back. This dog, he’s a he’s a German shepherd and a collie mix. So really, really, really smart dog. Extremely smart and like, emotionally intelligent. Like, I’m like, how did you? How did you? What? And, I kind of started writing this song, and I didn’t know, I didn’t know that it was about him at first. And I just started writing this song about this, like, deep connection I felt, and it started with the with the chorus. How do you? My boyfriend at the time was like, I think this song might be about your dog. I think this song might be about Sinjin. And I was like, oh, and I realized it. And then it kind of allowed me to piece the rest of the song together because of that realization.

Song [00:40:08] Lyrics to How Do You, by Lila Forde.

Lila [00:41:25] It’s so funny that that song actually isn’t on my album.

Tricia [00:41:29] Oh, it’s so beautiful. And when you were singing it, I was going, please don’t let the dog die. Please don’t let the dog.

Lila [00:41:35] Oh no. The dog is alive and well. The dog is alive and well.

Tricia [00:41:38] I know I, I can’t do a dog that dies. Please don’t.

Lila [00:41:42] Me neither. But that song. I think it will be on my next album, I think.

Tricia [00:41:50] It is a beautiful. I mean, I was listening to. I mean, all of your music is beautiful, but each song has its own, you know, character and beauty and what draws you in.  Tell us the difference between your life. Pre Voice, life post Voice. You can be more selective now. Clearly.

Lila [00:42:07] Absolutely. Yeah.

Tricia [00:42:08] So yeah. So what do I look like now?

Lila [00:42:11] I am being far more selective. I gig way less, way less because I feel like obviously I’m still young and I’m still in the grind. I can’t go from being in the top five on national TV, singing a duet with John Legend to back singing in a shitty bar, playing for 100 bucks and beer. I just can’t do that. That’s because that’ll be telling the universe that’s all I deserve and I won’t, like, level up. So I’m telling the universe, no, I deserve better than that. I’m going to work way less. I’m going to get paid way more. And that’s what that’s what I expect. And that’s what I’m going to get, because that’s how it’s always happen for me. And because having, as a freelance musician, it’s really easy to fall into scarcity mindset because gigs are inconsistent, especially like in these months in January and February, everybody’s blown their budget from Christmas and New Year’s, and it’s not spring yet. So gigs are really slow, so it’s easy to get like, okay, yeah, I’ll take whatever I can get, but I can’t, you can’t go from like, getting a PhD and then working as an assistant again or something like that, you know?

Tricia [00:43:19] Yeah, yeah.

Lila [00:43:20] It’s not actually even about the money. It’s about the respect. Like, I will still play a gig for free 100% if it’s if it’s serving me otherwise. If it’s because it’s a really good opportunity or I’m playing with people that I really look up to, or it’s for a good cause or whatever. It’s not about the money, it’s about the the respect and the intention. I’m not going to do the thing where I have some stinky manager telling me to turn down. I’m like, I’m not going to do the thing where people just want me to blend into the background. And I don’t even mean to say this and sound conceited or, you know, holier than thou or anything like that. It’s just that  I’ve leveled up and I got to stay up there in order to keep moving up the ranks, you know what I mean?

Tricia [00:44:03] I do absolutely. And I think it has a lot to do with respecting your art and respecting your craft and respecting the work that you’ve done. And we’re artist and freelance artist, but we’re also solo entrepreneurs. We’re business people as well. And we have to be strategic about the choices that we make  and so and there are other ways to be compensated. You know, it’s not all about money. If it’s a connection that gets made, if it’s an opportunity you wouldn’t otherwise have. But you have to be thinking about, am I am I respecting where I’ve come from and the work that I’ve done? It isn’t being conceited at all. It’s not. It’s being smart. It’s just being smart.

Lila [00:44:46] Absolutely, yeah.

Tricia [00:44:47] Do you have a team that’s guiding you, or is it Lila making good choices.

Lila [00:44:53] It’s well, the good choices come from me. The team is piecing, is getting pieced together, which is really exciting. I have some people helping me out with sort of like day to day management stuff, negotiating rates for gigs that are like abroad and stuff like that. So it’s slowly, we’re slowly getting there. But I do feel like that decision is, is my own and yeah, the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. And I just it feels like a, a relief, you know, like I’ve put in my time, I’ve put in my hours. It’s not like I’m trying to like, demand stardom and not pay my dues. I’ve paid my dues. Trust me, I have.

Tricia [00:45:27] Don’t appear to be the diva type.

Lila [00:45:30] Thank you.

Tricia [00:45:31] And that’s a huge compliment.

Lila [00:45:33] Yes it is. Yes it is. Thank you very much.

Tricia [00:45:35] Say no to divas. It doesn’t work. I mean, I you know, I would people would say to me what I did a lot of time working with The Moth and like, oh my God, you get to work with The Moth. And I’m like, it’s because I show up on time and I’m nice to be around. Yeah, I mean, you know, I’m a really good storyteller, but I also show up on time and I’m nice to be around. And it just makes a big difference.

Lila [00:45:58] It’s huge. That’s everything. It’s everything. I know nobody can stand a diva. Listen, it’s just simply not the vibe.

Tricia [00:46:06] Okay, so tell us where we can, what we can buy, when we can buy it. How do we all support you? What do we do?

Lila [00:46:12] Okay, great. So all my music is on Spotify. There’s only one song from the upcoming album. That one’s called All I Expected.

Song [00:46:25] Lyrics to All I Expected by Lila Forde.

Lila [00:46:38] But other than that, there’s an EP that I released in 2020. It’s very, raw and young. And again, it’s a product in time of who I was at that point. Things are very different now, but you can listen to that wherever you listen to music. There’s stuff on YouTube, Lila Forde. You can find me on Instagram and.

Tricia [00:47:00] And that’s Forde with an E, Lila Forde with and E.

Lila [00:47:03] That’s Forde with an E listeners. Lila Forde like the car with an E. And you can find me on Instagram at l i l f o d y. That’s really where I post a lot of content, a lot of like upcoming shows and all that stuff. And you can also sign up for my mailing list on my website, Lila Forde with an e.com.

Tricia [00:47:26] Yeah, fantastic. Lila, I’m just so tickled that you could join us. It really was just fabulous to have you on the show.

Lila [00:47:34] It’s really been an enjoyable conversation, Tricia, thank you so much for having me.

Tricia [00:47:38] You’re welcome. You can come back any time. Any time.

Lila [00:47:41] I’ll take you up on that. Certainly.

Tricia [00:48:02] Oh my gosh, Lila is such a breath of fresh air. And since our conversation, she’s gotten great news. Her first single, Can’t Find My Way Home, which you heard at the top of the show from her cover EP of songs she performed on The Voice will be released on May 3rd. The rest of the singles from the EP will drop mid-summer, and so as we stay tuned for all of her new music, here’s some questions to think about. Are you compromising your art by trying to do what’s popular, or what someone else thinks you should do, rather than what feels true to who you are? What’s your equivalent of gigging? Are you putting in the hours you need to so that when an opportunity arises, you’re able to level up? And how are you respecting yourself as an artist? Now, I know Lila gave you all her info in our conversation, but I’m going to give it to you again. You can find her music on Spotify and on YouTube. Go to her website and sign up for her mailing list at lilaforde.com. That’s Forde with an E, and make sure to follow her on Instagram @lilfody. And that’s spelled l i l f as in Forde o d y. That’s l i l f as in Forde o d y. Let’s all go support Lila. If you’re listening to this podcast, it’s because you care about creativity and courage too. And believe, like I do, that this is no time to be timid. This year I’m taking the no time to be timid message on the road. And maybe you’re part of the world needs to hear it. If you’re looking to awaken boldness and creativity in your company or organization, I’d love to come speak to you. Let’s have a conversation. Please reach out to me at booking@triciaroseburt.com. Join us for our next episode when our guest will be Richard Casper, former U.S. Marine and founder of Creativets, a program that helps wounded veterans heal through art and music. Richard is a veteran of the Iraq War, where he saw his best friend killed and his Humvee was blown up four times. He suffered post-traumatic stress and a serious brain injury, but he found healing through visual art making and songwriting. Now, Richard’s organization helps heal thousands of wounded veterans across our nation. You don’t want to miss this episode. In fact, you don’t want to miss any episodes this season, so make sure to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And if you’ve got some thoughts about or suggestions for the show, we would love to hear them. Reach out to us at podcast@triciaroseburt.com. That’s podcast@triciaroseburt.com. And remember this is no time to be timid. No Time to Be Timid is written and produced by me, Tricia Rose Burt. Our episodes are produced and scored by Adam Arnone of Echo Finch, and our theme music is Twists and Turns by the Paul Dunlea Group. If you like what you hear, please spread the word, subscribe to the show, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. No Time to Be Timid is a presentation of I Will Be Good Productions.