Lucy Park Experiments With Imagery & Different Vocal Tones in her latest EP “Before I Speak”
Lucy Park is the Los Angeles by way of London, Japanese singer proving to be a promising newcomer in the R&B/Soul scene. Lucy’s personal journeys helped cultivate her sound. She released her first track “Rain” in August 2020, which has accumulated nearly five millions streams. Closing out 2020, Lucy debuted “Cold,” off her forthcoming EP, Before I Speak.
Watch the Music Video for “True to You”
Hi Lucy! It’s a pleasure to have been able to listen to your EP “Before I Speak,” you have a dynamic voice that ranges from silky and smooth to grainy and sultry. My personal favorite is “On God!” Your project is absolutely beautiful – what is the driving inspiration behind the complete work? Why order them in the way you have, or is the order arbitrary?
Thanks so much, I’m glad you liked listening to it! The order of the songs is meant to follow the trajectory of a relationship from start to finish. I focused on capturing a specific mood with each song and wanted the experience of listening to the EP as a whole to connect the moods together into a sequence or story. Using imagery and experimenting with different vocal tones was really fun to play around with while figuring out how to make this happen.
What was the full production process like for you?
I made these tracks with my lovely After Dinner Records team, Anoop D’Souza, Dylan Neustadter, Cam Johnson, and Rob Aragon. The process was different for each of the songs. I wrote the first half of “Cold” in London, and finished the second half in LA with Anoop. All of the vocals for that track were recorded on my iPhone voice memos. “True to You” was the most fun song on the EP to write. My whole team was in the studio the day we started writing it, and the energy we all had from being together after a long time apart put us in the mood to make something different. The light, flirty energy is reflective of us all just having a good time and reminiscing about going out before COVID. The next two tracks on the project were written at Anoop’s home studio, always with good food to inspire the writing 🙂 “
On God” was actually a song I made over a year ago with Anoop and Dylan that we rediscovered and re-wrote to fit on this EP. The last song, “After All,” is the most reflective of where I am at now, looking back on a chapter of my life with a better sense of wisdom and growth, and looking ahead towards new music and new relationships.
As a London born Asian-American, your personal journeys helped cultivate your sound. Why, would you say, is representation of different cultures in music important?
I don’t just think it’s important, I think it’s essential. For me, it is inspiring to see Asian-Americans and women of color becoming successful in creative fields because of how difficult it is for people with these identities to gain recognition. Ultimately, having these women to look up to helps me find comfort in knowing that my aspirations for my career as an Asian-American artist are possible.
Who are some artists that you look to for inspiration?
I grew up listening to a ton of Amy Winehouse and female jazz singers like Etta James and Billie Holiday. More recently, I’ve been inspired by Lauryn Hill, Joy Crookes, and Jorja Smith.
How did the quarantine period impact or influence you as an artist?
Staying creative during quarantine was difficult to adjust to at first because there were so few new experiences for me to write about. Instead I turned to listening, and immersed myself in new music, which opened up a whole new source of creativity for me. I spent just about every day of quarantine making music over FaceTime with Anoop D’Souza, until we eventually decided to make a whole EP together. FaceTime sessions changed the way that I approach writing music for the better, and taught me that some of my best music can be made in my bedroom.
Apart from music, what other projects are you working on, or are hoping to manifest /put into fruition?
On top of music I’m a full time student so I’m pretty busy! It has been such a blessing to be able to go to college and pursue music at the same time, but I also can’t wait to graduate in a few months so I’ll have more time for music. My classes have been online because of COVID, which has allowed me to do class from the studio and on the train ride going back and forth from writing sessions. I actually had to do a class presentation over Zoom on the train once. I always seem to have my laptop open with my class on one side of the screen and my lyric sheets on the other, which is chaotic but definitely worth it.
To listen to Lucy Park you can refer to the following links:
Special thank you to the Shore Fire team
