Interview No. II
Lily Resnikoff / Lily Blu
Interview, Photos and Styling by Sophie Abeles
Photo Edits by Daniel Arnabar
Interview Edits by Ginny Keenan
Logo Design by Anna Scola
Lily and I climb the rickety ladder that leads us to the roof of our New York City apartment. It is a sticky morning in July, and Lily smiles at me beneath heavy eyelids. She stretches toward the rising sun, crinkling her sweats as she shifts her weight to steady herself.
I first met Lily last summer through FaceTime, when I was apartment hunting and she was searching for a roommate. She was calling from her hometown, a small village outside of Paris called Sorel-Moussel, where her love for music blossomed under early influences such as Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin.
What was it like growing up in the countryside of France?
It was wonderful… but hard at times. I spent a lot of time alone which I liked. We lived in this old farmhouse - really a house of nightmares because it needed so much fixing up. Lots of spiders and mice hiding in dark corners. I definitely thought it was haunted. The floor was stone, so no matter the season, it was cold. We sold the house when I was 10. But there was this giant maple tree that I loved. I’d lay underneath it and stare up, squinting at the gaps of light between the dark leaves so it looked like stars.
What are the strongest memories associated with music from your childhood?
When I was 11, I prepared a performance covering the song “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga to sing at the local pub in my town. My mom was in the back filming and I was so nervous. I actually got booed out. At the time, I was so upset, but now it’s such a funny moment to look back on.
In general though, music was the only time that my family was all together and happy in France. There were some hardships and tough times for all of us then, but when we would listen to music, we would blast it full-volume and have dance parties, and our house felt warm. Music created these beautiful, joyous moments where I came out of my solitude and loneliness and felt connected.
Who were your early musical influences?
Artists like Nina Simone, Claude Nougaro, Amy Winehouse, Lou Reed, Aretha Franklin, and Ella Fitzgerald. My godfather Pierre made me my first iPod playlist full of classics that still inspire me today. I’m going to dedicate my first record to him.
Fast-forward to living in Boston. You moved there when you were 13 to live with your dad, who left France a few years prior. Was it around this time that you also decided to pursue music as a career?
I made the choice to pursue music when I was 9. I saw how happy it made the people I loved and how it acted as a glue to bring people together. When my dad left and I started traveling back and forth between the US and France to visit either parent, I always had a playlist to listen to for the trip. Music became a place of safety and consistency for me. When I moved to the US permanently, I realized that there were real opportunities to pursue music as a career here.
I’m sure it was weird listening to music in English when you grew up speaking French. How do you feel singing in either language?
I have a hard time taking myself seriously when I sing in French. It feels like a secret. I sing smaller and more intimately and so I don’t do it as often.
I have noticed when you sing in French you seem secretive … you look to the side and sing softer. It definitely feels like you’re keeping something from the audience.
What does it give to you to be a performer? To be on stage?
I’ve been listening to St. Vincent’s new album, Daddy’s Home, and there’s a song in it called “Live in the Dream.” The lyrics refer to a Bruce Springsteen quote where he talks about how being famous and an artist can make you go crazy if you let it take over. He talks about how you have to let your dreams live in you instead of living entirely in your dream because if the dream lives inside of you, you have ownership and agency over that, and you still exist in the world to some extent.
I never have a good answer for when people ask me why I like performing. I’m good at it, but I’m shy, so it’s sort of funny that I’m good. I think music allows me to show my inner self to others and sort of emerge from my usual state of solitude to connect with people.
You also perform with other artists in the city, which I’m sure creates a different kind of connection. How are your performances with your band T0M0 different from your solo gigs?
With T0M0, a band I’m in with three other guys, I improvise with sounds and distortion pedals. I have the freedom to explore so many crevices of interpretation and expression during a performance because the band doesn’t write anything ahead of time. My solo stuff is definitely more calculated and personal.
What is the “solo stuff” that you are working on at the moment?
I have a record coming out in the spring called Dual that will be fully self-produced and arranged. I started writing these songs at the beginning of college, so the process of putting them together for a project feels very intimate. I’m also trying to fuse different grunge and electronic sounds with the jazz forms I learned in school. Dual is about being in an uncertain, gestational phase of life, when you feel too old to be dependent on other people, but too young to completely validate your own decisions and feelings. The songs are about rejoining these dualities and realizing that everything, even if it’s opposing, is interconnected. Like rejoining two parts of a whole.
Why do you continue making music?
Making music reshapes my perspective on everything: my relationships, the world around me, my family. I share thoughts that can’t be articulated with words alone through my music — that’s like magic.
Follow Lily Blu on Spotify | Apple Music