Lisa Spykers left her teaching career over 2 years ago to become a full-time traveling musician. She has performed in bars, restaurants, as a busker and at community events in North America & South East Asia, particularly Long Beach California, Los Angeles, & Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She visits Melbourne (home) regularly too. Her writing is soulful & bluesy & reflects her life’s experiences & impressions.

In this interview, we have a virtual pow wow with Lisa to discuss music, the new project and more.

Full Q&A, links, and streams below.

Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?

I appreciate many types of genres & have written in various styles such as country, blues and rock. This song (and the EP which it came from), was inspired by my time in LA and Long Beach, the musicians I met and the gigs I went to. I’m also a big fan of ‘70s r&b & soul, so there are influences there too.

What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?

Music is a part of my journey and one of the many things that make up my journey. Music is something that is intrinsic within all of us. Everything in the universe is made of frequencies & sound. That’s how I see it.

There’s an energy exchange that occurs between musician and audience. An unspoken form of communication. When you play live or someone is listening to your songs, you are exchanging an experience, a message and a feeling. It’s a pretty special thing.

Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?

I travel a lot and have done so for 12 years. I gave up my day job over 2.5 years & have been doing mostly music (writing, gigging, recording) and have traveled and spent a lot of time in the USA, Canada and South East Asia (particularly Malaysia). Traveling and the experiences attached definitely influences my creativity.

I don’t think my tastes have changed too much over time. I’ll still write a blues and roots song if I feel like writing a blues and roots song. It’s about what style I decide to record at a given moment. So at this point, I’m focused on my r&b and soul material.

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?

This latest project I learned a lot about production in this particular style of music (r&b/Soul), especially the detail involved with back-up vocals and the various layers and parts within (which I sang too). I aimed to create a professional sounding recording which is exactly what my producer and I achieved.

What was the last song you listened to?

The last song I heard was at live band metal karaoke in Downey, California. My friend absolutely killed N.I.B. by Black Sabbath. It was quite awesome.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

I prefer mp3s because I’m regularly traveling. Mp3s also give you easy access to change from listening to one artist then to another which of course cds and vinyl don’t allow you to do as quickly.

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

I think Bandcamp is great. Easy to use and more supportive for the artist. I’m all for that!

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?

The hardest thing about getting fans is keeping them into your stuff. Unless you are constantly releasing or performing, you can be forgotten about. There’s a lot of competition out there. Quality is important but how you engage with your fans is key to being successful. I’m learning about that now.

Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?

I use Bandcamp for my releases (as well as iTunes, Spotify etc) and Soundcloud for everything else and will post new stuff on my Facebook page too.

Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?

Thanks for the interview and opportunity to share some of my music with you!