Bursting from the depths of the San Fernando Valley, California armed with a handful of riotous bangers and debut EP ‘I Can Fool Anybody In This Town’, Liily are ready to take on the world. With a punchy bite and fresh-faced feeling, they’ve just arrived in the UK for a handful of live dates. Frontman Dylan Nash fills us in on what’s going down in the world of Liily.
Hiya Dylan, can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
We’re four guys from Los Angeles, California. We met at a music program that helped us develop a knack for performing; some of us also met through high school.
Your tunes are fairly wild and unhinged, where does that stem from? And how do you bottle that energy on record?
For this current EP, most of the energy is derived from the anxiousness to finally record songs that we’d been playing for a while. It’s our first record of any sort so to finally get it out was a great feeling.
How did you find recording?
The process for recording the EP was pretty seamless. We had a great group of people in the studio every day making our lives a lot easier. Being our first time recording, we just tried to have fun, and I think that was conveyed well while still being professional.
What are your musical influences?
Our influences are pretty different across the board; we like bands like Foals, Death Grips, Queen, and even some post-punk groups as well. We pretty much play stuff that we enjoy regardless of sounding like a particular influence. If it sounds good, then it’s going on the record.
How did growing up in California/San Fernando impact you?
In LA there’s art pretty much everywhere you go, whether it’s visual or performance. Growing up around that was such a huge influence in the development of our sound, just living in the city you have access to so many different resources. It is truly the perfect place to be for an artist.
Where do your lyrical ideas come from?
We were ready to release music for so long; I think the lyrical intention was just to enhance the feeling we had when wanting to record finally. It’s more rooted in the intensity of the guitars and drums rather than the lyrics. But with our writing now, the lyrics represent the reason for our songs to exist; subjects that matter and help provoke thought.
What do you want to ultimately achieve with Liily?
I don’t think we have a specific end goal; I just know that we want to create art for as long as we can while maintaining our musical integrity. We understand it’s hard to navigate that, but I think we’ll just continue to make music we like and not get hung up in things that don’t matter.
What have been your favourite moments as a band so far?
Going on tour for the first time was the best experience we’ve had. We got substantially closer as a group, and I think that helped us on a creative level as well.
You’re over in the UK for your debut shows soon, how are you feeling for them? Any expectations?
We’re all super excited to play in the UK, some of our favourite music cultivated there, and it’s gonna be such an interesting experience facing a new crowd and seeing how they interact with us.
What’s the future looking like for you guys in terms of new music?
We’re currently writing a new album; the music is definitely a huge step forward away from the EP. As a band, we just want to consistently change and develop our sound in a natural way, and this new album is gonna be the perfect example of that. The EP was a great first step, but we’re excited to see what we come up with in the future.
Taken from the June issue of Dork, out soon. Liily tour the UK from 7th May.
Words: Steven Loftin
