Inside Valley Lights’ Neon-Noir Vision of L.A.
Punk Head: Devil May Care feels less like a postcard from Los Angeles and more like the aftermath of a night out. What drew you to that version of the city?
Valley Lights: L.A. in the daylight is beautiful, but all the creatures come out at night. I think people have this vision of L.A. that is very glamorous, but if you've ever spent any time on Hollywood Boulevard at 2 A.M. you see something entirely different. Things are much more dangerous after dark, much more ambiguous, and I might even say much more honest. Those are the stories I'm interested in - falling in love, making mistakes, chasing ghosts in the grey hours before dawn.
Punk Head: The Sunset Strip is usually sold as a fantasy. You seem more interested in what gets left behind after the lights come up. Why?
Valley Lights: I've always been obsessed with "the aftermath" and the moments of self reflection that come with it. I mean, I love fantasy, don't get me wrong, but the liminal spaces in life are where the action is. In the light everything is clear, but in the twilight anything is possible.
Punk Head: The album title suggests someone with nothing to lose, but the press material feels full of consequences. Which side of that tension interests you more?
Valley Lights: The title "Devil May Care" was me really just saying to myself "I don't give a fuck". But in the best way possible. I decided to stop catering to other people, to fully embrace the person I want to be. To do what makes me happy, to live the life I want to live, and if I lose some friends along the way, great, if I offend some people on the way, perfect. I'm not living for anyone but myself. We only get one life, make the most of it.
Punk Head: Synthwave often looks backward, but your music is also framed as contemporary pop. How do you avoid becoming trapped by nostalgia?
Valley Lights: Fuck nostalgia. I keep my eyes on the future. I love the soundscapes that Synthwave creates, but I have never had the desire to go back in time. I want to move forward. Nostalgia is a trap we let ourselves get caught in. Like I said in my song, Giving Up On You, "all we have is right now." That means this moment RIGHT NOW. We all have a past, we all have demons, we all have pain. I guess I would prefer not to fixate on those things. I want to use those things to become the person I want to be.
Punk Head: The record seems to live in transitional spaces: backstage, back alleys, the end of the night. What is it about those in-between moments that keeps pulling you in as a writer?
Valley Lights: There is this Buddhist term "Bardo" which is like the transitional space between death and life. That idea has always resonated with me. The end of something, but not quite a new beginning yet. I have a song on my first album called "Afterglow" which touched on that idea specifically. Transition periods interest me because that is when choices occur. Do I give up or do I continue? To be or not to be? When the music's over, when I am backstage, who am I? Go check out Devil May Care...maybe you'll find out.
