DrakeMag sat down with the Canadian electro-pop artist before her Nov. 10 Siberia Tour stop in Des Moines. She talked style, success, and her secret to staying skinny.
“Lights was a nickname, and I wanted to use my nickname as an artist. I set up a Myspace account and quickly realized that it’s challenging to live under two different names. Names hold a lot of power—they influence the way you’re perceived so much, and I didn’t want to have two names. It was like an identity crisis. Now there’s no disparity. Lights is who I am.”
What she discovered growing up in a missionary family—
“I really learned what to expect in life. Don’t base success on having the most amazing house or a million cars or a massive flat screen. That stuff is amazing, but life’s about being with the right people and knowing that you’re going to be OK. There was no steady income living on the mission field, but we always had enough to keep us going. It really makes you have faith.”
On her style—
“It’s a combination of Lara Croft, grunge, and gymnast. My go-to pieces are my combat boots and black pants. I always wear those, but lately I’ve been trying to be more feminine.”
She’s a screamer—
“I have this ritual for when I’m going into the studio. I usually wake up that morning and scream into my pillow, especially if I know I’m going to do vocals. It gets my voice ready for the day.”
How she keeps in shape—
“My workout situation isn’t very standard. I clench everything. I’ll just clench my muscles when I’m walking down the street, if I’m stressed, if I’m just sitting around. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, and it keeps my metabolism up like crazy. I don’t work out other than that.”
The best advice she’s ever gotten—
“When I was a kid, my parents said, ‘Don’t ever set your standards based on what other people are doing.’ Set your standards on what you’re doing, and you’ll never be jealous, disappointed, or arrogant.”
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