Lolo Zouaï's Vision is Clear

Having collaborated with Lolo on various projects over the past couple of years, I've felt privileged to witness her creative process firsthand. With a natural-born talent for success, it's genuinely no surprise to see how far Lolo has come and how far she'll likely go. I sat down with the singer to delve into her latest EP and chat about her return to being an independent artist, her autonomy as a musician, moving back to NYC, and how she's really coming full circle from where she started.

So how are you doing today and what's your headspace like today?

My headspace is very cozy. It's raining. I just wanna be home all day. I went out last night, so kind of just trying to make up for that. I just wanna hang out with my cat.

What's your cat's name?

His name is Cocoa. I just adopted him from my mom.

Oh, cute.

I flew him from LA to New York.

How long have you had him?

I've had him for three weeks.

How's that? How's that adjustment been?

It's good. I think he really wants to play all the time, but I don't get to sleep. He actually says my name! I can't make this shit up. He knows how to talk.

Oh my God. Wait, that's actually so funny. You have to take a video next time he does it. So Crying in the Carwash just released in anticipation of your new EP. Can you tell us what this song is about and what was the inspiration behind it?

So it's about my time in LA which, you know, is why there was a car. LA never rains whereas it's raining in New York and it's just on theme. I was with Oscar Scheller who produced it and he had a guitar lick that really just inspired me. I had spent some time in the car wash earlier that day and I often write about what's happening in my life, or what I see visually. At the time I was feeling really down and just not happy about my life in LA — feeling isolated and like I had to be happy because it was sunny. I didn't feel like that was what I wanted to do, so I came up with Crying in the Carwash, which was a fun play on words. It reminds me of High Highs to Low Lows kind of title where it's playful but has depth.

You talk about that transition from moving from LA to New York. How has that transition been for you?

It's been good because I spent seven years here before and I feel like this is where it feels more like my home. New York always feels like a hometown show and all my friends live here. Especially now that I went back to being independent I feel like I'm kind of coming back into my authentic self.

So you're independent again and it's your first time releasing music since. What's this process been like this time around?

It's been so fun. It's been just kind of me and Doug, my manager. We make the choices together and I've been doing a lot of features this year. Like I did the Slayyyter feature, Tkay Maidza on her album, and both of those girls have incredible albums. I feel free to do whatever I want. I mean, I could have probably done that before, but I'm mentally free in a way. I feel really confident about my releases and I feel like I have so much music in the vault.

I remember from one of the first time's meeting was right before you dropped PLAYGIRL. The shoot with the subway cart, right? You were posting on Instagram announcing PLAYGIRL and I remember watching you do that and you were just so meticulous in your creativity and how you come off and present yourself to your audience. So I feel like it's nice again to be independent where you can have complete control over that.

Thank you. Yeah, that was the day I announced. I posted the trailer which was so next level and I was really excited. I'm really creative in the sense where I can edit my own videos and photos. I know how to use Photoshop and Premiere. I'm really hands on with everything in my career. So it's not like I lost a giant team at a label, but there's definitely things like music videos and budgets. I just have to be more mindful of what I'm spending my money on because now it's just all my business. But it's been really fun taking that control over again and making decisions like that based on what's the best move for me.

Definitely. And as you continue to grow, how important is it for you to have your own autonomy?

That's number one. I don't feel good when I don't know what's going on. I need to be tapped into every aspect which is a curse and a blessing because I know that some artists are really hands off and they're just like, "Oh, I just wanna look good and make the music and whatever." But I'm not at all like that and sometimes it really makes me have an overload of stress. I designed the vinyl for this project and obviously there's people that help, but ultimately it's up to me. It's hard work, but I love it.

I think it's super inspiring to see. I feel like every time we've worked together there's been some new project you're working on. Remember too before the Jagermeister commercial, you saw the CDs come out for the PLAYGIRL album and even then you had such a hands on looking at all of it.

For me, it's not just about being the artist on the outside. It's about the process and the whole package. I wouldn't enjoy it if I wasn't doing it, was hands on, or if I didn't have a say in everything, you know what I mean? I don't see myself as just a singer.

You're just an overall creative from head to toe, top to bottom.

Yes, I hire myself. [Laughs]

And earlier this year you wrapped the PLAYGIRL Tour. What was this experience like? How did it feel being on stage and having all of these people come out and support this album?

It was the first tour after the Dua Lipa tour and then my first tour since High Highs to Low Lows. So I was a little bit scared. After the pandemic, people didn't really go to shows as much, but I was very excited to bring PLAYGIRL to life. I felt like the album needed a live version for people to understand the concept. It was such an intricate concept with three different Playgirls. and all these colors. And so I was like let me bring this Playgirl claw machine box to life. Thankfully, I had that Jagermeister Tour bus which was insane. I wouldn't have been able to do that show without them.

I feel like you have such an onstage presence that you really brought your album to life. And when we all came and saw you in New York, we were like, "Oh my God, you're a performer, performer." It's so different to hear it on streams or just on Spotify or something, but going out and seeing it and like no shade — but I've been to some pretty bad shows. But the way you captivated the crowd was really incredible.

Thank you. That means a lot. Irving Plaza was so nice. It was such a great show. But I feel like that's one thing that people forget about me is that I really sing. I really be singing and, and every time I have a show people are like, "Oh." Some people will be like, "I forgot that you sing. You sing your ass off." Live performance and live singing is something I'm really always trying to get better at, and that's why I'm working on some live stuff for the EP so that I can share.

I mean, there's a difference to somebody that is just out there and singing versus an all around performer. And you really brought that energy where it had the whole entire crowd, dancing and singing along to every song which was really fun to see.

The one thing that I wish I had actually stuck with when I was a kid was dancing. I remember I took a ballet class and I thought it was a hip hop class, but it turned out to be a ballet class and I started crying because I just thought ballet was lame. I got kind of discouraged after it and I never forced myself to dance and now I really wish I had. I can dance naturally, but it's so hard for me to learn choreo. It would definitely take a lot of practice, which I haven't been doing.

Well, I mean, I feel like that gives you something to continue to try to work harder towards. I mean, you're a great dancer, but maybe it can be your New Year's resolution.

It's more than dance. It's knowing where your body is in space. It's understanding how you take up space. I feel like if I learn, I would be better at modeling. I would be better at just everything — especially understanding movement.

You mentioned having the three different versions of you for PLAYGIRL. How is Crying in the Carwash similar or different? Or are you just stripping it back to just you now?

Yeah, there's not really any characters for Crying in the Carwash. I was trying to be more vulnerable and more honest. It's about love, which honestly, none of my music has been about. It's kind of the journey.

What's the overall creative inspiration behind this?

I think when I started working with Oscar Scheller we just got so inspired. We both love R&B. He's from the UK, so I got inspired by the sounds he was bringing. It started out as a fun little project that I put together and then I realized that there were all these themes that it felt really icy and wintery, even if it's not a winter project, it feels like it is. "Lava Lamp" kind of feels like a Christmas song in a way. It brings you through the journey of falling in love and letting yourself feel it then letting it go.

It seems like you're coming into this full circle moment. You're the new version of you, but really honoring who you were last time you lived in New York and being an independent artist. Do you feel like you're finding your footing in the type of music you want to continue to create?

I don't think I came into this new project with much. I know this is weird to say, but I didn't come into it with much intention. I just kind of made it. And I've always admired artists that go into the studio knowing exactly what their album is going to sound like because I've never really done that. I've always just been like, "Oh, this is cool." So to me, my next album that I'm gonna work on, I really want to have a strong intention going into it. I did have that feeling for 'High Highs to Low Lows' where my plan was to show that I'm French, that I'm Algerian, that I'm from the Bay, and that I could sing. Then Playgirl, I was just making music and then I figured something out. But this next album that I'm going to start working on I want to have a plan and really dive into my original R&B sound. The darker and moodier sound that I started with because that's like what I listen to.

Even in anticipation of that album and having a more structured plan going into it, how does that look? What do you do when you're sitting down and you're like, "OK, I'm going to write a song right now for this album."

It's all about production for a sound because the vocal can kind of sit on any type of beat. I've just been listening to what songs I really love and putting together a playlist of the kind of tracks that I want to make. I never really have put out an album that is kind of all the same mood because I thought that that's not fun. Now I just want to challenge myself and make something a little bit different and really cohesive.

Definitely. I feel like with the obvious success that PLAYGIRL had, you can see the ups and downs with how each song plays off of each other, but they're kind of different. You have the upbeat tracks and the more stripped back ones. So it would be kind of interesting to see how you make something that you say is cohesive.

I was just actually afraid for some reason and I think I played it safe a little bit even though on the title track, PLAYGIRL, I did not play it safe. There's some things I would change about how I made that album, but also I have to be nicer to myself because it was after a pandemic and my best friend passed away.

I feel like from this conversation right now, there's a lot of growth but at the same time, just really solidifying into who you are as an artist and what kind of message you want to deliver to your audience.

I'm pretty sure my next body of work is going to be my best one.

What is something that you want your listeners to take away from the new music that you have coming out?

I think that people are really gonna relate to this EP because you don't always hear a girl admit in music that she was the one who was wrong. A lot of times guys are like, "I'm sorry, I hurt you, blah, blah, blah." I think that people are just going to feel it and be in their feelings and I think that's all I really want.

If there's anything you could tell yourself when you first started making music with the knowledge that you have now, what would you say?

I mean, you couldn't really tell me anything back then. I was so confident and I think I would just say just keep that energy. Keep the drive and keep the confidence. I would just be like, "You're doing good. Just keep doing what you're doing." Then I'd somehow find a way to stop COVID. I'd say, there's going to be a pandemic but you can fly to Wuhan and stop it all from happening. I was about to go on tour with Dua right after my album and obviously so much shit happened, so maybe I would try that, but everything happens for a reason. I don't think I would change any of my choices. I feel like I've made some good choices and you gotta invest in yourself and just keep going.

There's one thing you said that I really liked. You mentioned that you were so confident in the beginning and nobody could tell you anything.

It's funny how confident I was and how nobody could tell me shit. It's because no one expects anything from you. So when you're starting, no one has anything previous to compare to. But now you don't want to disappoint your fans and some people want a certain genre, but I'm not in the mood to make that at the time. I always keep reminding myself that no, this is your life, your music. I didn't come from money. I didn't come from music or anything. My parents are both immigrants and I'm killing it. I have my own apartment, I take care of myself, and I always try to remind myself this is what I wanted. All I wanted was to be able to make music whenever I want.

Music

Jesse Jo Stark Is in a Genre of Her Own

April 19, 2024

In the midst of a total solar eclipse, I got the chance to talk about music and style with Jesse Jo Stark.

As I’m on the phone with her from New York, Stark is on a tour bus with The Veronicas, driving through the Colorado mountains to enjoy some time off in between shows. The Veronicas have just started their Gothic Summer North American Tour, and Stark is opening the show. What’s special about this tour for the lifelong music obsessive is the sense of powerful feminine energy encapsulating the tour. “We just started [tour], but it’s been really lovely. I’m obsessed with the fact that we’re all women — it feels like a very powerful crew. The Veronicas are lovely, the crowds have been so fun, and the venues are beautiful. It’s gonna be a good month.”

Photography Sophia-Liv Maguire
Styling Marc Eram
Interview Angelina Hazzouri
Talent Jesse Jo Stark
Hair Antoine Martinez with PARADIS using Roz Hair
Makeup Sydney Szramowski
Photo Assistants Mia O’Neal, Rashaun Richardson
BTS Ms Josephine
Creative Producer Olivia Roper-Caldbeck

This is Stark’s second time touring since the release of her full-length debut album DOOMED in late 2022, which was very well received and led to Stark’s first sold-out international headlining tour on behalf of the album. Previous to her solo tour, she’s opened for various notable acts, such as Guns N’ Roses and Jane’s Addiction. I asked Stark, who’s been writing and playing music since age 11, what it was like to prepare for her first sold-out headlining tour. Unsurprisingly, before any tour, Stark goes into what she describes as “bootcamp mode” — dancing every day, vocal training, rehearsing with her band, and of course, working on her outfits. “That’s the sort of homework I love,” she says, smiling. (Even though we’re on the phone, I can tell she’s smiling when she talks about the outfit part. I’d smile too if I had her tour closet.)

What’s unique about Stark as a musician is that she has ultimately created her own universe by embracing every aspect of her creative upbringing, her raw talent, her fascinating influences, and her unwavering beliefs in not needing to fit into a certain box when it comes to her art. She creative-directs and styles all her own looks, referencing an ever-evolving list of influences that range from Vegas showgirls to Halloween to old films to her parents in the 90s. “I think when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from,” she tells me, “but now it’s just my blood. I constantly reflect on my childhood and everything I was taught and everything I saw. My brother and sister and I are constantly pulling influences from our parents from the past. I think, more than ever, I’m heavily influenced by them.”

Stark, the daughter of founders and owners of the self-made American fashion brand Chrome Hearts, and now its creative director and designer, is someone who always knew what she liked, but as she describes it, had to ‘go through the motions’ that come with growing up and knowing one’s identity. Today, her self-efficacy is palpable — and it’s inspiring.

...when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from, but now it’s just my blood.

When she’s on tour, Stark is growing with herself and with her art — she’s not afraid to take life as it comes and learn through the process. With every show, regardless of whether it was on her DOOMED tour or this tour with The Veronicas, Stark understands the importance of human connection through music. Seeing faces of music lovers like herself, meeting those who have traveled to see her, and visiting familiar and unfamiliar cities has reminded her that she loves being on the road. “The growth that happens on tour is so important to me as an artist.” Sometimes we have to leave behind what’s familiar in order to rediscover what’s important, and Stark is a proponent of this growth mindset.

Growth doesn’t just happen on tour with Stark — this evolution of herself happens within genre as well, and for Stark there’s no such thing. Since her first release Driftwood in 2017, the artist’s sound has shifted year after year, but in a harmonious way that still feels central to her gothic Americana roots. When asked if she’ll experiment with genre in the future, Stark confidently answers, “I think I’ve only experimented with genre. I don’t think anyone knows what genre I am.” (She calls herself a “horrific hillbilly” — a perfect descriptor.) Steadfast in her belief that we as humans can constantly evolve in our work, Stark thinks it’s antiquated to fit yourself into a certain box and focus on one specific trade in order to succeed. “If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time. I want to experience different things.”

Since Driftwood, a two-song EP rooted in rock and country, Stark has experimented with more robust beats and 808s on DOOMED, and her most recent single “skeleton” features a softer, grungier punk sound. Without fitting into a specific genre, Stark’s music is undoubtedly and wholeheartedly her own, transcending the boundaries of what many artists struggle with when finding their sound. “I don’t think we should have to label ourselves in any way, shape, or form; so I’m not going to. I will continue to make all types of different music.” Fuck yeah.

If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time.

This goes beyond just music — in terms of her personal style, the same mentality applies. We discuss the idea that clothing and dressing is a sort of playground, and personal style comes from within. Stark isn’t about following trends, but rather, she thinks it’s important to tap into different stylistic elements that amplify who we are at our cores. On her DOOMED tour, Stark wore a lot of leather and stuck to a fairly dark color palette. Right now, she’s into more bourgeois satin and lace, experimenting with different textures and wearing things that feel slightly daintier and more delicate. On this current tour with the Veronicas, Stark is making it more of a point to take everything in — absorbing inspiration from every city, writing songs on the road, recording video on a friend’s super 8 camera, styling and wearing new outfits, learning and performing new covers — ultimately growing through the whole experience.

It’s endearing and inspiring how well Stark knows herself. A Los Angeles native, she proudly tells me that the tour finishes on May 5 in her hometown, a show that she’s especially excited for. While we can’t predict what thoughtfully-curated outfit she’ll wear or what songs will be performed, with new music already underway, one thing is clear: Jesse Jo Stark is just getting started.

Music

9lives' Latest Single Continues to Push Sigilkore

April 19, 2024

The versatile artist, producer, and pioneer of the sigilkore genre, 9lives, has recently unveiled his latest single "CANADA" featuring jnhygs. In less than two years since his emergence onto the music scene, 9lives has carved out an impressive niche for himself as a prominent figure within the digitally-driven sigilkore movement. "CANADA" sees him teaming up once again with experimental dance artist jnhygs, following their successful collaboration on "XTAYALIVE".

With aspirations to establish himself within the mainstream arena of experimental music production and artistry, 9lives is blending his distinct dark production style with collaborations with a diverse array of influential artists who trust him to create innovative sonic landscapes. "CANADA" marks his second release of 2024, as 9lives continues to champion the burgeoning sigilkore movement, pushing the boundaries of genre, evolving into a multifaceted artist, and solidifying his status as a rising star with an expanding audience.

Image by Connor Pritchard

Reflecting on their latest project, 9lives shares, “In early 2023 jnhygs found my music and we started chatting through TikTok, releasing our first song together called "XTAYALIVE"." He adds, We’ve been friends since this song had a viral moment, and fans have been heavily requesting for us to work together again all over our videos.” Describing their creative process, he explains, “I sent a bunch of new ideas to jnhygs via Discord and she sent back vocals to “CANADA”, which I then used to create melodic layers and extra percussion to complete the song.

Music

Eclipsed at Vampire Weekend

April 16, 2024

It had been about a week since the goosebump-inducing communal howls at the moon, as it covered the sun through a cloudy Austin, Texas sky, left me needing to take a seat—suspended in awe of the totality of the event and the synergistic break from routine. I overheard someone say, “I mean, it feels like we’re all going to die, but in a way that’s okay, you know?" under the shadow of the eclipse's peak, ceremoniously brought in as the band performed “Jonathan Low,” (in Vampire Weekend's familiar ironic hue) a track they wrote for the third movie in the Twilight series, Eclipse.

It had been five years since the band had released an album. In celebration of their latest album, "Only God Was Above Us," ticket holders wrapped the streets in blocks outside the venue for the band’s first Stateside show in about two years. Event managers searched to replenish the venue’s stock of eclipse glasses, while the band prepped a show reminiscent of 'getting the boys back together again'.

Words and photography by Rianne Akindele

In between newly released songs like “Classical” and “Capricorn”, the boys filled the almost two-hour-long show with old favorites like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Diane Young” and a genre evolved rendition of “Sunflower” as the crowd danced barefoot feeling the Earth’s energy intertwined with their own and the vibrations from the amps on stage. People stole glances at the imminently darkening sky, artists doodled, friends grabbed onto each other to scream the lyrics in each other’s faces, and onlookers from the highest level of the parking garage across the street cheered on in a symphony of nostalgia and anticipation.

Adding to the layers of the celestial afternoon, the band invited to the stage the likes of Thomas Mars from Phoenix, Dave 1 from Chromeo, and guitarist Brian Robert Jones, inducing further levels of indie revival euphoria.

As the show drew to its close, and the zydeco/country-rock “Cocaine Cowboys” medley fiddled through the air, a conversation could be picked up between two sisters in search of their Lyft driver through closed-off streets,

“I wish this happened more often.”
“Eclipses or shows like this?”
“Both.”

It’s moments like these that remind us of our shared humanity and the power of collective experiences; a gathering of souls under the same sky, sharing the joy of music and a wonder of the stars above. Perhaps it’s the rarity that allowed such transcendence, reverence, and gratitude to be felt. Either way, what a beautiful moment in time it was.

Here are a few shots from the Monday afternoon: