We spoke to Bennington-based singer-songwriter and emerging producer Lilly Golden about her debut EP Instar, what’s on her playlist currently and how she creates her signature sound. Lilly majors in vocal performance and songwriting at Bennington College, and wrote Instar during her freshman and sophomore years.
The EP is serene, playful, authentic and bold as Lilly shares her personal experiences with the highs and lows of navigating life and romance as a young adult. Stream Instar while reading our interview with Lilly Golden below:
Set the tone for us. Why the arts?
What it really comes down to is that something about performance has always made sense to me and being on stage just feels right. I spent the first part of my life in Death Valley National Park, California, and was one of the only kids in the area, so movies were a main form of entertainment, specifically movie musicals. My favorite was the Little Mermaid. I was always performing it in front of the TV in my living room. When I moved to Vermont in second grade, I started performing in musicals, which gave me a real push in the performance direction. Through middle and high school I did probably 20 shows and figured I would seek a BFA musical theatre program, but once the pandemic hit in my third year of high school, I sort of lost the spark for musical theatre. But, that’s when I started to take my songwriting seriously. I started writing songs and showing them to my close friends who encouraged me to continue, but I wasn’t really able to accompany myself until I got my first guitar right before college. After taking my first songwriting class (where I wrote ‘Confessions’, ‘Back to the Mountains’ and ‘[redacted]’, I knew I had found my passion. I promptly changed my theatre major to music and songwriting and I’ve never looked back.
Which comes first when you’re producing – the sound or the idea?
Definitely the idea. My process varies from song to song, but a lot of the time I start with the story I want to tell, I write the lyrics, and then develop the structure; the hook, the syntax and the chords. I love the process of writing lyrics and look for inspiration everywhere. I have a Notes app folder on my phone that I use as my “thought glossary” where I write down all the things that inspire me in day to day life that I could use in songs. When I need a specific lyric or idea, I comb through all the inspiring things I’ve heard or seen to find what fits thematically.
The recordings tend to come with some trial and error, especially because going into this process I had no experience with DAWs or recording at all. I knew what sounds resonated with me from the musical styles I like and tried my best to place my own spin on them (lots of the songs that inspired me are listed in playlists on my Spotify profile). Then I got to work with my friends and learned the mechanics of producing.
Was there a specific moment in your life where you thought, “this is what I want to do”?
There’s been a couple of those moments, for sure. The most recent one was a show I did at Bennington College last year. It was my second show with a band (first with bass and drums!) and we were playing a mix of originals and covers. The last 3 songs of the set were ‘Style’ by Taylor Swift, ‘Confessions’ by me!, and ‘All I Wanted’, by Paramore. ‘Style’ falls into a category of songs I refer to as hairbrush microphone songs. These are the songs that I’ve been singing alone in my room with my headphones on and anything vaguely microphone shaped in hand, so hearing myself singing it to a crowd of people with a real microphone in hand was already making me emotional.
Then I sang my song ‘Confessions’, which is one I’ve played at Bennington a lot, I would definitely consider it my most popular. And before it had even been released, I got to look out into the crowd and see all of my peers singing every word. It was ridiculously cool and so humbling that people would take the time to come to my shows or find the YouTube video recordings and learn the words. It was so incredibly sweet and so empowering as an artist. And finally, ‘All I Wanted’, which is a beast of a song. And I was nervous. It’s the end of the night and those vocals are so demanding. But if there’s something Bennington students love it’s Paramore; and I nailed those vocals and brought down the house. It was so much fun to let loose and get on my knees and flip my hair around and interact with such a dedicated audience. Whenever I’m doubting if I’m in the right line of work I remember how that three song run felt and poof it’s gone.
Congratulations on the release of your debut EP Instar – what does this project mean to you?
This project means so so much to me. I started writing for it in my first year of college, a couple months after receiving my first guitar. Without these songs, it’s hard to say where I’d be, I don’t think I would have majored in music. Even a few months out from release, listening and playing these songs evokes a visceral nostalgia for my first three years of college. From writing them under trees on the campus green and in my dorm room with my roommate, to my first show with my band where we all dressed as clowns, to recording and producing them in my childhood home with my cat on my lap, it’s easy to romanticise all of these moments and appreciate the relationships that this music has facilitated. The support and positivity I’ve gotten since the EP from friends and fans has been so touching, and I can’t wait to start the process over and see where Lilly Golden 2 leads me.
What’s on your current playlist?
Chappell Roan is such an inspiration to me right now, I finally got the chance to buy her debut album on vinyl a few days ago and have been listening non-stop. Her commitment to making music that is fun to perform live shows through all her songs and is definitely informing my future projects! I’ve also been listening to Boygenius’ The Record (and the member’s individual work too!) and Charli XCX’s Brat all summer, and am patiently awaiting Katie Gavin’s debut solo record, I love the singles!
What techniques do you experiment with to get your original sound?
This project involved a massive amount of trial and error. After writing the first few songs, I knew I wanted to record and release them, but I hadn’t developed the skill to make them sound how I wanted yet. I spent the next year and a half learning how to use GarageBand from YouTube videos and college classes, taking what I learned and making draft after draft of each song. As I was learning how to use DAWs the songs evolved as I started to understand midi instrumentation, drum tracks, recording techniques, and different plugins. Add to that working with my band to arrange my music for live performance in the fall before I recorded it. Also add Kai Kennedy, my producer, who always knows exactly how to add intrigue and polish to my recordings. I think my favorite choice Kai and I made was to do sound percussion on my song ‘Cigarettes’. If you listen close you can hear Doc Marten stomps on dorm room floors, match strikes, and scissors! It was a wonderful recording session.
Break down the news for us: what can we expect from you this year?
This is my last year as a student as I graduate college in the spring, so I am looking to take every single musical opportunity that comes my way. I’m at the beginning stages of envisioning what my second project looks like and I’m expecting lots and lots of collaboration. I can’t wait to keep working with my incredible band and producer, as well as my professors, and peers I haven’t had the pleasure of collaborating with yet! Expect the same fun, emotionally vulnerable storytelling but expect some sonic differences and complexities here and there as I develop as an artist and have fun!
Follow Lilly Golden:
Lilly Golden Website – Spotify – Instagram – YouTube – TikTok
