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Lillix
- "People are so used to the stereotype of
girls being manufactured," says
bassist-vocalist Louise Burns, one-third
of the vocal firepower behind Canadian
female foursome Lillix. "The public is now
starting to become more aware that girls
do musical things like play guitars and
write songs. Girls do rock."
Spoken like true rock veterans, there's no
doubt that the girls of Lillix are set to
put their music where their mouths are.
With a lead vocal triple threat made up of
guitarist Tasha-Ray Evin (17), older
sister and keyboardist Lacey-Lee Evin
(19), and bassist Louise Burns (17), as
well as an accomplished drummer in recent
addition Kim Urhahn (23), the band has a
well-cultivated musical vision.
In the Evin household, located in the
heavily wooded rural town of Cranbrook,
British Columbia (surrounded by the
Purcell Mountains to the West and the
Canadian Rockies to the North,) music has
been calling since the girls were old
enough support the weight of a guitar. Six
years since picking up instruments for the
first time, Lillix is set to strike North
American audiences with their
rambunctious, pop-infused rock and roll on
Falling Uphill, the band's Maverick
Records debut.
Falling Uphill is the culmination of years
of successfully fighting boredom in
Cranbrook, a town of 18,000 inhabitants.
"There is nothing to do in Cranbrook,"
says Burns. "That is the reason we started
the band. It’s a huge hockey town, not a
big music town. A typical Friday night
involves going to bush parties where
everyone hangs around a bonfire drinking
beer."
But the girls refused to be limited by the
surroundings. Without a nearby hipster
culture to influence their choices, they
had increased freedom to craft a style all
their own. Armed with influences running
the gamut from Queen to Weezer and the
Beatles to Radiohead, Lillix set up shop
in the Evins' basement while still in the
7th grade, and started belting out
rock-edged pop tunes written and played by
their own hands and own instruments. "When
we started out, we were 11-year-old
girls," says Burns. "The music was pop but
we played our instruments so it wasn't
bubblegum stuff. Now we have matured and
taken influences from different bands and
different genres and put them into one.
You can't really define our sound. It's so
eclectic."
Lillix hooked up with an impressive list
of producers to shape the sound of Falling
Uphill, including the Matrix (Avril
Lavigne), Philip Steir (No Doubt), former
4-Non Blonde Linda Perry (Pink, Christina
Aguilera), John Shanks (The Corrs,
Michelle Branch) and the omnipotent Glen
Ballard on "24/7. "Glen was so awesome,"
says Burns. "He has this presence around
him that just makes you feel safe and
warm."
Additionally, with both Lacey-Lee and
Tasha-Ray as well as Burns trading off
lead vocalist and songwriting duties
throughout the record, Uphill weaves
several contrasting vocal textures into a
coherent pop-rock tapestry that quickly
leaves an indelible mark on the eardrums.
First single "It's About Time" shows off
the quartet's long-simmering talents, with
soaring harmonies and an infectious
chorus, while songs like "Tomorrow" and
"Quicksand" showcase Lillix's spunkier,
anthemic rock side. Toss in a cover of the
Romantics' classic "What I Like About
You," which served as the theme to the WB
comedy of the same name, and Falling
Uphill serves as a rowdy antidote to the
teenage pop doldrums -- a potent sonic
cocktail that is anything but
paint-by-numbers.
"Our music comes from the heart," adds
guitarist-vocalist Tasha-Ray Evin.
"Everything that we write, we believe in.
That's what propels this band." |
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