If you are wondering about her name, her legal name is Lights Poxleitner. Valerie is her birth name but she legally changed her name years ago. Before she changed her first name to Lights, got the band name from her last name, Pox"leit"ner. And here is an interview with her!
What's been the response to your new album? Was it what you expected?
Lights: I didn't know what to expect. I'd never put out an album before, I'd just had an EP and there was very little promotion surrounding it. It's been so awesome! We've been touring ever since the album came out. I have to tell you, it's the coolest feeling signing your record. And it's great when people come to your shows and know the words to the new songs, whereas before only I knew it, ya know? It's cool on every level.
What's the coolest thing one of your fans has said to you on tour?
Lights: One girl, actually, in the UK -- it was a really small show in Wales -- a girl came up to me and said that because of one of my songs she was still alive. She'd decided not to commit suicide. It was a really emotionally moment.
You saved a life. Awesome! So, what's the tour been like otherwise? Where have you been going and what's your favorite stop so far?
Lights: We've done New York, and Detroit, and Cleveland, but about half of the places we've never been. The past few nights we've been in Kansas and Iowa, and it's been absolutely surprising that all these people have been coming out that are big fans and know the words, ya know? It's really exciting. Every night's a new discovery.
Last night we were in Lawrence, Kansas. It was one of the most enjoyable shows so far. I've never played in a small town before. It was such a small venue and there were maybe about 80 people there. They were all so excited and so energetic and into it. I'd had kind of a rough day and was feeling sad, so I kinda just started talking to everybody. It was a really small, intimate crowd. At the end of it I was in such a good mood. It was really cool.
Can you tell us a little about your writing style? What's the process like when you actually sit down to write a song?
Lights: At the core, it's very important to have a good song -- one where you can strip away all the production and just play it on guitar or at the piano. It has to hold its own. That's why I've put videos online with acoustic versions of my songs, so you can hear them in their original form. But it's also great to get into studio, and to take that really strong song and wrap it with synths, and beats, and basses, and arpeggios -- all the fun electro-pop stuff that takes it to the next dimension.
The cover for your album looks a lot like some of the posters for Watchmen. That was intentional, right?
Lights: It was. I wanted to capture a few different things... One was the idea that, like Watchmen, this is sort of a cartoon, but it's not for kids. Even though the artwork is simple, it's very deep and everything has another dimension. I also channeled the inner-themes of Sailor Moon, when all you can see is their eyes when they're transforming into their superhero selves -- I thought that was kind of haunting and at the same time really beautiful. I wanted the juxtaposition of the positive and brightness with kind of a heavy darkness. It was a combination of those two things on the cover.
