GLOBELAMP plays the Bootleg Theater Jun 15; press photo
With a new album on the way and a European tour in progress, things are looking up for Globelamp, aka Elizabeth Le Fey. Entitled The Orange Glow, the album is the by-product of a rough year for Le Fey, who suffered through a difficult breakup, the death of her best friend, and the tumultuous ending of her doomed partnership with the infamous Foxygen.
Her unique style of psychedelic folk is equal parts lovely and haunting, with rough-hewn emotion and deeply personal lyrics. Before returning from across the pond, Le Fey was kind enough to answer some questions about SoCal, Stevie Nicks, and speaking out. Pick up her album June 10, and catch her live June 15 at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles.
CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: I know you’re from Southern California, which is where we’re based. How do you think growing up here influenced you and your music?
ELIZABETH LE FEY: I think that disliking my high school so much made me more of an anti establishment/rebel type of person which definitely has influenced my creative process. I spent a few years in Los Angeles as a child. During 5th grade I moved to Orange County where the culture was completely different. It was hard for me to fit in compared to the time I was in LA. There was no diversity at all in my OC elementary school while in LA I was surrounded by many cultures.
CGL: There’s definitely a Stevie Nicks vibe to your Globelamp stuff, not so much musically, but the spirit of it. What inspires you about her?
EL: I love her and I love Fleetwood Mac. Everything from the mystique, the vision, the character, the costumes, her powerful voice, her love of witches. I love how she only joined because she was Lindsey Buckingham’s girlfriend, and ended up being an iconic part of the band. The guys weren’t afraid to let her shine through. I think that is amazing how she unexpectedly made the band more magical. I even read a book called “Triad” because I heard that Stevie Nicks read it and was inspired to write “Rhiannon”.
CGL: Your messy falling out with Foxygen (and your ex-boyfriend) led to a lot of hate and nasty energy being sent your way. Is that something you’re still dealing with, or is it mostly in the past?
EL: There has definitely been a lot of hate mail for the last few years but I switched off anonymous comments on my Tumblr and avoid the comment section on articles that talk about Foxygen and I. I have become stronger and gained a thicker skin. People on the internet leaving hateful comments don’t know me. I would care if my loved ones were sending me those messages, but they aren’t. It’s mostly in the past but I still am not afraid to talk about it with people. If their music comes on somewhere, I will tell whoever is listening to them a brief summary of what happened to me. It definitely changed me. I will never go to court again without a lawyer, I will always call the police on any guy who lays their hands on me, and I am more fearless than ever.
CGL: “San Francisco” was written in response to the Foxygen song of the same name which led to you joining the band. It’s very haunting in its raw honesty. Can you tell us more about it?
EL: I just sat down at the piano with my journal in front of me singing the first few lines over and over again. It then sort of rolled out of me without much thought. I mulled over the lyrics for a while and didn’t think it was a fully written song until I sat down and played it for Joel Jerome (who recorded my album) on piano and he said, “We are recording this”.
CGL: Being that your writing is so personal and introspective, I’m curious to know what you think about performing in front of people (i.e. is it something you really enjoy, or are you more into writing and recording?)
EL: As I began to share my music with others, my music responded to the energy of other people and changed. Being a writer and a performer are two different things. Sometimes I end up changing the melody of a song because maybe I recorded it early on (like close to when I wrote it) and the more I played it in front of audiences, it changed. I feel fairly okay with performing in front of people, I feel like I am finally being heard and speaking in my true voice.
CGL: What are your touring essentials?
EL: Tea, cough drops, ibuprofen, eyeliner, some type of all purpose oil (like coconut oil, argan oil, jojoba) that I can use on my skin and hair, protein bars, glitter, a pair of high shoes (either boots or platforms), essential oils, camera, journal, my phone, herb.