We fell in love with these Canadian rockers the instant they set foot in our offices. Now that they've released their debut album, Falling Uphill, have recorded the theme tune for The WB show What I Like About You, and are regular fixtures on TRL, we thought it was about time to make Lillix our band of the month. We caught up with sisters Tasha Ray Evin, 17, Lacey Lee Evin, 19, and other band members, Louise Burns, 17, and Kim Urhahn, 23, hours before they performed as part of the Women Who Rock tour. Read our interview below or listen to "It's About Time" here.
How did Lillix get together? Tasha Ray: Lacey and I started writing songs at a young age, and I started playing the guitar three years previous to becoming a band. Then Louise joined — she lives up the street from us, so it was convenient for band practices. She just came over and we jammed in our basement. We were 11 or 12 at the time.
Did people take you seriously back then? Louise: Actually, our parents did, but no one else. We kept the band secret for a year when we first started. We were embarrassed and people would make fun of us when they found out. Now they're looking at us and saying, "Wow, it was serious." Our parents always had faith in us, and the people who worked at the local music store would always support us one hundred percent, too, so we didn't need anyone else.
When you started out, did you ever talk about becoming famous or touring with other artists? Tasha Ray: Oh, yeah, all the time. It's funny because Lacey and I were huge Hanson fans when we were younger — Lacey started playing the keyboards because of Taylor Hanson — and recently their manager e-mailed our manager and said they now want to tour with us. I was just like, Oh, my God! Hopefully, we'll do some shows together.
How did you get signed? Lacey Lee: We just did a whole bunch of demos and got offered a contract by a local label. So we asked for legal advice from Jonathan, who's now our manager — he was an entertainment lawyer at the time. He told us that we shouldn't sign the contract. We did another demo, which he sent out to labels, and Maverick was the first to respond. We did a showcase for them and the rest is history.
Maverick is Madonna's record label — did she hear you sing? Louise: She did, but Guy Oseary [who runs Maverick] tricked us. He said, "Girls, you have another producer to meet..." We went upstairs, walked in the door, and Madonna was sitting there, strumming my guitar! We played four songs and talked for half an hour. It was really cool.
Did she give you any advice? Tasha Ray: Stay in school. Louise: Tash and I are being home-schooled right now. We're a year behind, because there's not time to study when we're on the road, but we should be done this year. Tasha Ray: I've got four tests waiting for me at home. When I go back I want to see my family and friends, if I have an hour off, I want to sleep, but if I have a test, I don't really have an option.
There was another drummer in the band before Kim came, when did she leave? Tasha Ray: June of last year. Kim joined in September. Our old drummer was a lot younger than us, and she wasn't really ready for this. She wanted to focus on school.
Kim, how did you find the girls? Kim: I knew their manager, Jonathan, through another band that I played in around Vancouver. My band had just fallen apart, so he asked me to audition.
Did you feel a lot of pressure to "fit in" with the rest of the band? Kim: I figured that I would just do my best and be myself because if I did get the gig, I knew I'd be on the road with them, so I couldn't hold up an act for that long. If I didn't play the songs the way I play them, I wouldn't be able to play them every day.
Who wrote the songs on your album, Falling Uphill? Tasha Ray: Lacey, Louise, and I wrote the album. Kim wasn't in the band when we wrote and recorded the album, but she'll be writing in the future.
Do you all write about the same subjects? Lacey Lee: Every song on the album is about a different subject — going to school, feeling that you don't exist in the world, or relationships. We usually write about somewhat similar subjects though. We're all teenagers, so we've all been through similar experiences.
What comes first when you write songs, the lyrics or the melody? Louise: On the road I don't really have a guitar to sit down and write with or a piano to play, so I just write the lyrics. Lately it's been lyrics first then the music, but usually it just comes out all together. Kim: I have chunks that will just come out, whether it be the bass line, or a verse, or the hook, or some phrase that I really like, eventually all the bits come together.
Are there songs out there right now that you wish you had written? Kim: I think that new Theory of a Dead Man song "Make Up Your Mind" is really good.
Who influences you musically? Tasha Ray: The Beatles, Queen, Supertramp, Radiohead, Nirvana, Thin Lizzy, The Ramones, Green Day, The Red Hot Chili Peppers... Kim: We all have our own favorites. It depends who you grew up listening to. I'm more into the Stones and the Ramones, whereas the other girls were more into the Beatles.
Which songs on the album are you most proud of? Lacey Lee: "Invisible" — I wrote the song — it's about feeling like you don't exist. I was the voice that no one heard, no one was paying attention to me. Tasha Ray: I like "Because." It's a song I wrote about being in a fight with somebody, and them always thinking that they're right, and not understanding your side of things. Kim: I like to play "Quicksand" and "Dirty Sunshine" — they're sort of the heavy rock. Louise: I like playing "Invisible." I like to groove to that song. It's so much fun to play.
How would you describe the group's style? Louise: We just let each other be each other. I'm not going to dress up like punk or something — I wear my sweatpants whenever possible. We all have pretty separate styles.
Do stylists ever try to put you in outfits you're not happy with? Kim: We've only had one case where that's happened: We had to wear schoolgirl outfits. It was an idea that the record label really wanted us to try and we did, and everyone agreed that the pictures didn't turn out as good as we wanted them to. It was kind of a cheesy idea. Now we just bring all our clothes to the photo shoots, because we know what we like and what looks good.
How about beauty? Do you have makeup artists following you around? Lacey Lee: Tasha and I don't use makeup artists. We've been doing our own makeup for years. We'll do whatever we want to our hair, too. I know what looks best on me, and every time I have a makeup artist I end up redoing it. Kim: I would never have thought about doing [hair] extensions, if Brian, my hairstylist hadn't suggested it though. Louise: I actually like having a makeup artist because I'm not really that great at doing my own makeup. I'm just like, "Make me pretty!"
What are the other perks of your job? Tasha Ray: Playing shows — everywhere! We might even get to go to Japan, to play there, which is amazing. I'd never come to New York before last year. Now we've been here five times in the last two months.
You went to the TRL Beach House in the Hamptons yesterday — how was that? Lacey Lee: It was fun. Carson [Daly] was there, which was really nice because he's not there most of the time any more. Mya was there, and Quddus. Kim: But the house is really in the middle of nowhere. And it was freezing cold, but there were girls in bikinis everywhere and one guy in the pool was freezing his butt off.
What has been the most star-studded moment of your career so far? Lacey Lee: We went to the Matrix Reloaded premiere and we had to walk down the red carpet. It was our first time experiencing the paparazzi — that was a big star moment.
Listen or watch Lillix's "It's About Time": MP3 | Video
