Lisi - Red Bull Symphonic & More, Live Interview

Interviewed by David Hunter

Written by Gabi Rankine

D: Welcome to the Something Different Project, my name is David Hunter and today I have the pleasure of Australian rapper Lisi. Hailing from the outer-Brisbane suburb of Goodna, Lisi came onto the scene in 2019 with his first single “Say Less” and in three short years has accumulated an epic following with almost 400 thousand monthly Spotify listeners and millions upon millions of streams.

Since then, Lisi has been releasing music prolifically with 14 singles and two albums including numerous collaborations with other artists. In addition, Lisi has been performing his music live with major performances at last year’s Lunar Electric Festival and of course, the upcoming performance at Brisbane’s Princess Theatre with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by the legendary Nicholas Buc for the Red Bull Symphonic on June 25th! Also sharing the stage with Lisi will be the SELAH Samoan Gospel, Brisbane rapper NOKZ, vocalist Faith Sosene and Lisi’s crew Th4 W3st!

So firstly, from myself and the Something Different Project I’d like to say thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today!

L: That’s all good, it’s all good.

D: So most importantly, I’d like to start with the Red Bull Symphonic! This is pretty huge, and may I say unexpected, I mean the fusion of rap music and classical, tell us how this opportunity came about.

L: It’s a massive thing, I’ve worked with Red Bull a few times doing the 64 Bars and a lot of other things they’ve included me in. I think they had this idea last year, I remember being at the studio in Redcliffe for NOKZ 64 Bars and I think it was someone who brought up the idea. I think it was Mac that Red Bull were looking to do an orchestra symphony thing. I didn’t know what a symphony was back then, I just found out what it is this year. And when they brought us the idea I was like “yeah that’d be mad to do”. I’ve never done anything live like this before with keys, guitar, drums. None of that. So, to have a whole orchestra behind me is massive, man you know what, why would I miss this opportunity?

D: Yeah absolutely, it’s pretty massive and as you say going from not really having a band behind you to a whole orchestra, that’s going to be quite a change. What’s it like been working with Red Bull and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra on the project?

L: I don’t know if I can give too much away but I’ve had a listen into some of the demos that the conductor Nicholas has sent through with my beat and vocal stems, alongside the live orchestra instrumental stems. They mixed it in, and man it sounds crazy. It’s something new for me.

D: Tell us more about the collaboration – are you working with the Orchestra to put a classical music spin on your current releases or are you creating new songs?

L: It is past releases that I’m dropping and they’re sort of adding their own twist to it with the orchestra in the back and it’s crazy, it’s turning every song into a movie. You know when you hear music in a movie and it has violins, brass and more, it makes the music a lot more cinematic. It’s crazy and the show is going to be so hectic.

D: It sounds so cool!  So it sounds like there’s recording happening of some of these. Is there plans to release this music? As like a special collaboration between Lisi and the orchestra?

L: Ah man, I don’t know. There might be an idea you know, to release a little album of the orchestra. Some songs sound completely different to how they were released. It’s a good idea, it brings out a bunch of different emotions from people, the live orchestra does, it’s what music is supposed to do. Thanks for the idea, might produce it!

D: I was just curious; I think it would be cool to listen to your original recordings and pieces of your tracks next to the orchestra. So, I also to understand that while Goodna is where you grew up, you’re originally from New Zealand and have Samoan heritage – what does it mean to you to get to work with the SELAH Samoan Gospel?

L: Yeah it’s massive, because I’ve grown up in church and in some choirs it’s mandatory to sing gospel songs so to get this platform that I’m on now and implement something from my childhood, it’s my culture onto the big stage at The Princess Theatre. It is a massive thing for me, it’s a bit of a pride thing. I’m proud to show people that this is what I’m accustomed to growing up, even now as a young Samoan man.

D: Absolutely, and that leads me into my next question. It would be great to hear a bit more about your life growing up in Goodna and ultimately what inspired you to become a rapper?

L: I’ve been rapping for a while, and I love it. I loved the sound of rap when I was younger, and I used to write my raps. I started to pick up on writing a lot more when I got into my late teens, playing on words and the style intrigued me. And growing up where I’m from, rap is storytelling. I guess I used the environment I had around me to tell stories of my own and tell the stories of other people that live in my area. Being in Goodna did impact a lot, seeing things you don’t usually see and becoming accustomed to things other kids wouldn’t have an idea of. It was really character building and helped me in my journey of becoming a rapper, but more so becoming a man.

D: It seems like from listening to some of your music and reading some previous interviews you’ve done, it’s not so much just about the music for you but also very much about the message and inspiring the younger generations, particularly younger generations that may have grown up in areas like Goodna and Ipswich.

So we all know how this industry is and you have done an incredible job over the last three years breaking-out as an artist. What advice would you give to new artists coming into the industry, or alternatively, if you could go back before all of this started and give yourself some advice, what would that be?

L: It’s not just about the music but also the business. I would love to go back and give advice to my younger self on the business side. There’s a lot of stuff that now with making music, the audio engineering I had no idea what any of that was. The quality of the sound, filters and whatnot, producing, I’ve learnt a lot about producing. Not completely there yet but all of these things I’ve learnt now, I’d go back and just get myself prepared. I feel I could’ve gotten myself a lot further within a shorter time span. Even though it’s only been like three years, but still. With the knowledge that I know a lot of people start off with, if I had that, I could be reaching the stars right now.

For any young or new artist that’s coming up now, just think outside the box before you decide to drop because there’s a lot of people, that’s doing a lot of things similar to everyone else. But you just got to be true to what you love, true to what you know and also try and be just that little bit different. Everyone’s doing something similar to someone, you don’t want to be known as that guy who just hopped on that wave.

D: Absolutely, and after the Red Bull Symphonic, what’s next for you? Do you have any new upcoming releases or events that you recommend checking out?

L: Yeah man I got a lot going on. I got a release coming straight after the Symphonic, I can’t speak too much about it but it’s going to be a good one. And I’ve got songs lined up, I got Promise Land festival, and who knows what else. That’s a really big line-up and big crowd too. There’s 30,000 tickets sold and a big line-up, Tion Wayne, Burna Boy, names like that and it’s crazy. I got a busy year ahead and the work doesn’t stop, just keen to get this year over with.

D: You can still pick up tickets to the Red Bull Symphonic collaboration between Lisi and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra taking place as Brisbane’s Princess Theatre on Saturday June 25th – don’t miss out!

 Finally, again, thank you so much for giving us your time today Lisi, it’s been amazing talking to you!