Sep. 09, 2009 - Issue #725: Sex in the City 2009

Lights

Punk, but different: It's all in the honest attitude for Lights

I'll let you in on a little secret about Toronto synth pop siren Lights: as much as she may come off as some kind of Warped Tour vixen, she is, at her core, a 14-year-old boy. Maybe even 13.

With an affinity for video games, comic books and exotic animals, Lights will be the first to admit her interests don't run much in the way of what girls are "supposed" to like. But her attraction to heroic narratives and vivid colours inform her art—from the cover art of her upcoming album The Listening to her music videos to the way her songs are structured. Her entire esthetic is about overcoming internal obstacles, about reaching further, in the same way a video game is about beating a final boss and a comic book is the triumph of good over evil.

"I've always grown up being very attracted to a very strong female image where you can be muscle-y and you can kick ass and you can be a hero in your own right for whatever battle you may be fighting—to me that's very cool," she says. "It's just all very attractive to me and as far as comics goes it's the same situation as video games—it's a nice getaway and it's actually great inspiration because this is a make-believe world where anything can be real. You can come up with a far-fetched idea, draw it into reality and now you have something you've invented all of a sudden in front of you that's real—that's a lot like songwriting."

Kicking ass even extends to her choices in pets—Lights is the proud owner of a tarantula named Lance. She didn't exactly want a spider, but she did want a pet that didn't need tons of attention or to be fed every day, as her touring schedule would have made it too much work. Still, as she explains, when she first came up with the idea it was with trepidation.

"It's honestly all about defeating the things that make you afraid—I was afraid of spiders but I thought I'd go and meet a spider so I went into the pet store and I asked the pet guy in there to put the spider on my hand and instantly I was unafraid of spiders and he became a beloved pet to me," Lights says. "It's another way of challenging your fears and then turning it around into something that you love. Plus he's great."

Lights's ability to challenge herself even came in handy the first time she ventured onto the Warped Tour. Lacking the spiky hair and "fuck you" attitude that appears to be a requirement, she was unsure as to how her dreamy synth-pop would be received by concertgoers more used to skate punk. But, screwing up her courage, she made it work.

"I had no idea how I was going to be received on Warped Tour because my music is very different than a lot of the music that's on there," she admits. "I think if you're being honest about what you're doing and you can play your instrument and you've invented this and this is your thing and you're making it your own, then you're not so different from NOFX—they're doing the exact same thing." V

Sun, Sep 13 (7 pm)
Lights
With Keane
Edmonton Event Centre, $39.50

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