Lila Tristram: An inner creativity outpoured [Interview]
An artist who combines intensity, warmth and heartache
Fresh from a tour supporting Black Foxxes, alt-folk artist Lila Tristram shared her thoughts about the creative process, performing in unique spaces, and the joys of connections through music and the community it creates.
Lila, hello! Could you share who you are and how you got into music?
When I think about my journey as an artist, I think music came to me, rather than me to it. I remember as a teenager almost trying to resist the pull to music, this innate magnetism I had to it. My family weren’t particularly musical and I didn’t have any music role models. I had no idea how one went about having a job as a musician. When I eventually went to study classical music at Goldsmiths University, a lot of my friends had a parent who taught them guitar or something like that – that wasn’t the case for me. I grew up wanting to pursue a career in geography and anthropology.
But I remember very clearly this moment, I must have been about 14, I was lying awake in the middle of the night when it dawned on me that secretly, deep down, it was music that I was really curious about. It was like an internal switch that changed the course of my life. I had absorbed all these fears and doubts about what it meant to lead a life as an artist; that it wasn’t a “real job” or there would be no security … but actually it was a huge relief and very exciting to me when I finally accepted that this was what I felt my calling to be. I decided I would stick with it, that my love for music was powerful enough to override my fears… So here I am today.
Secretly, deep down, it was music that I was really curious about
What's been the highlight of your musical journey so far?
I’ve done some bucket-list performances, had my work pressed to vinyl and cassette, had some pretty big press and radio play and collaborated with some very inspiring artists. But you know the real highlights for me are in the little things. Earlier this year I went for dinner with a friend of mine who had just run a marathon. He told me that half way through he’d “hit the wall”, seriously unsure of whether he’d be able to make it to the finish line. He said that at that moment my song ‘Sounds Like Easter’ came on, and listening to that song gave him the momentum he needed to carry on.
It’s moments like these that really feel career-defining to me. It’s not about money or accolades – it’s the moments that serve as a reminder that music is connection, and if I’m able to connect with people in a way that resonates with them, that inspires or heals or affects them for the better, I can ask for nothing more.
You seem to take a very artistic approach to your music. Can you tell us more about where your inspirations and writing process?
Thank you! I’m inspired by all sorts of things. Mostly conversations and meditations. Of course the great musicians and artists and way-showers in the field, but I guess going back to the childhood desire to be an anthropologist, really what interests me is human behaviour and what lurks under the surface of the psyche. I have a real interest in psychology and I believe that a huge part of the role of an artist is to interpret the human experience and find ways of expressing the truth. Under all the layers of “shoulds”, for me great art is about discovering what “is”.
So that can be uncomfortable sometimes. When I write I feel like I’m constantly on a growth-edge. Sometimes I’m almost a little bit afraid of what’s going to emerge from a writing session. For me writing is like dreaming. I sort of open up myself and allow my subconscious to speak for a while. Sometimes it’s quite cryptic and other times it’s really clear. Sometimes it says things which I don’t feel ready to hear. And I often find that my lyrics describe a situation that hasn’t happened yet – and later down the line I see they were foreshadowing something that was yet to come in my life. Haha that makes me sound a bit mad, but there we go!
What do you most hope others get from your music?
In my life I’ve heard songs which have somehow managed to articulate my experience or relationship or feeling better than I ever could have. Songs which have helped me to understand myself or the human condition. Songs which have given me “ah-ha!” moments or helped me feel something so clearly and deeply that I’m instantly in tears. I feel that that’s my challenge. I hope that I am on the path to creating music that can give others the same insight, clarity and self-understanding that I have had from some who I consider to be the great artists in my life.
You've been on tour with Black Foxxes! How did this come about?
Yes! Last month I toured the UK with them; 10 shows, 10 cities, 10 days…
It’s a funny story how it came about. One of my songs was played on the radio and (I’m ashamed to admit) I was skipping through the replay trying to find the part where they played my song, hoping that maybe the DJ would have given my song a nice introduction… I was skipping and skipping, when I came across a Black Foxxes song ‘Carsaig’ and something about the vulnerability of Mark’s voice made me stop in my tracks. I immediately reached out to them on Instagram and then a few months later found myself supporting them on tour!
Please could you share about the tour experience and how you approached the live performances?
Oh it was amazing. We visited a lot of cities I’d never been to before, and each one had its own flavour, each crowd emanated a different colour. As the opener, I felt like my role in the night was to set the tone and prepare the audiences for the Black Foxxes’ new material, which is a little more experimental than their early stuff.
Usually when I play solo I like to perform totally acoustic, really stripping my songs back to their raw essence. But for this run of shows I adapted my set to try and complement what Black Foxxes had prepared. So I played electric guitar (I play an Olympic White American Fender Stratocaster) and I had the channel split between two amps, so one was coming out totally clean, while the other ran through my pedal board. This way I could lean into a wildly affected, distorted, reverberant sound whilst always retaining the clarity of each chord.
What do you have planned for the rest of 2025... and beyond?
2025 is going to be a big year for me. I’m set to release an album in September of this year… something I’ve been building up to for a really long time now. In fact I have a single from the record, ‘Promising’, coming out on the 20th March. Following that I’ve got a lot of UK/Europe shows in the diary and I’ve already begun working on the material for the next album too.
I work closely with artists – I run a program called Artist Roadmap to help other independent musicians who are doing it on their own to navigate the industry – and I’m always developing and expanding that. I’m booked to run my first retreat in May too, a weekend aimed at “Awakening the Inner Creative” which I’m really looking forward to.
What’s been your favourite gig to date - to perform, and to attend?
Last year when I was on tour in Germany, I played a gig in a vintage shop. It was small and very DIY – they’d pulled aside the clothes rails and set out rows of chairs right in the middle of the shop, arranging all these amazing old ornaments around the stage area to decorate it. Just before I arrived they’d had a power cut, and so they’d gone and bought all these candles and just flooded the room in candlelight. I think that might have been my favourite gig so far.
A few years ago I went to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor perform at the Barbican with a contemporary ballet group. I’ve seen them play a few times now but I just remember being so moved by the combination of their soundscapes, which I always find to be so astonishing and emotion-provoking, and the movement of these dancers. I was in floods of tears the whole way through.
If you could perform anywhere... where would you pick?
I’d like to play a show at Union Chapel. I’m not religious but I tend to feel a certain powerful energy when I’m in a church.
Which musician - dead or alive - would you most like to perform with?
Joni Mitchell. She’s my hero.
And what's on your playlist currently?
Matthew Halsall, An Ever Changing View
Ada Lea, one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden
… and I’m revisiting Joni Mitchell’s Hejira
Be sure to check out Lila Tristram’s back catalogue, including her stunning, expansive track ‘Martha May’ which was released in November 2024. Follow her on Instagram, Bandcamp, Facebook and her website.