26.04.19
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“When I was 16 I was lying about my age,” Lyzza confesses, “telling promoters that I’m scared of flying so they’d book me a bus and I didn’t have to send them my passport.”

Three years later, the orange-haired, Brazilian-born producer has played Amsterdam’s De School on New Year’s Day, released two EPs and has recently moved to London, fuelled by a desire to be surrounded by like-minded artists her own age. “In Amsterdam I felt like the black sheep, production-wise,” she says of her sound, which feels more at home on Rinse FM than Red Light Radio. “I didn’t really feel like I had people I could sit down with and just jam. I want to be around people my age that make music.”

With a list of accomplishments this big, it’s easy to forget the rising DJ, producer and vocalist is only 19. Last year’s release, Imposter, is five tracks of quiet emotion wrapped in anxious melodies. It veers between twinkling, melodic pop and club-ready industrial bass. “I like to play music that feels really good on ecstasy,” she laughs. “As a DJ, I definitely feel like I’m more of a selector, but when I produce it’s really me expressing myself and I hope that people are able to relate to it on a deeper level.”

Essentially, Lyzza wants to make music without limitation or classification, and is inspired by artists who have managed to cultivate personas so iconic and radical that they transcend all boundaries and cataloguing. She cites Björk as an example. “I like the fact that she’s been able to have her own vision and expand that further than just her music – anything she does, that’s just Björk,” she muses. “Arca, SOPHIE… even Marilyn Manson. He’s cultivated such an image where you can’t really pinpoint who this person is, and you can’t really compare them to anyone else either. Those are the people that really inspire me.”

Aside from her upcoming festival appearances, Lyzza has a remix EP in the works and is also busy with her third solo EP, which she hopes to release later this year. “I’ve slowly been cultivating a team of people around me who have great ideas in the creative direction,” she says of her current projects and new life in London. “I feel very blessed. If you work hard and put good energy out into the world those things will eventually come back to you. If they don’t, just work harder. You’ll get there.”

Sounds like: Neneh Cherry meets Fade to Mind

Soundtrack for: Crying in the club

File next to: Lafawndah, Kelela

Our favourite song: Get What U Got

Where to find her: @lyzzalefteye

Lyzza appears at Crack Magazine’s Crack100 stage at Lente Kabinet, Amsterdam, 26 May