Musicians from the world over are flowing into the city as travel has opened back up, and one of the most exciting artists coming soon is Lindsey Stirling. The violin virtuoso combines neoclassical and pop with a stunning visual show to make for an unforgettable evening. Where Y'at was able to speak to Lindsey ahead of her show: Lindsey will be performing at the Saenger Theatre on Monday, July 26th for her Artemis Tour.
WYAT: How did you get into violin?
Lindsey: I got into violin when I was really little because
my parents loved classical music. They always played it in our home. I quickly
realized that the violin got all the melodies and that it was the fun
instrument of the orchestra. When I was 6, I was begging for lessons.
WYAT: When did you notice you were getting big on YouTube?
Lindsey: I finally took off pretty fast when I discovered
YouTube. I say that because I was so excited that anybody cared because for
about a year and a half, I had been playing on college campuses, driving to
them to play, sleeping in my car, just seeing zero progression. When I started
putting stuff on YouTube, the fact that something got 15,000 views was like,
'What!!' My mind was blown. Eventually they started getting hundreds of
thousands of views. Then they started getting into the millions. It started to
happen pretty fast when I discovered YouTube.
WYAT: With the advent of social media, do you feel that
different types of music are finally making it out listeners who may otherwise
have never found it because of pop music's hold on the radio and streaming
services?
Lindsey: Radio is a wonderful format that helped so many
artists; it still has such a powerful impact to get things heard. However, it's
nice that that's not the only way because radio is a very narrow format and you
have to do it a certain way and you have to play certain games. It's very
political, you have to know the right people, have the right label…it's very
complex to get on radio. The fact that that used to be the only way that people
could get found. Nowadays, there are other powerful players such as social
media, like it's a huge part in what gets out there. You can make a playlist on
Spotify and get on popular podcasts. There are so many ways to be heard, and
it's so exciting for anyone who's an artist to be like, 'I can actually do the
art the way I want.' As long as you're willing to be creative and try different
things and find what works for you, there's a place for anybody.
WYAT: What did you do during quarantine to keep your music
going?
Lindsey: I had a lot of different things I tried. It was a
time of experimentation, and some of it worked and some of them didn't. It was
really cool to have outlets to be able to keep doing stuff. I just would have
gone crazy if I didn't invest my creativity into something; I thrive so much
off of that. I did a podcast where I did collaborations with other artists and
made remixes of their songs with all violins, which is really fun. I filmed a
couple music videos; we found ways to do that. I also did a whole Christmas
show. We did a virtual Christmas special, and I always wanted to a Christmas
special, but we've never been able to find the right partner or networks never
said yes. So I never had the ability to do a Christmas special, and for some
reason this year, it clicked. I said, 'I don't have to wait for a partner to
tell to me that I can do one. I can do it myself.' And I can just release it
digitally to my fans. Why did I never think of that before? Because the
pandemic made me realize I can do it all myself. I brought my crew together, we
worked on it for months. I am so proud of what we created, and it brought a lot
of people joy through the holidays. It was just something beautiful that I'm very, very proud of. And I'm grateful that
the pandemic gave me some courage to take that kind of a risk and do it.
I also learned how to hang by my hair, which is crazy. It's
an aerial art form called hair hanging, and you literally do aerial work while
being suspended solely by your hair. I learned to do that while playing the
violin which is crazy and pretty unique.
WYAT: Going forward in your career, are you going to do
anything differently than you were doing before the pandemic?
Lindsey: I think doing a virtual concert made me realize
that that can be a part of what I do. It's kind of cool to do something digital
like concerts and meet-and-greets. It's amazing how many people bought digital
meet-and-greet tickets because I've never been to their part of the world. I
was like, 'I never thought that people wanted a digital meet-and-greet.' Things
like that will just add into the business that I already have. Also, I got more
into writing. And by writing, I mean I wrote an entire comic book. I finished
that, and it gave me a lot more confidence that I could do more script writing.
That's something I'm currently writing along with several other projects to
write and produce in the film and TV world. It gave me confidence in other
areas that I haven't tapped before.
WYAT: Is there anything else you'd like to say to your New
Orleans audience?
Lindsey: I am very excited to come to New Orleans; it's such a cool city. I love that music is so alive in that city. The last time we were there, we had popped from bar to bar and listened to these musicians playing in these different bars, and it was so cool to see what a vibrant, music-centered, art-centered city it is. I can't wait to come back, and I have to get some beignets.
