Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition - September 2017

NASHLYN
working it out on her own terms
MAX HILL
Nashlyn Lloyd is ready to leave the nest. One of the founding
members of Vancouver indie rock quartet Frankie, Lloyd is now
preparing to release her debut EP Work It Out as a solo artist. While
this is her first solo project, she’s been writing her own music for a
while. “I had a lot of songs that I needed to put somewhere because
they weren’t totally fitting within the Frankie realm. I just started
doing them on my own to see what would happen with it,” she says.
It’s a groovy and confident record, not afraid to take its time and
chart sonic territory that goes beyond Frankie’s signature sound.
Work It Out’s subject matter was born from Lloyd’s efforts
to make it on her own as a solo artist. “The main themes [of the
record] are about coming into yourself and to go after what you
really want in life, instead of wishing it away,” she says. “I’ve been
talking about putting these songs out there and doing a solo
project forever, and to actually get the guts to just do it took a
lot longer and a lot more courage than I thought it would. I think
that’s what most of the songs are about, just letting go of any
expectations and going after your vision. And then there’s a couple
of love songs about my boyfriend,” she laughs.
While most of Work It Out has its origins in electropop and triphop,
it also had some unexpected influences. “I really love the old
crooners, like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and I think my voice
has a quality to it that people sometimes think is a little bit jazzy,”
Lloyd says. “[The EP] seems to be a weird mesh of everything that
I like, but definitely more down the electronic road than anything
I’ve ever done before.”
The EP was mixed and produced by Lloyd and Kevin Maher,
lead singer of Fake Shark. For Lloyd, producing the record herself
was an important way to get across her vision, especially on the
standout track “Gold.” “I actually did all the production myself on
that one, and all the mixing. It was a really good challenge for me,
because I’ve been wanting to figure out exactly what mixing is, from
beginning to end,” she says.
Lloyd is currently on tour supporting the EP, with dates in
Calgary, Kelowna, Nanaimo, and Vancouver. But she’s looking
forward to the chance to get off the road and start writing new
material. “I actually want to just start making an album right away,”
she says. “I want to bring a bunch of gear up to the little cabin that
my family has in Powell River and just hunker in there for a few
months this winter and see what I can make.”
Nashlyn Lloyd’s debut EP Work It Out is available September 8.
Nashlyn charts new terrain on her debut solo EP
September 2017 23