A Dirty Dozen with LILY VAKILI – October 2025

According to a recent press release: “A lifelong observer, chronicler, and creative force, Lily Vakili has spent decades gathering fragments of the world – memories, landscapes, voices, losses, joys – and transforming them into urgent, electric songs. On her new album Oceans of Kansas, out now – Vakili offers her most intimate, collaborative, and expansive work yet: A collection shaped by years of lived experience, artistic risk, and restless curiosity. She recorded Oceans Of Kansas at Second Take Sound in New York City and it was produced by Grammy-winner Reed Turchi and mastered by industry veteran and Grammy-winner Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound.  Sonically, Oceans of Kansas is as sweeping and unpredictable as life is: Blues-soaked guitar riffs crash against delicate ballads, fiery rock anthems surge alongside hushed, intimate confessionals and Bossa Nova rhythms. Vakili will be on tour beginning November 13.” We get Lily to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

My new album is called Oceans of Kansas. It’s a collection of stories from different eras of my life – some are about my own personal experiences and some about the experiences of friends and lovers. Listening to the album a first time, a listener might miss some of the connections between the songs and how, in a way, the songs talk to each other. Also, I’ll sometimes use an odd turn of phrase- like in “Hold On They Say” when I sing “no one to save, save you”. That phrase can be understood in two different ways. It can simply be a repetition of the word save, meaning, “rescue”, or it can mean save as in “except for you” – as in only you can save yourself.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

My eldest sister had an acoustic guitar, and I loved the sound of it. She played a lot of folk songs, and songs by Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary and Paul Simon. The odd thing was, I didn’t really consider picking up the guitar until she left for college. Maybe then I felt I had the space to try. Another odd thing is I never considered myself to be a singer, but at some point, I just owned it and understood that if I wanted to tell my stories through song, I would have to use my body and my voice as an instrument. I don’t know that there was a specific moment when I realized that music was the path I was going to take. It was more like realizing that this thing you have enjoyed so much throughout your life actually is what you want to dedicate yourself to and that the other things you have been chasing were just distractions and not a true path. Personal loss also had a lot to do with my realization (better late than never!) that a having, building and sustaining a creative life through music and performance was what I wanted to do with my time.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

It very difficult to limit my answer to one. That said, listening repeatedly to my parents’ vinyl collection – specifically- Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story was definitely a catalyst for my creative aspirations. Beyond that, it’s the diversity of musical artists that I listened to as child and listen to now that guide my musical tastes. Artists like David Bowie have absolutely been a guide because of his ability to shift-shape and his willingness to experiment with different looks and musical styles. I think if you explore different musical styles, it totally enriches your overall approach to making and performing songs.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Hmmmmm… another very difficult question. I’m going to say Stevie Nicks or Bad Bunny. Either way it would be phenomenal. They are each exceptional artists and I have a feeling of connection with each one, even though they represent very distinct musical styles. I love the lushness of a Stevie Nicks production and her ability to sing so naturally, yet ethereally. And Bad Bunny – he is audacious in the best way – and has found a beautiful path for expressing his art and also celebrating the Puerto Rican culture.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour? What do you like to do to unwind?

I love walking in nature with my dog. Preferably by an ocean. If my children are along, then it’s the best. I basically like to hang around with my family and close friends, but that includes my guitars, which are close personal friends, and maybe actually family.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

My music is pretty eclectic, but it’s all driven by storytelling – some personal, some observed. Sonically, I’d say most of my catalogue falls into an alt rock or indie punk sound, but on Oceans of Kansas, I really lean into ballads and jazz-influenced tunes. People have said my music lands somewhere between Patti Smith, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Alabama Shakes and, believe it or not, Meatloaf (which I consider a total honor, btw!). The fact is, one of the things I truly love about writing my own music is the freedom it gives me to explore many genres of music – it’s like learning to say “I love you” in different language. I actually can’t say a comparison has made me cringe – maybe blush! Someone recently said one of my songs reminded them of Fiona Apple and I was delighted.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Sorry to say, but we usually eat out! Because it’s fun to try new places on tour. We’re pretty chill during the down time. That said, we’re game to sit around and noodle on a guitar and use a trash bin for a drum kit. It’s part of the fun of being musicians.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

When I met Steven Colbert in a grocery store parking lot. I totally made a fool of myself. Classic fan-meets-star reaction!

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Freedom of expression and collaborating with an exceptional, and exceptionally diverse, group of artists. Alternatively, I would be an astrophysicist.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I’d love for an interviewer to dive deep and ask, “How do you actually make it happen?” – as in being an artist or a creative and getting your work out into the world. And my response would be, in part at least, “with intense passion, focus and a willingness to learn.” I’m not tired of answering questions! It’s always an interesting exchange.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I’m not one to look back too much, although I do try to learn from my mistakes. There are times after putting out an album, I’ll think I should have been less impatient and maybe the music would have been better, and that might be true. That said, “time waits for no one” and I feel that keenly. I certainly would try to be a kinder, more patient person.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit would be a top contender. It represented such a radical shift at the time it came out and felt so raw, free, but tightly composed as well. Even if that album doesn’t represent my own creative sound, it showed me something about creative output and how deeply dependent it is on the individual but exists only because of the collective. It takes everyone in the room to make an album like that. And I would have loved to be in that room. Right?

LILY VAKILI LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

Category: Interviews