By Kris Lahd
24 year old Seattle native singer/songwriter, Lila Forde not only caught the immediate attention of music superstars John Legend, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, and Niall Horan, she also captivated millions of hearts world-wide with her smooth, old-soul vocal talents on season 24 of NBC’s “The Voice.” After a whirlwind 6-months of shooting the popular television show, Lila emerged as a finalist among 56 of America’s most talented vocalists. Since season 24 wrapped in December of 2023, Lila continues to forge her path forward cultivating her music career with passion, authenticity, tenacity and flair for the “old school.” In 2017 Lila enrolled in the music program at the University of Southern California and graduated in 2021, and has called Los Angeles, CA home ever since. I had a chance to chat with Lila as she prepares for her Wildflowers Summer 2024 tour, which will bring her to Wenatchee’s Old Barn Drinkery on August 17th.
The life of a musician is quite the grind. What is gigging like since The Voice?
I feel I paid my dues a little bit. I’m still young and have a lot to learn, but, you know, I don’t want some [hotel] manager telling me to turn down. Booking this whole tour has been really formative. You still deal with a lot of ghosting and rejections. Being on The Voice was a flash in the pan. By no means was my career “made.” I can play at the triple door in Seattle, which is a huge deal for me. I grew up going to that venue seeing legends play there. I really do know deep in my soul that I’m going to be very successful, but I also am in no rush. I have time. I also love that this is how people did it back in the day, the old school way. They had to hustle to get recognized. They had to go on tour and play smaller shows to gain their following. Everybody these days is like “just go viral. Just go viral.” That’d be cool, but that’s not really my scene or how I operate. So I’m just going to do it the old fashioned way, and I think it’s going to take me somewhere.
Are you an old musical soul?
One hundred percent. I really gained a lot of inspiration, and I look up to a lot of musicians from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. I grew up in a non-traditional household. My parents run a meditation school. I wasn’t allowed to watch TV as a kid. I wasn’t allowed to be on the computer or online or anything, but I had a CD player and my parents got me a bunch of Beatles CDs. In the 4th grade I became obsessed about how much I loved the Beatles. That’s really where it began.
How much control did you have over song choice on The Voice?
You give the vocal Coaches a list, and they choose songs from the list, or they have a suggestion, and we talk about it. “Across the Universe” (by the Beatles) and “The Weight” (by The Band); I love both of those songs, but I would’ve chosen different songs. I felt there were better songs to showcase my voice.
What songs would you have chosen if you could have a redo?
I suggested Fleetwood Mac’s “You make loving fun,” but John [Legend] felt it was a little too safe. He wanted me to do Aretha Franklin’s version of “The Weight,” but I wanted them to let me do the classic version. The other song that I had suggested was, “The Long and Winding Road” by the Beatles instead of “Across the Universe.” You’re choosing your finale songs on the semifinal week, and you don’t even know if you’re going to make it to the finals yet. My brain was so occupied with playing the Joni Mitchell song in the semifinals and staying in the competition that I didn’t have the capacity to push back on them, but all the other songs that they gave me on the show, I couldn’t have asked for better.
Any fun shenanigans with you and your fellow contestants?
Oh my god. Am I even allowed to say this? Well, I was definitely breaking rules [laughs]. You know that they don’t allow you to have your car there, because it costs them money if you’re late. Listen, I’m not going to be a liability, but I’m also not going to Uber to the grocery store. So about a week in, I was like, alright I’m going to just take my car, and I’m going to park it a couple blocks away and I’m going to just do my thing. During the blind audition stage, there’s so many people that will snitch on you. They’re so competitive, and they want to try to eliminate you. So they’ll do anything to get you off the show. So I told nobody. But by the end of the show, everybody knew I had my car; a tiny little Fiat. We would all pile in and go do whatever. We were going all over the town without them knowing. I always showed up on time. I did my job and I did my thing. One of the best parts of that show was the friends I made. Two of my best friends that I think will be my girlfriends for the rest of my life I made on that show. Now I have all these friends all over the country who are musicians. I can fly to New York City and Phoenix, Arizona, Virginia, Boston, and Texas and play shows because I have this whole community of people all over the country who I have deeply bonded with during this experience… you’re a family. We all got to know each other in a very specific context, so getting to know people outside of the competitive environment has been fun. I’m grateful for that opportunity.
What are your three biggest takeaways from being on The Voice?
That I can just be myself and I’m going to be fine. I remember John Legend said that to me, “you just go out there and be Lila. Don’t try to out-sing anybody. Don’t try to out-perform anybody. You just go out there and do what you do, and you will make it to the finale.” And that’s literally what happened. I’ve always had a very strong sense of who I am. I didn’t really know whether or not the world was going to like it, but now I do. People will want to work with you if you’re kind. If you are a pain in the ass, people won’t want to work with you. And the third thing is that, “old school” is best.
Say you’re camping with friends, the campfire is going and the guitar comes out, what songs are you going to sing?
Probably “Julia” by the Beatles? Some old school Johnny Cash, “Ring of fire,” or “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. I just started playing guitar, so really simple things. Fame and fortune would be great, but as long as I have a life of making music, I don’t care. Don’t get me wrong, I really do want to be highly successful. I want to make records and tour, but I also realized that being in the spotlight or being on TV, it’s just not the same as sitting around a campfire with friends. That’s where the real magic is, and that’s where you tap into that gift that will always give you what you give it. If you’re playing music for the wrong reasons, it’s not going to come out the way you want it. I wrote a song called Vessel and I felt like it was just a download. I felt I couldn’t even take credit for writing it because it just showed up. Some songs are a labor of love. You know? This song literally just came out of me, like it was already fully formed before it came out of me. So, it’s like I’m a vessel for the music. I’ve learned that lesson.
How much does your parents’ support of you mean to you?
My parents’ support is everything I ever needed in order to have the tenacity to do this. My Mom is a classical pianist. So it just was kind of threaded into the foundation of our family, which I think is the reason why I have such an unrelenting confidence and faith in what I can do; and knowing that I will be doing it for the rest of my life because it was given to me by my parents so early on.
It’s time for the speed round. Say the first thing that comes to your mind.
Guitar or piano? Piano.
Major or minor keys? Major.
What’s your favorite key to sing in? B flat.
What’s your favorite chord to play on the piano? EADD2.
Put these into your preferred order first to last; Jazz, Blues, Country
Probably blues, then jazz, and country.
Carly Simon or Joni Mitchell?
Joni Mitchell.
In LA Which freeway is worse, the 10 or the 405? Oh, no. The 405.
John or Paul? Paul.
Lila Forde LIVE @ The Old Barn Drinkery
Saturday, August 17, 2024
with special guest Laine & Lahd