This interview originally appeared on Handstamp
There’s nothing quite like a pleasant surprise.
Last week I was taken, last minute, to see Not For Radio – the solo project of Maria Zardoya of The Marias. Having enjoyed her band’s latest record Submarine a great deal and dug what I heard from this endeavour, I was intrigued but had almost no idea what to expect from the performance.
What I found upon arrival was an army of intensely dedicated fans and a pulsating sense of excitement in the Hackney Empire, for night two of her stint at the venue. While it made me feel washed that the feverish hype had passed me by, it was a welcome reminder of just how much a live show can mean to young fans, who have found a new outlet through the Puerto Rican all-rounder.
As far as I knew, the performance could have been Zardoya sat at a piano all night and I’m sure the fans would have happily lapped that up. However, what proceeded was a whirlwind of synth jams, poetry, balletic expression and more confetti than a single stagehand would be comfortable dealing with. The effort and execution behind the show was staggering.
A pleasant surprise indeed and an excellent ad for saying yes to spontaneous gig outings. It left me thinking about how those kind of nights – half-expected but fully felt – are the kind of nights that linger long enough to become an answer in these interviews.
Soon after the show, I sat down to revisit my chat with There’s nothing quite like a pleasant surprise.
Last week I was taken, last minute, to see Not For Radio – the solo project of Maria Zardoya of The Marias. Having enjoyed her band’s latest record Submarine a great deal and dug what I heard from this endeavour, I was intrigued but had almost no idea what to expect from the performance.
What I found upon arrival was an army of intensely dedicated fans and a pulsating sense of excitement in the Hackney Empire, for night two of her stint at the venue. While it made me feel washed that the feverish hype had passed me by, it was a welcome reminder of just how much a live show can mean to young fans, who have found a new outlet through the Puerto Rican all-rounder.
As far as I knew, the performance could have been Zardoya sat at a piano all night and I’m sure the fans would have happily lapped that up. However, what proceeded was a whirlwind of synth jams, poetry, balletic expression and more confetti than a single stagehand would be comfortable dealing with. The effort and execution behind the show was staggering.
A pleasant surprise indeed and an excellent ad for saying yes to spontaneous gig outings. It left me thinking about how those kind of nights – half-expected but fully felt – are the kind of nights that linger long enough to become an answer in these interviews.
Soon after the show, I sat down to revisit my chat with Lillie Amadea West, who makes ambitious indie rock and alt-pop music under the name LALA LALA. She has absorbed a number of similarly impactful performances that have become reference points for her as a performer and shared them with me in an honest and amusing conversation. However, of course, I started a few steps back, exploring her globetrotting, expansive musical upbringing.
Lillie West: "I lived in London until I was 13 as both of my parents are English, then we moved to LA, but when I was 18, they moved back to England and I moved to Chicago for 8 years. It’s pretty complicated, because I then moved to New Mexico, then Iceland and now I’m back in LA."
Handstamp: "Wow. Quite the journey. I guess the English accent stuck, due to those all-important first 13 years."
Lillie West: "All of my English relatives say I have a strong American accent, but my boyfriend says I couldn’t sound more British, so I don’t know what to believe."
Handstamp: "I don’t hear the American twang, personally. Would you have seen your first live show in England then?"
Lillie West: "Yes. My first live show, which I’m sort of tempted to lie about, was…..do you remember Pop Idol?."
Handstamp: "Of course, yeah, I think I voted."
Lillie West: "Right, well, on the first season, he finished third place – Darius. That was my first show."
Handstamp: "Oh my goodness. Darius Danesh! RIP."
Lillie West: "Yeah, I was telling someone about this recently and found out that he had died. I was so sad."
Handstamp: "Very sad stuff. What do you think drew you to Darius, rather than those that finished first and second?"
Lillie West: "I have no idea. I was so young, so I barely remember but maybe I’ve always loved an underdog."
Handstamp: "Maybe his hit single ‘Colourblind’ made an impact."
Lillie West: "See, I don’t even remember that. I mainly remember Will Young, who beat Darius of course, and his song ‘Leave Right Now’. I still think that’s a pretty amazing song."
Handstamp: "You know, he has a few of those."
Lillie West: "I haven’t dug that deep into it. But you know, the other day I was doing merch for a friend’s band and I was teaching everybody about Robbie Williams, because as his documentary lays out, he didn’t really translate to America, even though he was so massive in England. They only knew one song, they didn’t even know ‘Angels’!"
Handstamp: "Wow, so what DID they know, ‘Let Me Entertain You’?"
Lillie West: "Yeah that one, they didn’t know ‘Rock DJ’ either."
Handstamp: "Incredible really, that he could be such a phenomenon here and barely scratch the surface, where so many other exports do. Anyway, Darius Danesh was the first show, what was the first one that you have a better memory of?"
Lillie West: "When I moved to America, I saw a lot more shows, but while I was still in London, I saw the band Why? My godmother had to take me, because I wasn’t old enough to go alone. She worked at the Royal Academy of Music and Why? Is a strange, experimental, rock and hip-hop band from Cincinnati, so she was wondering what I’d taken her to."
Handstamp: "Sounds like a real trip. Was that a significant show for you then?"
Lillie West: "Well, especially because Yoni (Wolf) from the band produced my last album and I’ve toured with them a couple times."
Handstamp: "Oh, nice full circle then."
Lillie West: "Exactly. In terms of other major shows for me, I always was a huge fan of music and all of my friends were musicians, but I kind of thought it was too late for me for a long time. I never really considered it as a possibility until I moved to Chicago. I remember being a teenager and listening to a lot of rock, then the first band I REALLY liked was Pavement. They were the first band I was obsessed with. So, when I moved to Chicago, where there was a huge DIY scene, it made me realise you don’t necessarily have to be formally trained in any capacity, you can be experimental and make noise music. I realized it can be whatever you want, so that’s when I started making grunge music."
"In LA, its harder to put a show on like that. In Chicago there was just so much unused space, it was cheaper and you could use a warehouse."
Handstamp: "If Pavement were the first band that resonated with you, that falls in line with that kind of slacker, DIY attitude toward music. It probably felt quite liberating to know that virtuosity isn’t necessarily always the answer."
Lillie West: "Definitely. I mean, I took piano lessons two years ago, then made a piano album, just to see if I could. As I have gotten older, my interest in all that has grown a bit. When I was younger, I did not care about being technically proficient in any way, because that’s not the point. But as you get older, your heart opens a bit more to classical music and all that. Then again, I make ambient music that is improvised, one-note, 6-minute songs too. Both of those worlds interest me now, I guess."
Handstamp: "When you were in Chicago, where would you see live shows?"
Lillie West: "There were a lot of DIY venues that had DIY type names, Situations was my favourite. There was one called Rubicon, one called Dustbowl, one called Animal Kingdom. A place called Wally’s World was such a fire hazard that it was crazy. Sometimes just shows at people’s houses."
Handstamp: "So, most places you’d see would have around 100-cap crowds?"
Lillie West: "Oh, less! Maybe 50? Very small shows."
Handstamp: "Is that your preferred way of seeing a show, or do you enjoy halls, theatres, arenas, depending on the context?"
Lillie West: "Yeah, no preference at all, it really depends. I barely go to DIY shows anymore. I can’t tell if that’s because I’m out of touch or if the rules are just stricter. In LA, its harder to put a show on like that. In Chicago there was just so much unused space, it was cheaper and you could use a warehouse or whatever. But to answer your question, I appreciate all types of shows."
Handstamp: "After eight years in Chicago, you moved to New Mexico. How long were you there for?"
Lillie West: "I was in Taos for two years. I would almost never see shows there. It’s such a small, rural place. There was a karaoke night once a week at the local bar, so I would go there. Then I had some friends who would play solo acoustic shows quite a lot. But there is not really a crazy nightlife there."
Handstamp: "What is your go-to karaoke song then"
Lillie West: "’Torn’ by Natalie Imbruglia."
Handstamp: "What a classic. Lovely simple guitar solo in that. So, then you moved to Iceland, what an incredible shift from rural New Mexico."
Lillie West: "It was. I did an art residence in a town on the east coast of Iceland. I met a lot of people and ended up living there for two years."
Handstamp: "Is there a connection between your time in Iceland and you making ambient music?"
Lillie West: "Well, that’s where I started making it, I was making field recordings, which is very predictable. But yeah, there is a connection. A lot of people go there, then start making experimental music with experimental ice-crunching sounds."
"I’m hoping that touring and playing the songs to people will really bring the songs to life."
Handstamp: "In terms of live music, I really don’t have an idea of the scene in Iceland. What can you say about it?"
Lillie West: "They have some cool venues in Reykjavik and Iceland Airwaves, the festival is there. I would see my friends’ band play all the time, but otherwise there is a massive DJ and party scene that wasn’t really a part of. I was working out of this studio called INNI, so I’d see all of the artists from there perform at Airwaves."
Handstamp: "What’s the local attitude toward some of the main exports like Sigur Ros and Bjork?"
Lillie West: "Pretty good. Iceland is quite small, so they’re just…. around, you know? Jonsi from Sigur Ros has a big family, they run a perfumery together. Some are at INNI and some are at the perfumery and they all collaborate. Everybody loves it."
Handstamp: "I briefly met him last year and witnessed somebody flogging their perfume to him fist hand. Had no idea he was so actively involved in that world, but it makes more sense now. So, now you’re back in LA, was it a musical decision to head back?"
Lillie West: "No, it was mainly because I have a lot of friends here. That and I fell in love with someone. I needed to go somewhere, as my stuff had been in storage for two years, while I was in Iceland. It was time to settle somewhere and luckily I fell in love."
Handstamp: "How has it affected you, creatively?"
Lillie West: "I have been in album mode for such a long time. I’ve also done a poetry workshop and done ceramics to address other creative areas. I also made an ambient album with my boyfriend, but I’ve been writing less intentionally for this project. This year has really been about settling down. I just got myself an acoustic guitar again, because I lost mine. So, I’m not quite sure how its impacted me."
Handstamp: "Recently, you’ve had to shift from album mode to tour mode, how do you feel about playing these new songs live?"
Lillie West: "I finished this last year. When I announced my album, a friend asked how I felt about it and because it just happened on the internet, I felt exactly the same, honestly. I’m hoping that touring and playing the songs to people will really bring the songs to life."
The latest LALA LALA record Heaven 2 was released in February 2026 via Sub Pop and since this interview, the album has been toured in the US, with European dates pending.
Subscribe to Handstamp on Substack for future interviews, follow @itshandstamp on social media and just bloody listen to Chief Springs on your chosen platform, will you? This week’s illustrations by Geo Law.
