LP Shoots For Authenticity
Singer-songwriter LP aims to create a safe concert space for LGBTQIA+ fans all over the globe, while understanding their own place in the community. “I’m kind of transitioning over to the they/them [pronoun] thing — it's more my kind of vibe,” they said. “But I’m cool with She/Her, if you can’t remember.”
Illustration by Ashley Cox
LP wrote songs for artists such as Cher, Beyonce, and Rihanna before launching their own career. While working as a songwriter in 2009 and feeling burned out by the music industry, LP discovered their love for ukulele. “I was in this music store that I always wanted to go to. I just went in there and bought this $60 ukulele, I just thought they were cool,” said the singer.
They learned to play the instrument using The Beatles songs, and eventually ended up writing Rihanna’s ‘(Cheers) I’ll Drink to That’ on the ukulele. Learning to play renewed LP’s love of music and launched them into their own solo career. “When I started playing it, [the ukulele] just kind of brought back some joy that I was missing.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, LP found themself working on a new album to keep busy. They began plotting a new era of music alongside a new tour across the globe. “I think [my music] gives people hope, I hope,” they said. “[Identifying as LGBTQIA+] is possible and normal. Sometimes you have to have twice the tenacity and, whatever, to do it, but it's possible.”
The singer is no stranger to touring in countries with strict laws against LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals. “I'm happy that people can see myself and other people that look like us, and are like us, and then we feel, ‘Oh! Alright, well, thank God,’” they said. “[Even] in some serious countries, I’ve been accepted and I'm so grateful for this. You know, serious scary places.”
In more than 69 countries across the globe, engaging in any consensual activity between same sex couples is considered a criminal act. Punishments vary from jail time, public flogging, and in some cases, death.
“There has been people wanting me to really speak out — hardcore sometimes in some of these places and I'm like, I'm not trying to die,” they said. “Just that I’m allowed to play in these places is something.”
Being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community has always defined LP’s identity, and their status as a role model for other LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals makes them feel more empowered. “I think you could do worse than having me as a slight role model,” they said. “I made it through this without losing my soul.”
In their downtime, the singer said they enjoy good food and wine with friends, and taking a drive out to the desert whenever possible to ground themself. “It depends on what I'm in the mood for, you know?”
LP rescheduled their new album, Churches, to release on Dec. 3, 2021.
