I had the immense pleasure of spending a day with Lévyne. Over coffee, we sat in Lévyne’s room in her sunny Mt Roskill flat. While we talked about our common homebody tendencies, she multitasked by working on production for her friend’s song.

It wasn’t long until we jumped in the car and headed down to Waikowhai Beach, a favourite place of Lévyne’s. In preparation, we may have or may not have gotten dressed up in some of her favourite New Zealand designers garments!

After spending a lush day with Lévyne, I sat down to listen to ‘Being Low’ Lévyne’s first ep. The first thing you hear on this ep is Lévyne’s piano, played with shades of classical leanings. You’re then taken on a journey through electronic soundscapes winding their way to morph in with the beautiful piano line with a burst of emotion. Throughout this ep, you can hear Lévyne’s love for the piano as it appears in pretty much every song. Lévyne taps into emotions that we all deal with; loneliness, resilience and navigating relationships while still trying to be supportive.

My favourite tune on this Ep is If You Want, it hits close to home for me and is very relatable.

Keep reading to read through my proper interview below!

What is the song that best represents who you are as a human, represents you? What song describes your fears, your hopes, your beliefs, your wishes your dreams, who you are at your core, whether it is one of your own songs or not. This question is not what is your favourite song or what song you wish represented you or a song that resonates with you. It's if you were a song what would it be?

"Don't Take the Money" by Bleachers - full of strong emotions, somewhat hopeful but pretty tumultuous. And I'm always trying to tell myself not to take the easy way out of stuff.

Favourite Kiwi Band/ Artest at the moment?

How do I even pick this one! New Zealand is so full of amazing artists. But right now I can't stop listening to 'H.N.Y.B' by Merk, ever since I saw him live again in April.

Who are some of your top inspirations in both life or music?

I had a weirdly stunted upbringing in terms of musical influences, so I'm in a unique place where I'm working that out a lot right now! Forever really inspired by artists who have worked for years on their craft, done what they wanted and not given up like Perfume Genius or Chelsea Jade. My friends also inspire me a lot. They're the most hardworking people I know and proof that hard work will bring you good things.

We all know that the music industry is hard, but we often don't understand why we don't know the specifics. What struggles have you had to face in the industry?

I think I've been doing a lot of work to be ok with the fact that it's an industry that's largely based on luck. You can work for years, and someone can come along and get offered opportunities you've had eyes on after no time at all. It's entirely right place, right time, right people. I'm someone who likes certainty, so it's been hard accepting that there is none. Until someone takes a risk on you, you're wearing the hat of songwriter, which is emotionally active in itself, but you're also self-funding, a publicist, radio plugger, show coordinator, creative director, graphic designer, costume designer, social media influencer, the list goes on. It's not for the faint-hearted, and it all feels very overwhelming quite often. But for those of us who live and breathe music, it's the only satisfying path in life to know that you tried your best. You really gotta lean into the broke and struggling artist vibe as stereotypical as it is haha. (That sounds so dire, but I promise I love it, it's very fun and fulfilling!).

Wearing Penny Sage Top with Wynn Hamlyn Pants

On your coming Ep, 'If you want' is my favourite tune. Could you tell me a little about the song and the message behind it?

That song was written so insanely fast. I had it all down in about 20 minutes, and I wrote it with a friend of mine, Jonathan Boyle. We'd decided to write an emotional song that day, that's just how we were feeling. Essentially it's a love song, but I guess the song is an acknowledgement that the state of life isn't always perfect, and it was just me trying to reinforce that I would be there for someone if they wanted me and they just had to call.

I know you have a love for coffee, even a coffee cup tattoos on you. But I don't think the world knows if you were on the spot what your go-to cuppa would be?

I love coffee so much, and yeah my little mug tattoo matches one of my closest friends in America! I have a handful of favourites but probably Crumb. Local business and great banter with the baristas. And GREAT dogs.

The happiest place on earth for you? The first thing that pops into your head! Ready steady go!

Tongariro National Park. I love New Zealand so much, and I love volcanic landscapes more than you'll ever understand.

Here is another one. Favourite thing to do in the world?

Write music with other people or be somewhere in the outdoors.

For me, I find that my creativity comes out in the weirdest times/places, like in the shower or while driving. Where do you find your creativity come out?

A lot while I'm driving, I often set my voice memos on and just sing everything that comes into my head. The most strange one is probably when I'm in crowds at other people's concerts, I always get inspired when I see people doing what I want to be doing. At my old job I used to sneakily open up a google doc on the work computer and write in lyrics while it was quiet haha. I don't know; often it's a weird lightning bolt of inspiration and no matter where I am, I have to write it down.

You have the most beautiful piano in your room. Did your parents help start your love for music? And man, that piano must be a pain to move!

My parents were super important at getting me into music! My dad was a musician back in the day and played live around the country a lot. He taught me to play some basic guitar. I remember sitting and singing things like Elton John with him and my brother when I was 5. When I was younger, I picked piano as my main instrument, and they made me stick with it all the way until the end of high school. The piano sure is a pain to move, but man I'm lucky to have one with me where I live, keyboards don't cut it.

It's no secret that the music industry is lacking in women compared to men. What advice would you have for a solo artist like yourself?

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Especially yourself. And also just to be prepared for the inevitable injustices, life isn't fair, unfortunately, but we can't stop trying. I think as a woman, you can feel hopeless about how much of a boys club it can be, but when you find women to work alongside it's just such a beautiful experience. Something about bringing sisterhood into the music industry is really powerful. One time I wrote a song with a friend, and we painted our nails and talked about life, and the song was kinda terrible, but that is still one of my favourite sessions.

What is a dream? Your dream for your music and the hope for where you wish life to go?

I just love playing for people. In a pre-COVID world, if I were dreaming without limits, I'd love to tour around the world playing in different countries and writing with people forever. I'm trying to gain skills in producing and songwriting that I can take beyond this project, so I'm involved in music my whole life somehow.

We took these photos in a different world than we are living in right now. But now as we chat, we are both isolating in different houses. How has this time affected you? Mental and creatively? I know I've been watching lots of TVs and eating chocolate.

It was really busy. I was trying to be creatively active and write and play a lot of music, but I just found it quite stressful because I was also studying my final semester at university, producing for other people and processing a lot on a personal level. I missed a few of my close friends a whole lot too as everybody did. In the end, I needed just to allow myself to sleep and cry and sit in the sun and just take it one thing at a time.

Where does Lévyne come from? What's the story behind the name?

When I started studying my major was Geology, I love the natural world so much, and I always loved rocks. Lévyne is a little crystal that's kind of cute. I saw it in a book one day and thought the name looked nice!

Jun 9 A Day with Lévyne