LIZ LARIN - LOCAL ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Detroit Free Press
January 24th, 2003by Dan Austin
The lowdown: A singer-songwriter based our of Warren, Liz Larin had been performing since she was 12. By the time she was 16, she was sneaking our of her house and lying about her age so she could play bars. She then became a member of the band Press, which changed its name to Rebel Heels (signed to Atlantic Records). Since then, she’s embarked on a a solo career on the national and indi levels.
Releases: Rebel Heels folded after putting our just one disc, 1987’s “One by One by One.” She signed on to Atlantic as a solo artist and released “Test Your Faith” in 1993 before parting ways with the label yet again. After moving back to Detroit in late 1998, Larin put out two more albums; “Merry Wicked,” released in 1999, and her latest offering, “The Story of O-Miz,” which came out in November. They are on her own label, Bona Dea Music, manes after the Roman goddess of fertility.
The sound: “The Story of O-Miz” combines straightforward rock n’ roll with wise lyricism. She writes about love and commitment, strength and life. “Some people have called it sort of alternative, angst-rock,” she says.
Inspiration: I Like to write about things that don’t seem to make sense - something that can’t really be explained in one sentence,” she says.
On Success: “Music is like putting a message in a bottle. You put our the CD and don’t know where it’s going to end up and who will get it. I always thing people will buy a CD if it’s good, not just because it’s being pushed as the newest thing.”
L.A. Ain’t For Everyone: “After the band broke up, I moved our to the West Coast,” she says. After “Test Your Faith,” Larin stayed in Los Angeles working as a studio musician. She also worked behind the scenes in the entertainment business, learning how things work.
“That’s when I really got to see the entertainment industry for what it is and really got to loathe it. It just always felt wrong to me, so I moved back to Detroit to be a musician and have been so much happier.”
On Detroit: “This is such a musical town. We have a healthy scene, everyone is into helping everybody else, they love doing it. I can see why such cool music comes our of this place. In Detroit, these people aren’t doing it because it’s going to make them famous.”
Her Advice? “I’ve messed up a lot,” she says. “People have to focus on the music and let everything else happen after that. I got signed when I was 20 and my heart just goes out to those that get signed that young. It’s not a good thing.”
When To See Her: Larin rocks our at 9 tonight at Memphis Smoke, 100 S. Woodward in Royal Oak. She also plays every Wednesday at Good Night Gracie, 222 S. Sherman in Royal Oak. |
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