What’s your stage name and where are you from?
My stage name is lyra messier (all lowercase). I am from Ghent, Belgium.
What’s the story behind your stage name?
Lyra is my actual first name, taken from the His Dark Materials series of books by Philip Pullman. “Messier“ is taken from the classification of space objects named after astronomer Charles Messier (I was fascinated by space as a kid).
Describe your musical journey in three sentences.
Music has ruled my life since I was a kid; I started classical piano lessons when I was 6 years old and started writing my own music as a teenager. I released my first album in 2015 and have been working hard on my own material since. Over the years I’ve incorporated more and more different styles I love into my music, ranging from house and techno via progressive rock to now hip hop.
Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.
In working on this album, I was very much inspired by the music of Noga Erez, an Israeli rapper and singer. Shortly before releasing the album, I got to meet her at a concert in Paris, after which I sent her one of the songs. She was a fan! This was a very proud moment for me.
What message do you want to convey through your music?
My songs are unashamedly queer and angry at the world. The message I guess I want to convey is that it is okay to be these things and proudly share them with everyone, through art or whatever else.
Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.
I wanted to write hip-hop music as I had been listening to tons of it, but was unsure if I would be able to take myself seriously when rapping. My solution to this was to write a joke song, pretty much. “Treinsample” is funny and satirical, and I also wrote it in Dutch, my first language. I liked the result enough to give more serious rap songs a try as well.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
Noga Erez, as previously mentioned, is a massive idol, and I think we could write a great song together. I would also love to work with Eefje de Visser, a Dutch singer-songwriter I name-drop in the first song on the album (“Treinsample”). Lastly, every guitar riff I write is really an ode to Steven Wilson, so getting to work with him (or getting him to mix my music) would be a dream.
Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?
I have written one song that is half finished and will go on the next album, but what that album will sound like is still pretty wide open. Since this record features such a big sound change, I am not sure what the plan is now—do that again? Explore this sound more? I have no idea, which is quite exciting, actually.
What’s the next big step for you as an artist?
I have never played a full live set but have plans to do so very soon. I would love to take my music around the world!
Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?
My music is on Spotify, Apple Music, and the like, as well as Bandcamp and YouTube. Links are available at https://lyramsr.co/music.
(Maybe also include a Spotify or YouTube embed?)
What is the best way to contact you if fans want to give feedback or if other artists/producers want to collaborate?
You can email me via my website (https://lyramsr.co) or contact me at @lyramessiermusic on Instagram!
