Hawaii singer and songwriter LIIV has become a fixture in the Honolulu music scene with her delicate yet edgy electropop sound that accompanies the audiovisual project she has created. “I moved to Oahu, Hawaii from Portland, Oregon at age 12 and joined my first semi legitimate band. We played punk music and did around 150 shows. That band evolved into another, and another, and eventually I developed a sound that’s unique to me.”
Now, at 17 years old, she’s opened for bands such as Young The Giant, The Head and The Heart, and the Revivalists at a major music festival, has performed in and around The West & East coasts of the US mainland, Japan, and at numerous venues in Hawaii. LIIV has gained local radio airplay, been nominated for a NaHoku Award (Hawaiian Grammy) for a compilation album she was on, and surpassed 70,000 online streams.
Gold Brother Brian Fennell & Mikey Wax got coffee on a chilly day in Seattle. She says, “Writing and recording was easy & fun. We were working hard all day and forgot about taking photos until we took a quick coffee break & snapped the photo I’ve attached.”
We asked her how they first met. “I met Gold Brother (Brian Fennell) and Mikey Wax at a Film/TV industry writers immersive on the big island of Hawaii. We did one song together there and then met up in Seattle to write & record Bring you Back which was picked up by FOX for The Resident.”
At a very young age, LIIV already has a sense of humor about the gender issues in the music industry. “It’s pretty funny…there’s always some sound guy at shows that thinks I don’t know how my guitar works or how to run my backing tracks through a DI. It’s really fun to see their reactions when they realize I actually know what I’m doing. I think sometimes the expectations of me are lower because I’m young and a woman, but I dig it because it just gives me the opportunity to exceed and surprise them. I just keep doing my thing.”
GGM: Do you have any tips for any women in the industry?
“Stand up for yourself. Trust your gut. Ask lots of questions. Break the rules. Be unapologetically authentic.”
Follow LIIV
SoundCloud | Spotify | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
LIIV’s Girl Gang Music Picks
NÄM
WENS
ARY
Kye Kye