Born Valerie Anne Poxleitner, electronic artist Lights fully committed to her music career by legally changing her name. The 24-year-old Canadian is on tour for her newest album, ‘Siberia.’ She will play at the Lost Horizon in Syracuse on Jan. 28.

The Daily Orange: For new listeners, what sets you apart from other artists?

Lights: I would say I have my own sense of lyrics. I take pride in writing really honestly. I write about things that I’m actually experiencing. I put a lot of effort into making lyrics that flow really well and marry the melodies really well, but yet say something that is really true and honest.

Do you have any pet peeves, and if so, what’s No. 1?

When people think that I want to be called by my old name. You don’t go through the effort of changing for nothing. It’s a big commitment to change your name. I changed my name because I don’t want to be two different people. I’m Lights as a person. I dropped my personal life. It would be doing myself a disservice if I had to feel like two different people all the time. I’m Lights.

Can you explain the name behind your new album ‘Siberia’?

I’ve written a lot about cold stuff from my boots to ice to shivery air. It’s one thing, growing up in Canada to have these conditions all the time. With album titles and things of that nature, there’s really no yes or no answer. It’s whatever your gut tells you it should be called. It was sort of a self-discovery record.

What is the message you are trying to deliver through the album?

Generally speaking, it’s about things you’re experiencing or feeling, what you want to say or things you’re observing. It’s just an overall scope of what your life is at that time, and that’s exactly what it was: a kind of snapshot of your life and experiences and the way that you look at them.

How long did the album take to put together?

It takes a lot of discovery to decide where you want to take an album. It finally kind of hit me in November of 2010. I started writing that December, more intensely that January and pretty much finished it by the end of the winter. Then it took the entire summer to get it out.

Did you face any obstacles?

We had some struggles with the label at the time. We just weren’t seeing eye to eye. So we ended up releasing the record independently. I paid for it out of my own pocket.

Is there anyone in the music industry that you look up to?

I really dig Gwen Stefani. She’s such a strong woman and does her thing, and I like Björk for the same reason.

What is a motto that you live by or advice you’d give to a stranger?

I think that everyone is born with a passion for what they’re meant to do, so don’t underestimate where your gut wants to take you. Everything is based on that — do what you love, and that’s what you’re meant to do.

ajcaren@syr.edu

Published on January 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Allie: ajcaren@syr.edu