Lisa Luxx

So, first of all, how did you get into writing and performing?
I started writing as a child, as a way to deal with my mad energy. When I was about 20 I started performing my poetry but I’d played with music and performance in the past so it felt quite natural to allow the poems to become spoken word.

When did you start writing and what attracted you to poetry?
I listened to a lot of rap when I was younger, particularly Eminem who I think is a lyrical genius. My parents had always had poetry books round the house. We read Edgar Allan Poe when I was younger. Then when I was about 13 my friend Elle Covell got me a book of Sylvia Plath’s poetry and that really helped me understand that writing was a way of finding purpose in pain.

How do you find writing for ID Magazine and does this differ to any of your other writing?
I’ve written for magazines and newspapers since I was 18. It’s a different art form because there is formula to journalism and it also comes with skills of communication because it involves speaking to others to collect information through which you create a snapshot of a lifestyle or experience. Rather than just expressing how you feel to be alive, or what your imagination looks like. It’s not my favorite form of literature but it reaches people and any art form I take on is just another Trojan Horse to help get the same messages out.

How do you feel your writing has evolved over the years?
I’ve become better at editing. Though I could still be more ruthless. Working as an editor has also helped me be able to shape my writing better. I’ve also become more aware of the reader/audience, not to let it dictate the work but to know how to share feelings most effectively so that people can relate and, through that, find comfort.

What gave you the idea for the name Lisa Luxx?
It’s just my name.

Can you tell us a little bit about your previous work and what stands out most for you?
My journey with Prowl has had the most impact on who I’ve become. Through Prowl I’ve become friends and comrades with some of the most progressive artists of our time. The work we did when we ran the massive print issues was intense and challenging but I grew a lot from it and the art/stories people shared with us in those pages opened my mind massively. We have thrown some absolutely one-of-a-kind parties throughout the UK, which have harnessed the very essence of creative liberation. Plus it gave me opportunity to interview people like Yoko Ono and Graham Hancock about how we evolve socially, politically and personally.

How have you noticed that people connect with your work?
It depends who is listening, why they’re listening and what their ready to hear. People are tuning into my work a hell of a lot more now that the system is crumbling because they’re finally ready to hear what I’ve been saying for years. People often say I set them alight (I’m a double fire sign so that makes sense), this year I’ve had a lot of people saying to me after gigs ‘I really needed that’. I feel like what I do is pep talk the divine feminine warrior that lives within us all.

What is the best experience you have had through your writing?
At the Women’s March on London I shared a poem at the start and at the end. The final one was called Voice of Earth and it’s from my new book The 4th Brain. It’s about the lineage of pain that woman comes from and what Mama Earth said when I witnessed her speak. The women in the square held each other after I shared it, and independently told strangers ‘I love you’, cried and lived the essence of the poem right there in the square. When people really connect, that’s what happens, they embody the poem in the afterglow of the performance. It was incredible and the most moving moment of my entire life because it was so fucking meaningful – we need to feel free to cry and hold strangers like that in public.

What are your interests outside writing and performing, what does Lisa Luxx do in a normal day?
Well there aren’t really days off. It’s my work but it’s also my lifestyle, I live and breath it. But if I’m not gigging, rehearsing or producing material at home then I’m probably out in the wild with the sistren collecting stories. Or gathering round the cauldron of ideas and cooking up visions of ways we can engage people in the resistance and accelerate the new age.

Now getting onto the new and upcoming stuff. Tell us all there is to know about The 4th Brain.
The 4th Brain is a culmination of about five years philosophizing and writing poetry about the tug between internet and nature. In the poetry, essays and illustrations we find a way to turn the existential crisis of this epoch into a new view on activism and spirituality. It’s published by Prowl House book and the live show is poetry accompanied by music from my brother friend, Rico, and his loop pedal. It features a handful of the best poems from my previous collection Polyphonic Scars.

Are the issues covered in this project something which you feel greatly impacts your life?
It impacts all of our lives. It’s 2017 now, the year of the big wake up, the work isn’t just a reminder for me to stay activated but to shake everyone else the hell out of bed so we can start to take control of our condition.

I also see you have featured on Savvy’s forthcoming album, could you tell us more about your passions for music?
Music can express the great inexpressible better than anything else. Language is pretty inadequate but it’s the code words we are most familiar with. You put the two together and music not only fills but expands the gaps.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQzutU-AlHS/?taken-by=iam_savvy

Lastly, are there any other projects you have in the pipeline or any fresh ideas we can look forward to from you in the near future?
I’ll be touring The 4th Brain now; we have dates through to Autumn across the world and more to be released. Meanwhile I’m continuing work on my spoken word show Germ, about medication and madness. Plus we have lots of events and podcasts coming out through Prowl House.

You can find out more about Lisa Luxx via the following links.

https://twitter.com/lisaluxx_
https://www.facebook.com/lisa.m.luxx/
https://www.instagram.com/luxxy_luxx/

https://twitter.com/ProwlHouse
https://www.facebook.com/THEPROWLHOUSE/
https://www.instagram.com/prowlhouse/