Like all musicians and bands, Sweet Lizzy Project’s plans were completely derailed by the onset of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. The irrepressibly upbeat Cuban-American rock quintet did not stay discouraged for long, as within a few days they began a series of live online ‘Quarantine Sessions’ from their rehearsal space in Nashville, as well as continuing to flood social media with content to help promote the release of their second album Technicolor (which came out mere weeks before the lockdowns took effect).
They also wrote, rehearsed, recorded and as of mid-October, released a new single – the infectiously optimistic and highly relatable Sticky Situations.
“It’s been a blessing that we’re all living together in one house now, because it’s our rehearsal space too and our studio. So, we have a lot here that we can share, and we can keep being creative. Most of the new material that we have been working on over the last few months was recorded here. It’s as simple as me saying, ‘hey Angel [drummer Angel Luis Millet] I am in the rehearsal room, can you come down and put some drums on my new track I am working on?’ And that’s it,” said the band’s co-founder, lead vocalist, songwriter, lyricist Lisset Diaz.
“The whole song came during the middle of the pandemic. And it’s about how I kept dreaming and dreaming about the perfect life and all the wonderful things I have, and that we have this amazing new album that we worked for a long time to write and record and yet the reality hits and it’s not like that dream. The reality is a world pandemic instead. So, how sticky, how uncomfortable that is. It’s so far from what me or what anybody was expecting. It reminded me of Ironic by Alanis Morissette, not the song or the style, but the concept; how ironic life can be and the contrast between whatever you’re expecting, whatever you are thinking, whatever you’re dreaming of and then the way reality just hits you and how it’s so different.
“At the same time, it’s a positive song because, the way I feel about it is that you have to keep going. It doesn’t matter how different or terrible or scary things actually are compared to what you were thinking, you just have to keep going on. And this is my way of keeping going by putting out new music. It’s the way we are all handing this very unfortunate series of events.”
The pandemic took some of the steam out of the momentum Sweet Lizzy Project had garnered with the critically acclaimed release of Technicolor, as major touring plans have been put aside until 2021.
“We had been working on Technicolor for three years, so we actually had time to think about and plan what we were going to do to promote it. We got this amazing booking agent and she works like nobody else, and she put this whole big tour together that I was so excited about, not only because of the performances themselves, but also because it’s a huge part of promoting a record that you’re so proud of. You get most of your record sales these days through being on the road,” Diaz said.
“We were going to new places that we had never been before, and I was very excited about that also, and for the cool videos that were going. We can still do the videos and streams, but promoting the album is not the same when you can’t see the people you are playing for. You don’t have that direct connection with the fans. So, we put three years of hard work into this and we waited for the perfect time to put it out and it came out three weeks before the pandemic really hit. So, then everything was either canceled or rescheduled.
“The first one was SXSW in Austin, and I really wanted to go to SXSW. We had this other really cool festival called SandJam Fest in Panama City Beach [Florida] and it was going to be huge [headliners were Shinedown and Weezer] and that was one of the last things that got cancelled before everything was cancelled outright. When that got cancelled, I realized that things were really serious, it was my wake-up call. It was hard because it’s like I blew this great big bubble gum bubble of dreams and expectations and hopes and all of a sudden someone comes along and pops the bubble, and now I have all this sticky gum all over my face. It literally was like that. And that kind of led to the idea for the song, and the cover art for the single too.”
Proving to be as adaptable as they are talented, Sweet Lizzy Project pivoted like a ballet dancer to go from planning to tour, to outfitting their rehearsal space to be a live music venue, as well as a recording studio.
“It really came about over the first weekend that they announced everything was closing. It was the obvious move for artists to do the streaming thing, but when we started not a lot of people were doing it. But, just like everything with this band, it just got very complicated, because that’s what we do, we complicate things. We are very good at that,” said Diaz.
“I had this idea that we should go live, and I told [real-life partner, producer, co-writer and guitarist] Miguel that maybe we can do it with just me and him on guitar and do something acoustic. That was just the beginning of it on the Friday, and by end of the weekend it was like we realized we needed to take advantage of the skills we all have because not only is he a musician, but also an engineer. He can do this; he is the best sound guy in the band. This is the way we would always rehearse, in the living room. And we liked to record our rehearsals so we can listen to it afterwards because it was just a small living room and the drums would get really, really loud. So, you need to balance that and mix the sound. Miguel was like, ‘maybe we can do that same thing and go live online, try to make it happen and synchronize the music and the video.’ We were going to use a nice camera and run it through Logic, the sound app, to mix it and give the people a quality sound, and it turned out great.”
The Quarantine Sessions were designed for interaction with fans both old and new, as the band took requests, made fun of their occasional foul ups, and generally had a great time playing requested covers, originals and answering questions.
“We wanted to use it to promote the band and the record and this was the only way we had to do that, but also we wanted to play other things, like favourite covers, music that we know the fans are going to love and give people the chance to request songs to keep that interaction going,” she said.
“I wanted it to be like a talk show as well, because that is what I thought we needed – not only the music, but just to hear from other people who were going through the same process, because everybody is frustrated, not only us as musicians, it’s hitting everybody. I think it helps when you don’t feel alone, and a lot of people were alone, so it was a way to reach out.
“And there were times when I felt alone too. Even when I was surrounded by my band [which also includes keyboardist Wilfredo Gatell and bassist Alejandro Gonzalez], somehow and sometimes you can still feel alone during these kinds of times. There are always things you don’t feel like sharing because you don’t want to depress someone else, or pass on your fears, so it was so weird. Doing these shows was liberating for me to be able to talk to people and get their feedback and their comments and their love. It really helped me as a person as well as an artist.”
Because of various long-standing economic sanctions imposed by many Western countries, led by an official boycott by the United States, Cuba lacked many of the things that most continental North Americans, and especially many musicians, take for granted, especially when it comes to technology. But even regular living was difficult as there were often shortages or rationing of necessities, and it took patience and epic adaptability to maintain some semblance of a normal life.
While the lockdowns and restrictions put in place by the current Covid-19 pandemic are causing extreme amounts of stress, frustration and existential anxiety for many, Diaz said her life in Cuba prepared her perhaps better than most North Americans for the situation.
“Absolutely, in a way, I have been training for this my whole life. I am kind of used to things going wrong. Every time things seem to go smooth; I get scared because I think something really bad must be about to happen. Seriously, I am used to it, and it’s been this way for a long time and it definitely helped me and the band deal with what’s happening now. You just have to keep going and know that the hard times will pass, and you will get through it,” she said.
“It’s funny, I remember when the whole thing started and toilet paper just magically disappeared from stores and everybody was freaking out and I was like, man I am used to that. In Cuba, for everybody, you might not be able to get toilet paper for two weeks, so you just buy more the next time you have the chance, and you quickly learned that there are other ways to clean yourself up. It was really interesting to see from my perspective because here they’re just not used to it, they are used to having everything they need at all times, 24/7, and have 12 different brands of everything.”
Sticky Situations is just one of many new compositions developed during the lockdown. Diaz said Sweet Lizzy Project will be released a Christmas-themed EP, featuring both covers and original songs, later this fall.
“I am very excited about it because it’s the first time we have played Christmas music. It’s going to have two originals and two covers and I am so happy to be doing them, because for one of the originals I am describing the way I felt the first time when I actually experienced Christmas here in America. We Cubans, we don’t really celebrate Christmas. In Cuba, it’s not really a tradition because it’s still a Communist country. Some people do have Christmas trees but it’s not a big deal,” she said.
“But here, Christmas is a lot more than just a Christmas tree. It’s a huge experience. So, we are going to become part of the tradition of putting out Christmas songs. One of the covers is 2,000 Miles by The Pretenders and the other one is John Lennon’s Happy Christmas/War is Over.”
For more information on Sweet Lizzy Project, Sticky Situations, the forthcoming Christmas EP, and any post-Covid tour dates, visit the band’s social media channels or https://www.sweetlizzyproject.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for nearly 30 years. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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