
Photos and interview by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – It was a friendly tight squeeze navigating around Hotel Cafe for Lisa Crawley’s “What You Can Do” single release show. The New Zealand born native who now calls Los Angeles home not only had the venue packed with friends and fans, but also the “huge [small] stage” with her band and guest performers.
The set opened up with “The Right Way” that had the lyrics, “What does it take to get your attention?” From the audience, a friend yelled back, “Nothing.” For “Baby It’s Fine,” the clarinet came out, which suffered a touch of abuse.

After finishing playing the instrumental part of the song, Crawley placed the clarinet atop the keyboard. It took a slide down and ended with a thump on the stage floor. “Wedding Band” is about her time working as a wedding singer, which included singing at the wedding of an ex. The crowd joined in by singing the song’s echo. Considering the number of singers in the audience, the echo sounded wonderful.
She saved “What You Can Do” for the end. The song has a catchy keyboard melody that adds impact to the ethereal vocals. As the song touched the final musical notes, the crowd erupted in cheers. US Rocker Music had the opportunity to interview Lisa Crawley about the single and the upcoming EP “New Girl Syndrome” as well as other fun topics.
NFV: What do you hope your fans take away from your song “What You Can Do” as well as your upcoming EP New Girl Syndrome? And in regards to the “What You Can Do” music video, did the keys actually work on that piano [the music video includes a weathered piano out in the desert]?
Crawley: I’d hope people could take away the reminder that we’re more than just our work and that saying no to things can be tough but have a better long term outcome. After listening to the EP, I’d love for people to feel both empowered and reminded of their worth, while at the same time being reminded that times of loneliness and introspection also have their time and place.
Re the piano, I’d say about three quarters of the keys on that piano worked, which isn’t too bad for a one hundred year old piano that lives outdoors in the desert! Let’s just say the song would have had a much more honky tonk vibe if I recorded the track on it.

NFV: I noticed you have a deep catalog of music. Is there a story behind one of those songs that you’d be willing to share?
Crawley: ‘Don’t Delete Me’ is about the combination of being hacked shortly after moving to Los Angeles right before the pandemic and trying to establish myself as an artist here. I even hired someone from a ‘get your account back’ service and was so isolated during the pandemic, I had to remind myself that the zoom meetings at 2:30am were about getting my account back and not blind dates, haha. Kidding – kind of. The service was not successful, but after enough time on reddit I managed to figure it out and also got a song that doubles as a break up song.
NFV: You’re from New Zealand. You’ve spent time in London and Melbourne. Now you’re in Los Angeles. If you eventually decide to leave Los Angeles, where might your next stop be? And what about that city intrigues you?
Crawley: I don’t imagine leaving Los Angeles for a long time anytime in the near future, it feels like a great fit for me and challenges me in all the best ways, however, I’d love to spend more time in Europe touring – I’ve still never been to Germany, Sweden or Amsterdam and feel like musically those places could be a good fit.
NFV: Since you’ve spent time in various cities, any thoughts on what makes each city unique in terms of their local music scenes?
Crawley: Auckland has an incredible music scene and some of the best and humble musicians I know, everyone pretty much knows everyone, which has both its positives and negatives. Melbourne had a big scene for Americana music which is when I started getting into playing more blues piano for other artists. It also had a great scene for soul music and the community radio stations were really supportive of local artists and shows. I lived in London on two occasions a very long time ago, and worked illegally in a famous nightclub that played electronic music till 10am, whilst building up my songwriting chops and playing small venues and slowly built up an audience for my own music. I’d happily live there again too, the scene for indie-pop music is great and my humour (and spelling) definitely leans in that direction!

NFV: What are some of your favorite spots in Los Angeles? And what do you enjoy about those spots?
Crawley: The Dresden is one of my favourite spots, and not because I play there regularly! The music, history, people watching, cocktails and buffalo cauliflower are second to none. I used to hang out there when visiting LA and recommend it to everyone as a must-visit. I love Hotel Cafe for checking out both local and international songwriters, Tramp Stamp Granny’s as a fun place to request songs and sing your heart out. Largo has some of the best comedians and music nights and unrelated to music, I live very close to Runyon Canyon which is a beautiful spot to hike. I love getting coffee at Sightglass and my favourite restaurants are probably Little Dom’s in Los Feliz and Pura Vida in Weho.
NFV: What’s a question that you personally just love to get asked? And what’s the answer to that question?
Crawley: Do you have any photos of your cat? Only a folder of about 8,000 or so. Won’t take long.
Hotel Cafe Setlist: The Right Way, Best Thing In The Room, Baby It’s Fine, You Got Me, Boy Don’t Cry, Wedding Band, Don’t Delete Me, Looking For Love, Hey You, Gatekeeper, What You Can Do.