Photo Credit Will Cook

New Zealand-born, Los Angeles-based indie-pop chanteuse Lisa Crawley has an empowering single, “What You Can Do.” It is the first single from her forthcoming EP New Girl Syndrome available on April 28th.

For the single, Lisa worked with John Spiker to merge the retro and modern flourishes, adding layers to the piano focused track. The song is about the constant questioning of identity outside of your career. As a musician, it can be a struggle to say ‘no’ to work or people that don’t serve you: “You can only do so much baby / You’ve got your work cut out for you / Take a breath, in fact go and take two / You are more than what you can do”

“I’ve been labeled a ‘workaholic,’ but saying no can be scary,” explains Lisa. “Creating space to explore other parts of myself is confronting but important.”

“What You Can Do” touches on the challenge of defining yourself beyond your work—can you share a personal moment that inspired this theme?

There has been a build up over the last decade or so of people calling me “keyboard girl” at school/when I was younger and played at church, or saying things along the lines of “but that’s who you are, that’s your identity” when discussing music and some of the more difficult times in my musical career.

You mentioned that saying no can be scary. How has your relationship with boundaries changed over the years, both personally and professionally?

I’m still very much a work in progress in that regard – the fear of not knowing when the next gig will come, if I’ll miss out on something important by not going out that night etc, if I’ll be able to pay rent and trusting something better will be around the corner etc. 

Saying that, I’m slowly getting better at realising that the reality of saying yes can result in a whole lot of stress – whether it’s spending hours preparing for something that I don’t even really want to do, or signing up to something that I don’t feel represents me well as an artist/ with more core values.  It’s all a bit of a balancing act, but I’m getting better at reminding myself that by saying yes because I’m worried about letting someone down, I’m actually letting myself down. So in conclusion, remembering that, therapy, and some podcasts have helped!

The single blends retro and modern elements. What drew you to that sonic direction, and how did working with John Spiker influence the final sound?

Though my sound has had variations over the years, ever since my EP ‘Hello, Goodbye and Everything In Between’ that I released in what feels like an eternity ago,  I think I’ve been pretty consistent with combining both retro and modern elements. John Spiker was fantastic to work with and has such a vast knowledge of music from way back to now and took into account my references and ideas, all while bringing something new to the table with his incredible musicianship.    

The lyric “You are more than what you can do” is so simple yet powerful. Was there a specific turning point that made you realize this for yourself?

I moved to LA with nothing lined up and next to no savings a month prior to the pandemic. I’m currently on a visa that is very specific for music, so when I was unable to work/ perform during that time it really made me look inward to learn about what else I had going for myself as a person outside of doing the thing that I often felt defined me.

Photo Credit Angel Origgi


How does What You Can Do set the tone for your upcoming EP, New Girl Syndrome? Are these themes of identity and balance present throughout?

Yes – What You Can Do sets the tone for an introspective, melodic, melancholic at times, empowering at other times  little record featuring numerous ‘in-jokes’ to myself that certainly explores identity and balance both professionally and personally.

Having lived and performed across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada, and now the U.S.—how have these diverse experiences shaped your songwriting?

It’s definitely played a huge part in my writing – I moved to a remote town in Japan at age nineteen for a musical residency on a whim and was immediately isolated from any of my norms and singing Japanese Pop music every night for one hundred and thirty days in a row without a night off, without internet or any English speakers around. I became much more of an introvert by default and songwriting was a huge outlet for me during that time. I’ve based myself in the UK and Australia also which are a little closer to my home country of New Zealand – both of those places had their ups and downs but musically I feel a real connection to music from the UK – the emphasis on melody in a lot of the pop/rock music really resonates with me. A large portion of my favourite songwriters are based in the US and it’s allowed me to feel at home with my genre of music that’s not overly poppy, nor is it super alternative. For a long time I felt like my music might have been tricky to put in a box – and now I realise that’s not a bad thing, and to make things full circle, someone recently turned my new song into a music box!

You’ve been described as having a refreshingly honest and emotionally authentic presence. How important is vulnerability to you as an artist?

It’s more of a default for me – not a choice per say. I love writing songs of various kinds as a challenge/ writing to brief, but I feel like I let myself down when I play gigs or songs that don’t feel authentic to me.

Photo Credit Will Cook

The music industry often glorifies the “workaholic” mindset. What advice would you give to fellow creatives who struggle with overworking?

The advice I would give them is to find someone who can offer them that advice, then come back and let me know what it is, because I need to hear it! Ha. That, and get a cat – they make everything so much better. And to block out time for things you really want to do but can’t justify it (whether it’s writing, hanging out with friends, exercising etc) and pretend you’re getting paid to do it.

You arrived in the U.S. just before quarantine. How did that unexpected timing affect your creative process and the making of this EP?

I released my EP “Looking for Love – In A Major” in 2021 of songs that I’d had in the works/worked remotely on that all happened to be in the key of A Major. I had a brutal pandemic living off the food bank and free stuff from strangers on Facebook. Then when I had the ability to perform/look for work, I took on as much as I could work/performance wise to save up to work on new music. At the end of 2022, one of those jobs was playing background music at a ten person dinner party that Jack Black and John Spiker (both Tenacious D members) happened to be at, and somehow Jack and Johnny ended up singing Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” and after staying in touch with John, after about a year or so we began working on this EP together.

Looking ahead, what are you most excited for listeners to discover about New Girl Syndrome and this new chapter of your artistry?

I’m excited for people to hear my clarinet arrangements on two of the tracks, reflect on the lyrics and to hear a couple of chords that will raise musicians eyebrows while being catchy enough for non musicians to sing along to.