Lyn Lapid speaks on her journey from not fitting in to finding her crowd on new album, ‘BUZZKILL’

Filled with stories to tell about her journey of finding self-acceptance amongst the buzzkill void, Lyn Lapid — a singer-songwriter who explores genres from alternative to jazz — is set to release her debut album, BUZZKILL, tomorrow, April 25th. Lapid’s move from her small hometown in Maryland to the dramatically different Los Angeles was the driving force behind the creation of the album, giving her experiences that made her feel lost and out of place, ultimately making her come to the conclusion that she’s a buzzkill. For Lapid, finding the right crowd to hang with was the missing piece to the puzzle, but the search for it took time and reflection.

Many may know Lapid from her hit ukulele songs “Producer Man” and “When She Loved Me” that blew up on TikTok in 2020, giving her a platform at just 17 years old. Since then, Lapid has explored and evolved her sound through a series of singles and two EPs—all leading up to this release of her debut album.

Lapid is bringing BUZZKILL on the road on the BuzzKill World Tour as a headliner starting on May 6. On this tour, she’ll be hitting up venues with personal record-breaking capacities across Europe, the UK and North America.

In an interview with Melodic Magazine, Lapid discusses her inspiration behind the production of the album, her growth as a musician and where the concept of BUZZKILL emerged from.

This month is very exciting. You have your debut album BUZZKILL coming out soon and your singles, “buttons,” “coraline,” “i’ll be happy when,” and “death wish” are already out. Can you tell me a little bit about why you decided to start the story of BUZZKILL and built anticipation for its release with these four tracks specifically?
I feel like I really wanted to kind of surprise my listeners with the new direction that I’m going with with my sound and I felt like “buttons,” “coraline,” “death wish,” and “i’ll be happy when” were a perfect representation of that. And I feel like my last project was very whimsical and bright and airy and this album and these songs are definitely more on the mature and darker side.

How has the reaction been towards these singles? Have you had a positive audience reaction or felt the love on these?
Honestly like a good number of people have commented that they really enjoy the sound that I’m going into. Which I very much appreciate, because I feel like working on this album, I was kind of trying to challenge myself with branching out into kind of like a more mature sound. And I was excited to release these singles to represent that. I’ve gotten, pretty honestly, an amazing response back from my listeners.

Do you think listeners will expect the album BUZZKILL as a whole, given the themes and sounds of these released singles?
Yeah, honestly, I think they’ll be very surprised to see the direction that I’m taking this album. I feel like when I was in the studio making these songs, I wanted to challenge myself with, you know, where I can kind of branch into different sounds chord-wise, melody-wise and lyrically.

“coraline,” “i’ll be happy when” and “death wish” all have music videos that showcase this theme of isolation, whether that be a scene of you being left out at a party or losing your friend to a guy. Why did you choose to create three music videos that all tie into your personal experiences of disconnect and loneliness?
I knew that when I was making this album, visually, I wanted to represent or illustrate what the album was about. I had written the album about my personal experiences like moving across the country to a new city that I was so unfamiliar with and that I essentially knew nobody in. And that experience of trying to find that sense of belonging in a community was a bit of a struggle for a pretty long time, at least for me living in a new city in LA for about a year and a half now.

And yeah, I wanted to illustrate also in the music videos that you know, yes, it is like the album is about self-discovery and dealing with loneliness and isolation, but at the same time, in my personal experiences that I was writing about, it was the situation where I was constantly surrounded by people all the time, going to different events, parties, whatever, just to avoid being alone. But I’d never felt so alone at the same time being there. And so I felt like these music videos illustrated that perfectly.

Moving from a small, quiet hometown in Maryland to the busy, opportunity-filled city of Los Angeles is a huge and bold change. How did this east to west coast move influence your theme, songwriting and overall concept presented in BUZZKILL?
Yeah, I felt like when I was writing the album in real time, as I was experiencing these things I was writing about, I felt like there was a multitude of reasons as to why I had disliked living in Los Angeles for quite some time. And I think it was, you know, the cultural difference like being used to certain personalities that you most likely find on the East Coast, rather than like in Los Angeles on the West Coast, and trying to find the people that were also genuine in their interests in me like friendship-wise, relationship-wise. And I feel like navigating that in real time my brain kept going to the word “buzzkill.” Because I’d go to all these things, events, parties, clubs, over and over and over again, just to avoid being alone. But, I felt like, I guess, like a buzzkill everywhere I went, because the vibe just like always never clicked every time I would try to expand my horizon and just find that sense of community that I was yearning for for so long. And yeah, I felt like my brain always went back to buzzkill, because that’s how I felt everywhere I went.

But then I think in this album, it was really a discovery that, like, yes, I do feel like a buzzkill, and I am a buzzkill, but with the wrong people. And it was just the discovery that I needed to let go of, that control of wanting to be liked and befriended by everybody, and allowing myself to find that small community of people that I truly belong with and that value me as much as I value them. Because I think I was for a long time settling for very surface-level and meaningless relationships, friendships in order to not be alone, but I think I needed to realize that I was deserving of more than that.

While writing these songs for BUZZKILL, did you think people your age would be able to relate and connect to this experience of isolation and self-discovery, or did you think it was like an experience specific to yourself as a 22-year-old musician?
Yeah, I honestly feel like it would be a bit of both, because when I was writing these songs, I felt like I was the only person going through these things in the world but I feel like one thing about my music is that, because I’m so open and vulnerable, is that my listeners appreciate that about my art. I love when, you know, my listeners come back to me after a song is released or a project is released and they tell me either through DMs or messages or emails where they say that they relate to the very personal, niche things that I go through and write about.

I honestly feel like a lot of my listeners, who, a lot of them are around my age, would relate to the songs that I was writing about. And I feel like moving to a new city and feeling alone in it or just being lonely in general is not a revolutionary new thing, but I think there’s a beauty in how universal that experience is growing up. I feel like a 13-year-old can relate to that by moving schools, being the new kid in school. A 25-year-old can feel that having a new job in a new city, or, like, moving across the world for a job opportunity, I feel like there is, there’s that part of growing up that I feel like everybody goes through at some point in their life. I think a lot of my fans will resonate with that.

In what ways has this transformative journey of finding self-acceptance from a dark place of isolation and telling this story through your album opened doors for you?
Yeah I feel like I view a lot of these songs as diary entries and a way to process my emotions in a healthy way. And honestly, as I was writing these songs, it was helping me get through these feelings and moments of isolation and it made me realize that I needed to let go of that control of wanting to be liked by everybody, or settling for surface-level relationships and friendships. I think that opened the door for me to find the people that I truly belong with and that sense of community that, even though it’s small, that I was yearning for for a really long time. I think writing this album, start to finish, was kind of just like my way of coming to that realization, which I think helped me a lot.

Moving to new places and finding yourself is kind of all about this coming-of-age experience, one that everyone goes through. Going off that theme of changing with time, how have you grown as a musician, even looking back at when your viral singles, “Producer Man” and “When She Loved Me” blew up on TikTok?
I think when I was first starting out with music, I very much was experimental with my sound and my songwriting style. And I think on my last project, I was really able to hone in on a certain sound that I loved to write in and perform, but then I knew that this album, I wanted to take it in a different direction where it was more representative, like the more mature themes that I was writing about. And I feel like these songs, sonically, thematically, lyrically, melodically, are exactly in the direction that I want to take in my music. And if I were to describe this album in one word, it would be honest. And I’ve always been very personal and vulnerable in my music, but I feel like this is the first project where I’m really laying myself out on the table. And I think listeners who would listen to this album once it’s out can feel, I hope they can then feel that growth in my music for sure.

As someone who started their music career at the young age of 17, is there something you’ve learned or found out about yourself as a musician that you wish you would have known or discovered earlier on?
I think I needed to realize my true values with my artist project and myself as a musician. I think earlier on in my career, I was so afraid of making music that didn’t resonate with my listeners, and so I kind of boxed myself in to try and make music for other people for a while. And I think this album especially was maybe the first time that I was not going to do that because I knew that I wanted this album to be truly authentic and truthful to myself as a person, but also how I display myself online. I wish I knew from an earlier age that I just needed to, once again, let go of that control of wanting to be liked by a multitude of listeners and realize that when I’m writing and being authentic to myself, that’s when the true fans come in—who will truly resonate with that. Numbers define only so much and definitely does not define the worth of my art and the music and the songs I write, so I wish I knew that from an earlier age for sure.

This album opens with the title track, “buzzkill,” and ends with the track, “it doesn’t kill me anymore.” And you kind of spoke about how you realized you weren’t a buzzkill, you just hadn’t found the right crowd to surround yourself with. Was this album kind of a way to give close closure to this chapter in your life? And what does sharing this intimate story mean to you?
I think yeah, you’re exactly right. I feel like the album start to finish is like starting in a scene where I feel so lost and alone in the situation that I was writing about, but then the journey of self-acceptance to the point where I’m letting go and allowing myself to find the people that I truly belong with. The last song of the album was kind of, wraps everything into a nice bow because when you do let go of that control, you do end up losing people in your life that you weren’t meant to be with. And the last song of the album is being okay with that and letting people live their life, even if it’s without you. And I think I wouldn’t say this album is a way to close a chapter of my life, because I still go back to these songs and listen to them whenever I’m feeling a certain emotion, depending on which song I’m feeling most like on the album. It’s just, the album is just like a really long process of a multitude of emotions that I was going through. I feel like it still resonates to my life today and I think I’ll be finding myself coming back to this album and listening to it a lot.

These tracks on BUZZKILL are kind of a unique mixture of different sounds and genres, which is very cool. You use alternative and pop touches and kind of like sprinkle in grooviness of R&B and jazz. How did you go about developing your sound on this album, since it is like a combination of different styles and influences?
Yeah, I think the way I view my music is each song is a different emotion. I feel like, sonically, each song on the album is representative of a different emotion so I think that’s why there are quite a bit of different types of genres that you’ll find on this album. Some leaning more alternative rock, pop, and then some being a little bit more of a chill with jazz and R&B. I didn’t want to box myself into one certain sound. I always kind of viewed my music that way, to not box myself in and kind of just let the music, chords and melodies and lyrics kind of just speak for themselves. I love when projects are cohesive, thematically, and I knew I wanted to do that with the album, but I didn’t want to box myself in sonically.

This album is very different from your EP to love in the 21st century. Were there any sounds, including instrumentation and vocals, that you used for the creation of BUZZKILL that were different or stood out from your production or arrangement of your EP?
I think with my last project, I usually went into the studio with the ukulele and kind of came up with chords that way. But I knew with this album I wanted to challenge myself and let go of the control, like how the song should be. I think with this project, I was trying to be more collaborative with the writers and the producers that I was working with in the room and just kind of brainstorming, bouncing off of other people and seeing what new, interesting ways I can take my sound, sonically, chord-wise, I guess. And yeah, I think a lot of this album leans very keys-heavy, which is very different from my last project, which is a bit brighter and more whimsical with the ukulele.

This project for sure is cool because I was able to play some keys on it, which I had never done on previous songs or previous projects before, so I was really happy to kind of challenge myself in that way. I start all of my songs with chords and I felt like, when I was going into these sessions, I was like, what is the weirdest chord progression you could think of and can we make a song out of it? I felt like that’s how I was able to challenge myself and that’s why I think this album, sonically, is so different from my previous project.

Speaking of touring, you’re about to start your headlining tour, Buzzkill World Tour, where you’ll be playing across the US, Canada, Europe and the UK. How are you feeling about playing some of your biggest venues to this day and bringing BUZZKILL to the stage?
I’m so excited to be back on the road. I feel like it’s been about two years since I went on my major North American headline tour and this will be the first time that I’m going internationally to Europe, which I’m so excited about. I’ve never been to Europe, so I’m excited to see my fans and my listeners over there. But yeah, I feel like it is a bit scary because these songs are probably the most vulnerable songs that I had written thus far in my career and I’m interested to see how my listeners respond to that when I play them live because they are so vulnerable. Even just like when I finished rehearsals this weekend, just even playing these songs in front of my band was very scary at first, because this album was very challenging and personal to write. I’m honestly excited just to be back on the road and just to play in a city every night with my friends. I love touring, so I’m just excited to see my listeners again.