Part 1

Name: Liz Vice
Nationality: American, France-based
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Liz Vice's new album The Call is out June 20th 2025.
Recommendations for Lyon, France: I love it here. I would recommend going to the late Jam at La Pente or La Grooverie if you want to listen to live music. There are just so many talented music makers in the world. Also, Greekia Lyon 2. They have gyros that will blow your mind lol.
Topics I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: Hmm. You know, I once worked in the world of film. I love talking about movies and love going to art museums, something I rarely do anymore.

If you enjoyed this Liz Vice interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her on Instagram, tiktok, and bandcamp.



When did you first consciously start getting interested in singing? What was your first performance as a singer on stage or in the studio and what was the experience like?

I don’t know if it was conscious more than it was a natural thing I did as a kid. I am one of five and I loved my alone time. I would go into the basement of my childhood home and listen to my mom’s tapes and CDs and sing and dance for hours. Imagine a nine year old little girl singing to Avida or Celine Dion.

I would spray our wooden floors with pledge and pretend to ice skate to the soundtrack of the Little Mermaid or sit in the living room on a quiet rainy day and listen to instrumental music trying to pluck out what I heard on a keyboard my aunt bought for me.

Music was never the goal in my life but, it has always been a part of my life.

If you're also playing other instruments, how does the expressive potential of these compare to your own voice?

You know, I don’t really have an excuse to why I don’t play an instrument other than not having the money for lessons or living in a place long enough with a piano or keyboard. I gave up teaching myself guitar because I couldn’t make it pass the calluses and bruises I’d need to develop. I still think about learning my own songs all the time.

What I do do, is slowly but effetely create the sounds I want for a song in Logic Pro and hire people to replace the programmed songs with real instruments.

I love the sound of the richness or a piano or the fingers gliding across strings of a guitar.

Singing is an integral part of all cultures, and traditions. Which of these do you draw from – and why?

I was lucky enough to grow up hearing my mom sing a cappella throughout the house.

She would tell me the stories of how she wanted to be a professional singer and how “What’s it all about, Alfie” was her song of choice for warming up her vocals.



I grew up with movies that always had some form of African spirituality or African American stories through song. Music is a form of spirituality. Song is a form of expression speaking can’t convey.

But, that’s not to say old school Disney and movies like Corinna, Corinna or First Wives Club didn’t have an impact of my love of song.

What were some of the main challenges in your development as a singer/vocalist? Which practices, exercises, or teachers were most helpful in reaching your goals – were there also “harmful” ones?

Yes, there were many challenges but most were me seeing myself outside of whatever box I decided I belonged in. There will always be someone who has an opinion on how I look or sing or should do this or that. The problem was, I would take other people’s opinions as gospel and created a green house to cultivate their words. I would use logic to talk myself out of any dreams or epiphanies.

I also grew up Christian. I would still consider myself a deeply spiritual person and believer in the teachings of Christ but, a lot of “well meaning people” taught me things that left me in fear, shame, and anxiety. Music has guided me out of four walls and introduced me to a world of hope, wonder, and possibilities.

I am working on letting go of resentment because at the end of the day, I didn’t know what I didn’t know and I am unfolding into a version of myself that is new and beautiful and free.

Life’s journey has been a difficult one but, not absent of miracles and blessings that make no sense for a poor little black girl from Portland, Oregon.

What are the things you hear in a voice when listening to a vocalist? What moves you in the voices of other singers?

I want to believe them.

If I can’t see a person’s eyes, I can hear their soul in their voice or dance or something beyond just what someone tells me.

How would you describe the physical sensation of singing? [Where do you feel the voice, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or tension etc …]

Honestly, I just performed for a friend’s birthday in NYC. I always get nervous before I perform and then, once I hit the stage, I have a split second to decide if I am going to let fear perform or me.

I swear, I had to learn these songs with little time because of other work and once I got to rehearsal and met the band, I knew I was in safe hands. My band was so kind and just excited to make music.

Once I hit the stage, I remember starting the song and ending the set. Being on stage and singing is one of the only times I am absolutely present. It is such an out of body experience and sometimes, if I am lucky enough, I get to see myself perform. I have a few stories of being on stage where I felt like I was watching myself. Or moments I started to sing and everyone in the room vanished.

Sometimes I even give myself chills. It’s a freeing feeling that I wish I liked all the time. Feeling vulnerable and open isn’t always easy for me. Leaves too much room for possible danger. I can talk more about that later lol.

We have a speaking voice and a singing voice. Do these feel like they are natural extensions of each other, ends on a spectrum or different in kind?

For me, yes. I not only think my singing voice is an extension of my speaking but sometimes, my singing voice has more authority. There is something powerful about silencing a room and causing everyone to stand still. Again, that kind of power feels kind of scary.

I can be so awkward at times and when I write lyrics, I know what I want to say and once music is added, it’s a wrap. Instruments are very powerful tools.

How do you see the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? Do you feel that honing your sense of rhythm and groove has an effect on your singing skills?  

I don’t even know if I honed in on anything yet. I think I am still in my discovery process. I am learning to be ok with writing what I want for me first. Genre is for award shows. I want to make music.

I don’t even know why I wrote “I want to make music”. I think about stopping all the time but it is truly like a fire shut up in my bones and every 7-8 years, something is birthed.

I love all kinds of music. Sometimes I make something that sounds a little country. I’m from Portland, the PNW, so, I like my Indie sound too. Harmony, and rhythm, and melody are like the trinity of music. I never studied music in a classroom but I love listening to music. Sometimes I get on an Erik Satie or movie soundtrack kick.

Listening to certain songs is like a chemical reaction. I either connect or I don’t. I dunno.

What are the potentials and limits of your voice? How much of your vocal performance can and do you want to control?

I sometimes wish I could do all of the fancy runs.

Honestly, I probably need to take better care of my voice. I don’t warm up or anything.