Chloe Lilac's Long, Winding Road Leads To Explosive Confidence On 'Obvious'

By Dan McKenna


Turning 18 can mark the starting of adulthood, whether that shows heading to college, beginning a job, or moving out on your own. It’s generally a watershed moment in life, nevertheless as with most things thought common, Chloe Lilac doesn’t fit the mold. At 18, the Brooklyn bedroom-pop artist has already lived the journey of a lifetime. “I literally hadn't heard a pop song up until I was about seven or eight,” she told MTV News. “The first pop song I ever heard was Christina Aguilera's ‘Ain't No Other Man.’”


As a substitute, she’d joined a Joan Jett cover musical group in third grade. She’d made beats throughout class in high school and challenged herself to write three songs a day. By the time she hit 17, she’d kicked a drug addiction and signed to a major label. Right now, following her 2019 EP Manic Pixie Dream, Lilac is fed up with clichés and willing to be nothing nevertheless unapologetically honest.


Her new single “Obvious,” out today (March 20th), focuses on lack of reciprocity in relationships, capturing that ache in your belly watching a crush post a new Instagram story while not returning your text. She describes the song as “being with someone that clearly doesn’t like you as much as you like them, being in denial about it, and then realizing you’re better than that bullshit.” “Obvious” stays true to her idyllic lo-fi pop roots although takes it one step further, inviting us to forget the bullshit, accept things for what they are, and just mosh.


Drawing inspiration from artists as diverse as Aguilera, Jett, and even Frank Zappa, it’s no surprise her ability to be a music reference sponge makes her such a compelling pop chameleon. For a person that has habitually been labeled as “too much,” Lilac regularly proves she is more than enough. Read Lilac diving into her past and theorizing on her future with MTV News below.


MTV News: You’re only 18, plus it seems you've already lived nine lives. Take me to the starting, and tell me about once you realized you had a talent for music.


Chloe Lilac: Any time Whenever I was growing up, I was routinely surrounded by music. It was routinely something I was enthusiastic about. As soon as I was in third grade, I was in this musical group called The Electric French Fries. I wrote all of the songs. Songwriting has habitually been a passion of mine. I really don't know how it began. I hit about 10, and yes it was time for me to do my own thing and spread my wings. I was constantly writing poetry and songs in class and my companions would critique them.


MTV News: That's dope.


Lilac: I was a large theater kid and I remember being in musicals rehearsal at like 13, and one of the older cast mates being like, "You should upload your beats into SoundCloud." I was like, "What the fuck is SoundCloud?" And then I began putting my shit on SoundCloud and I began selling beats on there and putting my music out on there. That summer right after eighth grade, before high school, I began going to [New York City's] Union Square. I went to this private school my whole life, so I was really sheltered, and I began hanging out at Union Square and I realized that there was like this whole world out there that I hadn't seen. I began street performing and exploring Lower Manhattan, and fell in love with it. I began sneaking out in the middle of the night out of my fire escape at my house.


MTV News: it looked like a good idea at the time.


Lilac: I would get to school right after two hours of sleep, maybe, a night. I was barely functioning. I'd be producing in class and I made this challenge for myself that I would write three songs a day, whether they were good or bad, three pop songs a day. And then the Dean called me into her office. She was like, "Fuck you, get out," in a nice way.


I fully fell into crazy drug addiction at 14. I had gone to this other school for two weeks. They kicked me out, so I was homeschooled for like two years. Still putting stuff out on SoundCloud. Nobody really gave a shit. I had like 100 followers, maybe 1,000 plays on my biggest song, which was a lot.


MTV News: As soon as you're just beginning, you're like, "Yeah, 1,000!"


Lilac: I was freaking out and I'd show people my music, and they'd mention it's good, yet I was making this before bedroom-pop was cool. Nobody fucked with it, and I wasn't cool. I was super nerdy, nevertheless a drug addict. It was very confusing. My parents just thought I was smoking also much pot. They didn't think that I was doing other narcotics. I saw really bad stuff at 14, and I didn’t want that to be my life.


MTV News: At what point did you become sober?


Lilac: I got a phone call from my dad and I thought, "He’s sending me to rehab," nevertheless I ended up getting discovered. I began to learn how to be a recording artist. I was signed to this tiny label called Trumbo Labs, and wrote “Summer,” which is my biggest song. Then I got signed by RCA Whenever I was turning 17. I sort of grew up in the industry, and was playing empty rooms where no one gave a shit. Once I began performing at DIY all-ages venues in Brooklyn, taught me that rock and roll is still relevant and there’s a demand for it. It’s not available to mainstream media, nevertheless I feel there's this desire for rock music in youth now, and no one's filling that role and I want it.


MTV News: Immediately after hearing about your background and listening to your music, it seems like you're fully fed up with clichés and people not being sincere with you. Would you mention that contributes to the sound of this new project?


Lilac: Yes! I feel like we're in a really cool time where ladies are finally being allowed to express angst and sexuality and really be sincere and be viewed as people in the media versus just some sex thing. In mainstream media, people want that. People want raw, trustworthy ladies, and that's not why I'm doing it. I'm doing it because that's who I am. I was in this situation-ship with this guy, and we were dating, and he notified me we were exclusive, although then it turns out he was cheating on me the complete time. While I would go in with my writers, they did a wonderful job of empowering me. I’d go in, tell them the story, and they'd mention, “Why aren't you angry?"


I finally broke up with him and realized I'm fed up with boys. Why should I be silent about that? Why should I be silent about feeling used and being mad? How come I have to write sad songs about being used? I want to empower younger people to not take that. My new EP is about friendship breakups and feeling upset about that. It's a lot of anger.


MTV News: I think we may all use a little bit of that right now.


Lilac: Right? We stay in such a dark political and social climate now. With my music, I want to take that away for a second, and mention, “Fuck it.” I feel like there's no fun music anymore that's good, not to gas myself up. However it's all shitty radio pop or some serious ballads. Fuck that, dude. Let's get it in the mosh pit.


MTV News: You’ve been signed for a minute right now, and you've already released a couple of assignments and singles. Today, how do you define success for yourself?


Lilac: I'd like to sell out Madison Square Garden, so that will be success for me. That's my biggest dream, is and habitually has been — selling out a global tour — although I don't actually care if I'm only big in New York. As much as I'm preaching self-love and having fun, I'm a very anxious person. I don't think I'll ever truly feel fulfilled in anything I do, if I'm being straightforward. Having my companions around me and keeping my close relationships is really crucial to me. I think making the perfect songs, the fun songs that I can't stop listening to is crucial — that’s the perfect. Each person has those days where they wake up and they're like, "I fucking hate myself today." And that's OK to be trustworthy with yourself about those moments. You’ve got to laugh at it.


This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.