Lisa Remar Finds the Light on New EP ‘Still Good’
Lisa Remar traces her initial inspiration to become a musician back to a school potluck and a raffle. At 10 years old, she won the grand prize, a boombox. She was elated that she could now blast the only three CDs she possessed by her three, favorite musicians: Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Lopez.
Growing up in a household where only Japanese was spoken, she often felt an inability to connect with her peers. Through these superstars, she learned that music could reach people universally. Now 24, the singer-songwriter still has a profound appreciation for those artists. You can see their influence in her emotional-yet-proud lyrics, but sonically, her music is more indebted to a modern-day Lana del Rey or Fiona Apple.
Remar’s EP Still Good comes out today and was born from a tumultuous time in her life. She began writing the first song to appear on the project Halfway to Nowhere a year-and-a-half ago. It was during a time when she felt persistent frustration from working on projects that didn’t end up like she’d imagined.
“I was like, ‘I guess this is rock bottom, but if it is I don’t want to rely on anybody else to get me out of this rut’” Remar said, “I was desperate to find direction.”
Drawing from everyday anxiety as well as fears about her career, Remar crafts songs that acknowledge struggle but provide an ultimately hopeful message. “Halfway to Nowhere” is her coming-of-age song, exploring what it means to navigate the world as an adult.
“The truth is, I made mistakes, but nothing stays the same. You said I couldn’t do it, but the truth is I’m not afraid, there’s nothing in my way. Halfway to nowhere, take my body halfway to nowhere,” Remar sings on the track.
Through the course of the EP, Remar beautifully sings over twinkling pianos and ambient acoustics about relatable aspects of life as a young adult. She contemplates pressure to become the version of herself she’d had imagined she’d be. On the intro track, “Still Good,” she provides the thesis statement for the entire project:
“What happened here? How did you end up here? I can barely recognize the person I’m looking at. What happened to your intrepidness as a kid? I was sort of re-evaluating what my goals and dreams were. It ends with me staying, ‘but I’m still good.’”
Since graduating from college in 2017, Remar has lived in L.A, her native N.Y.C., and Tokyo. This change of scenery inspires her music. The change in geography also represents different emotional states for Remar. New York City, where she grew up and her mother still lives, L.A, where she has most of her friends, and a brief time in Tokyo that didn’t work out as she hoped.
“Still Good” is the work of an artist eager to grow even in these times where everything feels stagnant. Written and produced during quarantine, Remar taps into existential feelings of dread many of us have felt lately. What should we be doing with our lives? Is it too late to change ourselves? She may not have all the answers, but it is comforting to go through it with somebody else, especially if that someone is crooning reassurances over calming production that surrounds and suspends you.
“If you were to listen to it alone driving in your car, you would be the main character in your own movie. It is very cinematic and sort of existential. I hope it serves as a source of comfort if anything.”
Remar asserts you’ll get the most out of her music listening to it solo.
“It’s definitely not music to put on at a party” Remar jokes, “A seance maybe?”
Image Courtesy of Lisa Remar
