Creating music comes as natural to Lido as breathing. The producer, singer, and songwriter realized early on in life that he wanted to spend as much as time as possible creating music. “Drums was my first love and when I started writing songs and producing them, there was really no turning back. So I moved from my little hometown in Norway to LA and have been making music every day since”, he says. Though he started out performing music, Lido has fallen in love with the puzzle of production and creating an experience that mimics what he envisions in his head.
Lido says growing up in Tysvær, Norway likely influences his art in more ways than he’s aware of. “I think it definitely did something to my perspective and approach to making music within genres from other parts of the world. I grew up very isolated, but my dad was really passionate about music and through him I got to see and meet so many incredible musicians that shaped me, both from the U.S. and from Norway”.
Lido’s discography is nothing short of impressive. The artist has notably produced for Chance the Rapper, Halsey, BANKS, Ella Mai, Ariana Grande, and Jaden Smith, among others. Lido most recently worked on Jojo’s new album, Good To Know. “She’s one of the most incredible vocalists I’ve ever worked with. We had so much fun writing the songs, and creating crazy harmonies and runs that only a singer of her caliber would be able to do,” he says. “She trusted me a lot and let me go crazy, so I’m extra proud of what we did on that record”.
Lido has always been inspired by people who experiment with structure and bending genres; artists like Kanye West, Frank Ocean, James Blake, Kirk Franklin, and OutKast. During his own production process, he loves the idea phase. “At heart I’m a musician first, so the jamming part is very important to me. I think one of the harder things about being a producer is knowing when to let go and stop overthinking things”. In comparison to his older EPs, Lido is trying to focus more on “the bigger picture and experimenting with structure and contrast between parts rather than sounds that catch you off guard”. At the end of the day, the contrast between different sonic colors, blending genres and experimenting with silence are still the main things that excite Lido about his work.
His new single ‘Rise’ will be released in the coming weeks, and it’s a song about “about meeting someone new that you really like and staying up all night until sunrise to get to know them”. The music video, and the concept for his upcoming album PEDER, was inspired by The Little Prince. He says, “I wanted to find somewhere that felt otherworldly for this video so we went to Death Valley where they shot a bunch of legendary sci-fi stuff”, says Lido. He says the music on PEDER is more hopeful and positive than his last project. “Whenever I do a project, I try to write a little storyline or concept that helps guide the decisions. This time I made up a story about a boy who’s born on a spaceship and knows nothing about music, and I tried to make music with a naive and pure energy that comes from not knowing anything about the rules or politics of music”. You can preorder his newest single, ‘Rise’ and upcoming album, PEDER here!
On a professional level, Lido hopes to release a lot of music in 2020 that has been in the works, and create the most special experience of PEDER for his fans as possible. Another goal of his? “Personally, I want to get my herb garden popping”. If Lido could give one piece of advice to aspiring artists, it would be to make the music you love listening to as a fan.
