If you’re lucky in this life, you’ll find something that you’re completely, obsessively passionate about. If you’re really lucky, you’ll find two things that you’re completely, obsessively passionate about. And if you’re really REALLY lucky, then both of those things that you’re completely, obsessively passionate about can be used together to create something deeply personal that other people can really get into.
For Lizzie Weber, those passions are music and cinema. She’s found a way to combine the two with her new music video for “Falling Like Fools,” one of the many standout songs on her new debut album, Lizzie Weber.
Two years ago, lucky would not have been a word to describe Lizzie or her passions. Her acting pursuits were being derailed with constant adversity. Then she developed Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction with her jaw. Her improbable long shot turned into a literal impossibility, forcing her to return home to St. Louis.
But rather than being jaded from her experiences in California, she came back to St. Louis inspired. There’s the sense of satisfaction in her voice when she speaks of her time in Los Angeles, perhaps because of how much it has inadvertently impacted her life here at home.
This new album and music video really started when Lizzie moved to Los Angeles. When her desires in acting weren’t being fulfilled, she needed an outlet for creative release. She found herself spending a lot of her time learning guitar and developing her songwriting. This came naturally as she had played piano for eight years prior.
Lizzie would drive along Laurel Canyon, drawing inspiration from the likes of Joni Mitchell, The Swell Season, and Josh Ritter. She would then go to her home in Los Angeles and learn to fingerpick along to records in her room. Although she was diagnosed with TMJ and had to move home, it was Lizzie’s time in California that serendipitously led to having this personal collection of songs being brought to life during her recording sessions at Sherpa Studios in St. Louis.
Now the serendipity continues with her new music video for “Falling Like Fools.” Salvador Carrasco, who was Lizzie’s film teacher when she went to Santa Monica College, happens to be one of the most accomplished and connected filmmakers that Lizzie could have had the good fortune of meeting. Carrasco wrote and directed “La Otra Conquista” (The Other Conquest), which became the highest grossing Mexican film in history upon its release. He then moved to television to direct the hit comedy series Brothers Garcia for Nickelodeon.
It was Lizzie’s connection with Carrasco that led to working with Carla Dauden for this music video, which Lizzie speaks about in more detail in our conversation above. Lizzie stars as her own leading role in the video, counterpart to Hollywood super stud Wade Baker.
The vivid scenes in this video transforms “Falling Like Fools” into a literal narrative where a couple struggles to regain their footing and are captive witnesses to their own unraveling relationship.
The video, like many of the songs on Lizzie Weber, exists in a place of both hope and loss that allude to some inescapable truths of the human experience. As you can hear in our conversation, she’s refreshingly open about her own bittersweet experiences at home and away that helped fuel these autobiographical songs.
It’s obvious that Lizzie is a natural songwriting talent with an inherent desire to create something true and meaningful for herself and others, all while having an unwavering respect for the art form.
She acts, she raps, she gets excited about gluten-free baked goods, and she’s wise beyond her years for knowing how to take life’s defeats with the victories to make art.
So perhaps falling is actually one of life’s greatest experiences. As Lizzie’s story reminds us, letting go often has its own surprising rewards.
You can listen to and purchase Lizzie’s album at Bandcamp, iTunes, and Amazon.
Stay up-to-date on show announcements with Lizzie’s website and Facebook page.