Welcome to this month’s 5 Questions with…, where I interview a musician or someone in a related industry via email. This installment features dancing dubstep violinist Lindsey Stirling. Yes, the Lindsey Stirling! Way exciting, right?! Let’s get onto the interview!
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It’s not everyday someone makes a career of electronic, dubstep violin music accompanied by dancing. What have you learned from your experience about finding a unique niche & owning it?
I believe that the reason I have been successful is for the same reason people told me I would fail: my platform is different. I love the violin, I love dancing, I love media, I love production and touring, and I love popular music…and I really feel like putting all of these “loves” together is what has made me feel so fulfilled and happy. Doing something entirely different is what has ultimately made me stand out, and ultimately what has allowed me to succeed. Certainly, I have had to cater to my audience from time to time, but I have also found that when I do what I love, my audience loves what I do. Love is one of those funny contagious things: the more it is felt, the more it spreads. And that has made all the difference.
What’s your favorite part of your job/career as a musician?
I honestly love it all, but I get most excited about touring. It’s difficult to top the energy and adrenaline that comes from performing live. Getting that direct feedback from my audience during a performance is just…electric. It’s like everything comes together full-circle. I produce the media, market my music, and then people come to experience it for themselves. It kinda feels like that Field of Dreams quote (“If you build it, they will come.”). Magical, for real.
Speaking of working as a musician, would you share an unexpected behind-the-scenes aspect of your career?
I work very hard to stay grounded and connected to my relationship with God. It’s not an easy thing for anyone to do, but I think that, in the music/performance career field, it is especially easy to get distracted and forget what actually brought us success in the first place. I know I couldn’t have done any of this without my dad (God), who has led me every step of the way. I do my best to remember that, and seek to live in such a way as to keep Him close. As a tour team, we pray before every show. I try to study my scriptures every day. And I run a “dry” tour, which means no one on the Lindsey Stirling crew drinks alcohol when we are on the road.
What was it like prepping to go en pointe as an adult for a video?
My roommate is a ballerina and I definitely utilized her coaching for this! It wasn’t an easy feat by any means, and I know that professional ballerinas might critique my technique, but I’m pretty proud that I was able to pull it off in such a short amount of time. And yes…my toes were extremely sore haha.
Any sweet Luna stories?
Last year before my Christmas tour I decided to dye Luna’s hair a pastel pink so that it matched my pink hair. I had her on stage for a short segment of my show, and I thought matching hair color would be a cute touch! Unfortunately, the dog-hair-dye I purchased turned out neon pink that not only dyed my dog’s hair an unnaturally-grotesque color, but also dyed my hands a bright beet red that remained for over a week. Luna looked quite scary, but lucky for her, dogs are color blind. She had no idea how ridiculous she looked haha. Poor girl…. Over time the color faded a bit and new hair grew in, leaving her looking like a tiny splotchy hyena until all of the old hair finally fell out. Needless to say, I learned a harsh lesson in dog-hair-coloring and won’t be making that mistake again.
Fischarper interviews may be edited for accuracy (spelling, punctuation, etc.), sentence flow, space, etc. Interviewee views are not necessarily endorsed or shared by Barbara Fischer or Fischarper, LLC.
And there are “5 Questions with…Lindsey Stirling”… who would have thought that the little old Fischarper blog would get to interview her!?
Make sure to go follow Lindsey on Instagram (& Luna too!), Twitter, Facebook, & YouTube. Tell her I sent you! 🙂
-Barbara
P.S. Did you know that “5 Questions…” alum Molly O’Roark has performed on stage with Lindsey Stirling?
Want to be interviewed or have a suggestion for a “5 Questions with…” interviewee? Let me know via the contact form!
Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator. She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper store. Find out where you can find Barbara on the interwebs here. And you can sign up to receive Fischarper updates by joining the email list.