A Conversation with local band Lizzie Died Young

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Empire Cafe, Houston, Texas

This May I had the pleasure of sitting down with Val, Alex, Nic, and Maraya of local band Lizzie Died Young at Empire Cafe. We talked inspirations, guitar pedals, the Houston music scene, advice for other musicians, and much more. Their first single comes out next week. Find them on Instagram @lizziediedyoung. 

Thank you to Josh for photographing (@framesbyjosh__)! This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Riya: So Val sings and you play guitar. Nic drums. Maraya plays guitar, and Alex plays bass.

Alex: I sing sometimes too. 

Riya: How did you guys meet eachother?

Val: Nick and I were already in another band. But that disbanded. And we were already friends.

Nic: I knew Maraya before Val and Alex. We were also in another band. Short lived. It was called "Willowick". 

Val: And I met Alex on Instagram. He just happened to also be in a band and make music, so I just invited him to join LDY (Lizzie Died Young) when our bassist, Sophie, left to Spain. She's also in a band in Spain!

l-r: Nic, Val, and Maraya

Riya: What would you say are your biggest influences?

Val: I say I have more inspirations than influences. Because when I make music for LDY, I'm not really thinking about what other artists sound like. Like, I have inspirations, like Will Toledo and Ira Kaplan. I think the closest influence I have is Ira Kaplan, from Yo La Tengo. But even then I feel like I don't really sound like him. If that makes sense. 

Riya: I was listening to ya'll’s demo and it reminded me of Sonic Youth! 

Nic: Wow. 

Val: Did it! Okay, that’s cool. 

Nic: The drum parts that I come up with, it’s very inspired by what I’m listening to at the moment. Like, right now I’m listening to a lot of post-hardcore, emo… So, it’s really fast and complex. I’m trying to put that into the songs that we’re working on. The newer stuff for sure I want to go more in that direction. At least with my parts. But, I do mostly just listen to what everybody else plays and try to come up with something. 

Maraya: Yeah. I think that’s how the band works. 

Nic: We don’t try to force it into one area. Like, we don’t want to be pigeonholed into being just indie rock or specifically shoegaze. 

Val: People tell me so many different bands that we sound like. I think it’s just because it’s hard for them to conceptualize what we’re trying to make. Because what we’re making is more of our own sound. I don’t know, when I listen to our setlist, it doesn’t sound like one thing. 

Riya: One genre. 

Val: Yeah. There’s not one genre, but there’s still an identity. At least that’s what I hope for. I don’t know, ask Alex! [laughs] 

(Alex was on facetime.) 

Nic: You wanna say something?

Alex: Before I joined the band, I was mostly playing guitar. They needed a bass player, and I had a bass. Didn’t really find it that interesting or fun to play till we came across the Bass IV. I kind of just transferred my guitar playing to that. 

And at the time, I was really into just noisy, loud, just rough playing. And I still kind of am, playing kind of rough and loud. I feel like our set is very rough and loud. And that’s what kind of makes it. It’s just a bundle of mess. It’s just a bundle of sounds and weirdness but there’s still structure to it, there’s still melodies that you can hear into it. So like, My Bloody Valentine is probably what at least I am— not trying to achieve or going for necessarily, but if I can find a similiarity between us…

Nic: Yeah. We are a very loud band. Like, especially in the way that we use pedals. Alex and I were talking to this guy at our last show and he was really observant with the way that all the guitars were using pedals. We just make a wall of sound. I feel like that’s what we like to go for. 

Val: I really like Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth. I liked the way he plays guitar because it’s not in a traditional sense, where he’s focusing more on scales and chords. He just makes noise. I’d say he’s a big inspiration for me. 

Riya: I know he does a lot of alternate tunings. Do you guys do that as well? 

Val: No, though we should. 

Maraya: It’s too hard to like, figure out. 

Val: [laughs]

Riya: I know. 

Alex: We need a bigger budget, to get more guitars. In order for us to play different tunings. 

Riya: What kinds of pedals do you all like to use? 

Val: Hall of fame is my favorite pedal that we use. That’s the one we use that makes like… the big chorus. 

Nic: It has like a shimmer effect. The Hall of Fame 2. It’s a reverb petal but it has a bunch of different settings. Maraya, do you have one? 

Maraya: I use the OCD pedal a lot. That one is pretty popular. 

Nic: Alex do you want to talk about your pedals? 

Alex: Yes. My main pedal— I kind of have a shit ton— But the one that I probably use the most is my RP DigiTech 355 pedal. It’s just like an all-in-one pedal. I mostly just use it for the expression pedal. That’s how I send my reverb on my bass. And then I have a Behringer Overdrive distortion pedal that I circuit bend. To just make the siren sound on it. I added some switches on it and that’s what I use for most of my noises and stuff like that. Other than that, I recently started putting my guitar through a mixer. Just to get some like, distorted tones for my guitar whenever I hit it hard. But it’s mostly clean tone whenever I do soft play. But if I hit it hard enough it like, really breaks through. Other than that, yeah I have the RP pedal, the Behringer chorus, and the Behringer Overdrive that I circuit bend. 

Riya: I see. 

Nic: Hell yeah. 

Riya: So, Alex plays bass as well as guitar? 

Nic: Well it’s a bass VI. So it’s a bass but it has six strings. 

Alex: It’s like in the shape of a jaguar. But it’s a bass VI. Same tuning as a guitar but like an octave down. 

Riya: I noticed you guys have focused on playing live. Is it that now you want to focus on recording? 

Val: Yeah, I’ve always wanted to keep an emphasis on live performances. Because I think nowadays with the Internet people are trying to do more tiktoks and stuff… Like, we had a show today, they were making such an emphasis on promoting the show, to make a lot of content on the Internet, but I just feel like it disconnects from the people that are listening. I feel like now we’re finally ready to record. We have more of an identity of what our sound is. I think it’s just a lot more intimate performing live than just having an album out there, you know?

Riya: Has it helped you songwrite and test out ideas? 

Maraya: I’d say so. Like I feel like every show I try something different. Whether it’s just how it sounds live. So I always try something new at shows and see if it works. 

Val: And I think that we know that the thing that we did different is working if it feels right while performing in front of people. If you’re just in your recording studio and you’re trying things out—

Maraya: You could gaslight yourself into liking it. 

Val: Exactly, exactly. But when you’re performing it in front of people and it feels good...

Riya: How have the venues in Houston been treating you? Do you have a favorite venue? 

Nic: They’re good! I don’t think I’ve ever had really bad experiences. There are some that I’d maybe prefer not to play, I guess?

Val: Yes. 

Nic: But they’ve been really fun. 

Val: I really love Starseed Hostel. 

Nic: Yes. 

Val: I really like House of J. Although they’re very DIY, there’s such an emphasis on community at House of J… Oh, we’re playing at White Oak. Excited for that one. 

Nic: Yeah that’s, that’s going to be crazy. 

Val: We’re very excited for White Oak… We played at the Secret Group last week, that was our first real green room, and that one was really fun. The sound was really great. 

Nic: I think I want to play a house show. 

Maraya: Yeah, I’ve never played a house show before. 

Val: You want to play a house show? House shows are hard to organize. I don’t know, who’s house? [laughs]

Nic: Jann’s House! There’s that one venue we’ve played at a few times, Jann’s House. 

Riya: I follow them, I’ve never been!

Nic: Dude no, it’s sick. It’s a fun time. Usually it’s pretty packed, because it’s just a living room. 

Riya: Nice and intimate. 

Nic: Exactly. I like when the vibes are like that. When we were playing at Secret Group, being up on a stage felt weird. 

Maraya: Yeah! 

Val: Yeah, it feels a lot more intimate, smaller spaces.

Maraya: House of J was cool. 

Val: I like being eye-level with the people that we’re performing with. 

Nic: Yeah, like if you look at They are Gutting a Body of Water, their live performances, they’re usually level with the crowd and they’re playing in a circle. And the crowd is around them. 

Maraya: And even though they’ve turned away from that, I feel like it’s more personal that way too. Because if you’re above, it’s like you’re the spectacle. 

Nic: No, that’s really cool… I would love to play in a circle. 

Val: Circle? [laughs] I don’t know. 

Riya: How did you guys arrive at your name? 

Val: So we got invited to our first show. And we didn’t have a name for the band yet. So I took the entire 16 hours out of my day just trying to brainstorm the Lizzie Died Young name. And I was just scrolling for inspiration, I was on Pinterest and I saw the words  “Lizzie Died” and the word “Young” like, separate from each other, and I was like—“Lizzie Died Young”, that rolls off the tongue. 

Nic: It gives us a good acronym too. “LDY”. 

Maraya: Yeah. 

Val: I have a love-hate relationship with the name. But after we got booked at Secret Group, I learned that the reason why we got that show is because the guy really liked our name. 

Riya: Wow. 

Val: So, I guess I like it now. [laughs]

Nic: It’s a good name. 

Val: I guess it’s a cool name. 

Riya: I think so too. 

Val: Thank you. 

Riya: Do you have any lyrical inspiration? What is that process? 

Val: Lately, I’ve been reading a lot more poetry. At first, I didn’t really care for the words I was saying. But now that we’re recording, I’m realizing that once it’s down, it’s down and I can’t change it. And I want the things that I say to have more than one meaning. So I’ve just been reading a lot of poetry. I’ve been reading a lot of Patti Smith’s writing, and Will Toledo— I love Will Toledo. I find a lot of my inspirations are just personal experiences and also other people’s experiences. I write most of the lyrics. 

Riya: A lot of our members are students starting bands, or newer artists. Do you have any advice for people starting to establish themselves? 

Maraya: Find a place to practice. 

Riya: Yeah, that can be a struggle. 

Nic: Oh, for sure. I was just talking to one of my friends today. I was supposed to start a metal band with him, but he couldn’t find a practice space for it. Other than the spot that we have. So things just kind of fell through. So, I feel like that’s already a pretty big hurdle people need to get over. 

Maraya: It can be anything. The first time we were starting out, Nic was banging on a can of beans. 

Nic: Yeah. We met up at the UH lunch room, or whatever. 

Riya: Are you guys UH alum? 

Maraya: I am. 

Riya: Oh, cool!

Nic: But yeah Maraya, and our friend Devon came and I was like, I want to participate too. So I found an empty can of beans and like, dirty ass forks. So I had to clean them… 

Val: [laughs] That’s so cool. 

Nic: I remember you telling— It was either you or Devon, were like “Bro, I don’t think that’s going to work.” 

Maraya: [laughs]

Nic: But, I think it worked. 

Maraya: I don’t think you have to be skilled. Just have fun. You’ll learn as you play. 

Val: Yeah. I think that’s one of people’s biggest struggles with starting music. They expect so much out of it. They expect to get a million followers, and go on tours and stuff. But, I think if you’re doing it because you genuinely love making music with your friends, you’re going to have fun with it regardless. And you’re just going to stick with it and continue with it, and everything else will follow. 

Riya: That’s good advice.

Nic: And put yourself out there. 

Val: Put yourself out there! 

Maraya: I’ve been on like reddit looking for band members before, and it’s sketchy but it could be worth it. You meet some cool people. 

Val: I think if you really love it, you’ll end up doing it. 

Alex: I’d say, have a lot of patience. Figure out what your goal would want to be for the band. And, really stick to it. If you want to just kind of do a band for fun, you can do it for fun. Just see where it takes off, or whatever. You don’t have to take it too, too, too serious. But if you want to like, actually be known for something in a band or whatever, be patient with it. It’s a frustrating thing. I’m in fucking multiple bands… and I get a little overwhelmed sometimes. I’m kind of overwhelmed now, I gotta fucking do sound for tonight too. But, it’s something that I truly enjoy and love doing. So, if you really have a passion for it then stick to it, and have a lot of patience. 

Riya: Yeah, I agree. I think if you’re passionate about it, it’s going to happen regardless. I’m surprised, I think there’s a lot of people in Houston really interested in music. I think it’s a nice city for music? 

Maraya: Yeah, I think it’s growing. 

Val: I think it’s growing too. 

Nic: It’s ass in my opinion. 

Maraya: Maybe like five or three years ago, it was superficial. I wasn’t feeling like I was seeing live bands that were really authentic about it. But like now, every show that we play I see a band and I’m like, they’re so fucking sick. Like, this one band called Off With His Head. I don’t know, they give a lot of energy into it, and I wasn’t expecting that maybe three years ago. 

Riya: I think the indie music scene is growing. 

Val: It’s definitely growing. 

Maraya: I think it’s growing because Houston is growing. 

Riya: You guys are releasing a single for the first time. When will that be out? 

Nic: Summer. 

Val: It’s the song of the summer. 

Riya: It’s the summer song.

Val: Sometime early June it should be out. 

Alex: First week of June! 

Val: You can follow us on Instagram at lizziediedyoung for updates. 

Riya: Where can we listen to the single? 

Val: It should be on every streaming platform. Apple Music, Spotify, Roblox. Everything. 

Maraya: You can put music on Roblox? 

Nic: They do live shows. 

Alex: I had my songs on Roblox, but I took off my songs so they’re not on their anymore…

Val: We also have a lot of shows coming up in the next couple of months. Like I said, we’re playing at White Oak in June. We’re also playing at Paper Tiger in July, and we’re trying to book another big one in September too. Just a lot of shows. We plan on releasing an EP after a couple singles sometime this year. Big things. 

Nic: Big things coming soon.

hyperlinks: Lizzie Died Young Instagram

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