Growing up in a musical household, musical prodigy Lola Bates has achievements well beyond her years, having contributed to major Hollywood scores at a young age, toured the world and learned studio skills from Grammy Award-winners. A piano player and vocalist, she has branched out not only into playing a variety of instruments but also explored the world of recording, production, arranging and mixing in depth with a little help along the way from some big names.

On her debut album Love And Power she draws together her many influences and experiences to create a collection of songs that is sonically and thematically bursting with life. We caught up with her to find out how everything led to this point, her approach to production and which piano she would love to have in her studio…

Hi Lola! Congrats on Love and Power! Can you tell us about how you got started both as a musician and a producer? What would you say is your primary instrument?

Thank you so much! Definitely. At age 5, my dad signed me up for classical piano lessons with an amazing teacher who is now my mentor and dear friend, Ganna Parfenova. I went on to study classical piano with her for more than 14 years. The piano is an incredible gateway to learning other instruments — both for its percussive qualities and its theoretical foundations — so around age 14 I began to fall in love with the bass guitar, and later the acoustic guitar. As I got older, I found myself full of ideas for songs, and I wanted to be able to bring them to life myself, which is why I picked up Pro Tools at age 15. My dad and I had produced a few of my songs together, and that’s where I gained most of my knowledge of the DAW and production as a whole. Around that same time, I started taking vocal lessons, and after nearly nine years of studying with my coach and mentor, Julia Gregory, I’d say that next to the piano, my voice has become my primary instrument!

How did you come to be involved in performing for movies and TV, and what are some of your favourite such projects that you have been involved in?

I was blessed to grow up in a musical household. My dad, Tyler Bates, has always involved me in his work — it’s one of the ways we connect as father and daughter. At age 12, after studying classical piano for nearly seven years, he gave me the opportunity to record as solo pianist for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1. One of my first professional studio experiences, I recorded on the legendary Capitol Records piano in Studio B, and just fell in love with the studio atmosphere. From there, I’ve gone on to collaborate with my dad on numerous films and TV shows. One of my favorite projects is John Wick: Chapter 4, where I was not only featured as vocalist on the rock ‘n’ roll cover of Martha and the Vandellas’ Nowhere to Run, but also performed most of the ambient vocal layering throughout the film. It’s such a treat to contribute to the storytelling of a film using my voice — and you can often hear this type of layering in my own music, giving it that floating, ethereal quality over a rock foundation.

What are a couple of important lessons you have learned from your extensive touring and live playing — does this influence the way you write and produce in the studio?

Absolutely. The reason I’ve started stepping into alternative rock is not only because I feel it’s a great genre for self-expression, but because years on the road have shown me how powerfully certain kinds of music move audiences; audiences of all sizes from 300 cap rooms to 70,000 cap festival grounds. Touring as keyboardist, acoustic guitarist, and vocalist in Jerry Cantrell’s (of Alice in Chains) solo band, I was totally engrossed in gritty, sludgy, haunting riffs and melodies, a wealth of rock history, and a fun, familial, almost pirate-like touring lifestyle — playing dice, dominoes, blackjack, and pinball, falling asleep every night at 5AM and waking up at 2PM… I definitely developed a harder edge after touring with these guys, and a newfound love for rock and roll that has definitely influenced the way I write music today.

Tell us a bit about your studio.

My home studio is located in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, in the house where I grew up! I’m there every day — doing office work, creating ambient music, working on recording sessions for TV and film, and of course writing and producing my own music. It’s got a great flow; all my favorite instruments, mics, and pedals are at my fingertips at any given moment. I recorded most of the demos and all of the final vocal takes for my debut album, Love and Power, in this studio, and collaborated with my co-producer Maxwell Joseph on the majority of the initial mixes there. There’s a lot of green throughout the space — a color that feels soothing and grounding to me. Just add some incense and palo santo, and the creative channel is open and running!

What’s your latest gear purchase?

I recently invested in a pair of Royer R-10 ribbon microphones, which I just love. My co-producer and I originally borrowed them from a friend to record upright piano on my song Average Girlfriend, from my debut album Love and Power, and I was struck by how much depth they captured while staying dynamically balanced. They were definitely worth the purchase — I’ve since used them not only on my upright piano, but on my Wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, Fender reverb amp, and even the grand piano in our living room!

What’s the best free plugin you own? 

I would say the Bomb Factory BF-76, which is a great emulation of the classic 1176 FET compressor. When I first started exploring electric guitar sounds, this plugin became a go-to for achieving a more aggressive, gritty pump when compressing my performances. It’s also great for taming and thickening bass guitar by driving the input to smooth out dynamics between softer and louder notes. It works nicely on a drum bus as well — especially for a punchier snare or adding some grit to a room mic. Super versatile and definitely a go-to!

What’s been the biggest investment in your career/studio? Was it worth it? Why? 

I believe the biggest investment in my career so far has been taking a break from the road. In October of last year, I felt I had reached my limit in terms of how much I could learn from touring, how much more time I could spend away from my own endeavors as an artist, and the variety of venues I had played other people’s music in. I love touring and I love performing, but it was time to switch gears — to focus on putting out my debut album, spreading the word about my music, and taking the reins of my own live career. While Rome wasn’t built in a day, I believe it was worth it. Putting this album out has brought me so much joy, and makes me excited for what’s to come — and for life as an artist in general!

Your vocals are very much front and centre of your productions – especially the harmonies. Can you tell us about how you approach recording your voice and what particular techniques you use when mixing vocal tracks?

Thank you! Recording vocals has definitely been a fun and challenging learning curve. I’ve tried all kinds of microphones to find the right fit for my dynamic vocal range, tweaking my vocal chain with different EQs, compressors, and effects to match how I want my voice to sound, and experimenting with mic placement. I’m blessed to have someone like Grammy Award-winning engineer Robert Carranza — my mixing engineer and close friend — on my team, who has passed down most of his knowledge about mics and how to utilize them to capture the best performance. The most important aspect of my songwriting is the vocal and lyrical delivery, so I usually keep the lead vocal front and center in my productions, while blending lush harmonies deeper in the mix so they are both heard and felt.

Love and Power has a very natural, instrument-driven sound and feel to it. Is it mostly played live, and how do you approach layering and mixing to balance that live feel with what is also a dynamic and polished sound?

Love and Power is mostly played live! While there are some supplemental pads, synth sounds, and samples to amplify the live performances and add punch and a more modern feel to the production, I always try to create the most natural and organic atmosphere possible. I find it makes the lyrical message of my songs shine. The album is filled with layers of instrumentation: low piano octaves supporting bass guitar, different kinds of live percussion — even something as unexpected as a mic’d paper clip hitting my desk, or chains in a bucket — and string and horn arrangements I wrote to give the songs a cinematic feel. When approaching mixing with my engineer Robert, we try to find the right balance between all of the elements. There’s a lot of automation in these songs to bring out certain sounds at key moments, and tuck them back into the mix when the vocals need more room, so to speak.

How do you see your sound and studio evolving in the next two years?

While I don’t see myself leaving Laurel Canyon anytime soon, I of course have dreams of buying all kinds of new gear. With my next batch of music, I’m excited to explore using and emulating unique sounds with pedals for my voice and electric guitar. I’ve never considered myself much of a guitarist, but it’s something I want to dedicate real time into mastering. Once I nail down my sound as an electric guitarist, I feel there’s a whole world of rock and ambient music just waiting to be explored. I’m excited to get rawer, sexier, and more electric with my sound.

Do you have a dream piece of gear? 

Yes I do… I’ve been holding out for a Korg SV-2 Stage Vintage Piano. I stumbled upon a sweet and intimate live show at the Philosophical Research Society here in Los Angeles, and was genuinely impressed with the artist, who was using the keyboard to emulate sounds straight from my favourite records. You can tell the sampling of electric and acoustic pianos, organs, synths — and more — goes incredibly deep with this keyboard. It would be a dream to take it on tour!

What’s a music production myth you think needs debunking?

Formulaic arrangements! I believe artists need to trust their listeners to come along for the journey of a song. As a listener myself, I love when songs go somewhere unexpected — lyrically, tonally, arrangement-wise. So my songs often don’t follow industry-standard arrangements. I’ll switch keys or tempos, or even shift the backbeat groove during a bridge. I’ll bring the dynamics all the way down and build them back up at unexpected moments — not only for the listener’s pleasure, but so I can enjoy where my own songs are taking me. That usually turns out to be the most fun part of making music.

Who gave you the biggest lesson in your career? Can you tell us about how it impacted you? 

Definitely my dad, who has been one of my biggest supporters throughout my entire career. His motto has always been: every amazing song you write is a check in the bank. He’s always expressed that no matter how my music is received, no matter how difficult it becomes to keep moving forward in the digital age, or how lost I may feel within myself, it’s important to keep art at my core. I believe this motto speaks less to the quantity of songs I write and more to the quality. Writing 100 mediocre songs would only pull me further from my own artistic voice — so I choose to put all my effort into truly mastering a handful of great songs, bringing them to their full potential, and building a world around the music. I feel this is what I’ve been able to capture with my debut album Love and Power. However the journey unfolds — whether I see returns today or in ten years — I believe staying true to the music will always be its own reward.

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