The cover art for ‘Sour’ by Lily Voss. Courtesy image
Lily Voss on the cover for ‘Sour’. Courtesy photo
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Lily Voss (most people know her as Lily Johnson, the daughter of Scot and Sylvia Johnson) decided to release music under the moniker Lily Voss as Voss is her mother’s maiden name. Through this name, she said the German half of her identity is able to shine through. She also just liked how the name sounded. Lily Voss is the currently enjoying the excitement of her song “Sour” being available on all streaming services since January 12.
Voss, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, grew up in Los Alamos. She has always loved music. Her parents took Voss and her siblings to “Music Together”. She also began to dance at an early age.
“I began dancing at an early age. Though my music is quite unlike the classical music I danced to at New Mexico Dance Theater, I gained a lot of musical awareness from dance class. Dancing helped me develop a sense of musical timing and rhythm, and it allowed me to form a deeper understanding of one’s connection and vulnerability to music,” Voss said.
She also enjoyed participating in theater. One of her highlights was playing Mrs. Potts in the Atomic City Children’s Theater production of Beauty and the Beast when she was in sixth grade.
“That was my first real taste of singing solo on stage and it got me hooked!” Voss said.
Her favorite subject in school was English. She loved writing poetry and finding ways to manipulate words to create new meanings.
“My love for music, performing and writing led me to write many songs, and I am excited to begin releasing them and hopefully to perform them live soon. One of my bucket list items is to perform at a summer concert at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos. That would be an incredible, full-circle moment that I hope to make a reality someday,” Voss said.
She was inspired to write “Sour” when speaking to a relative in German.
“I used the word “sauer,” which has several meanings: to be annoyed, to be unenthusiastic, and to be tart/sour. I’ve had some encounters with bitter/toxic people and I’m sure most people can relate, so that is how “Sour” came to be. It is a song about a bitter or toxic individual in your life, and even though you know you deserve better, somehow you keep circling back to them,” Voss said. “I decided to release the song in the beginning of 2024, because one of my resolutions this year is to cut soul-sucking people out of my life, and I hope that through my song, others will be encouraged to do the same and know they aren’t alone!”
Voss currently lives in Los Angeles, Calif. where she works with producer Will Scharnberg.
“For this song, I also had the pleasure of working with mixing engineer Thomas Warren and mastering engineer Jack Kennedy. I am genuinely grateful to have worked with these three talented guys and I am excited to work with them on future songs,” she said.
For the cover art for “Sour”, Voss said she worked with a photographer in Los Angeles but also collaborated with Margaret Doebling, another Los Alamos native, who created a graphic for her song and added the title of the song to the cover art.
“Margaret is incredibly talented and professional and i will definitely work with her again in the future,” Voss said.
Voss can be found on social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok under the name @virtuallily.