Lights - Dream Pop Music Princess

If you have never heard of Valerie Poxleitner, don't worry, this young lady is known to her followers as Lights. Lights (Valerie) is an award winning musician from Canada specializing in what has been coined "dream pop" music. Her original compositions are heavily reliant on electronic synthesizer.

She was born on April 11, 1987 in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Her parents are travelling Christian missionaries, so much of her early life was spent in other parts of the world, from the Philippines to Jamaica. This influence has been heavy on her music and it is vital to understand her perspective to "get" her music.

In her own words, she states boldly: "I was eleven, and I learned three chords on the guitar. It was the first time I really learned how to play guitar and I wanted to write a song with them so I went down to my mom and I said pick a number between 1 and 150 and she picked 5 or something, I can't really remember the number, but I went and opened up the Bible and there was 150 Psalms already written so I went to the number she chose and wrote a song with that and that kicked off the biggest thing of my life."

During a modeling tryout in 2002, she was to take a photo holding a guitar. Nonchalantly, the photographer asked if she played. She said that she did and went on to sing for them right there. That day, she met a man who would be her future manager. Her music was soon heard as the backdrop for Old Navy commercials.

In 2005, she took a position writing for Sony Music Publishing. Then, a short three years later, she signed a deal with Underground Records and toured the Canadian and US Great Lakes areas. At the same time, she has a "partnership" with Doghouse Records, a part of the Warner Music Group.

One song, Drive My Soul, hit the Canadian charts while another, February Air, went all the way to number 3 on the MuchMusic countdown. Does this herald a jump onto American charts? Most likely, that is on the horizon for Lights. She has also performed on MTV Live and won a Juno award for Best New Artist of the Year in 2009. In response to that accolade, she will tour with Van's Warped Tour this summer.

Lights lists artist Bjork as a major influence. She is also a HUGE fan of Phil Collins songwriting. While she does borrow from certain artists on a rhythmic basis, her self composed musical style is more chipper, down to earth and happy. Her high pitched, yet soft voice has been likened to Vanessa Carlton.

Whatever she's doing, it seems to be working for her. Lights' music writing and her vocal prowess are well received and popular.

Currently, she is working on a CD to be released later in 2009 as well as touring the United States, Canada and Great Britain. She has said she wants to do a video for each of the six tracks on her 2008 self titled EP.

With all of this going for her, Lights relies on the social networks of the Internet to promote her music. Her MySpace page is wildly popular, gains views exponentially and she makes new friends there every day.

Check out ChinaShop magazine at ChinaShopMag.com - the written word on music, art, fashion and film culture. You'll see pics and video of exclusive events and interviews from the music scene, with an interview and exclusive pics of Lights.

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