FUSE TV - Fuse Q&A: “Kickball” Katy Goodman of La Sera, Vivian Girls

One of my favorites new records in regular rotation over here at Fuse HQ is Sees The Light, a just-released collection of hazy, girl group-inspired heartbreakers from Vivian Girls’ “Kickball” Katy Goodman, who is now recording solo as La Sera. One recent morning, I called her up at her house in Los Angeles, where she was just waking up. Here’s what Ms. Goodman had to say from the comfort of her bed…

What’s the biggest difference between Sees the Light and last year’s debut?

A different crew worked on this album. For the first record, it was just me and a friend doing everything. But on this record, there’s a full live band. Also, this [album] is way more personal. A lot of the songs on the first album were these stories that weren’t particularly true. But this one has more messages to people specific to my life.

Did that more personal approach make the album more difficult to write and record?

Yeah. But it all came out easily once I started.

“Love That’s Gone,” one of my favorite tracks, sounds particularly brutal.

That’s the saddest song I’ve ever written. It’s also my favorite song on the record. It’s actually my favorite song that I’ve ever written. It’s about leaving relationships. You know, when you’re the one who’s… well… [listeners] should take from it whatever they want to. But the first line, “I love my life without you,” pretty much sums up the album.

What were you listening to while recording? Any new influences?

I was listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac and it came through in a lot of songs. So Fleetwood Mac was a big one. Roy Orbison is always a huge one. I always learn new guitar chords from learning his songs. He’s one of my biggest influences. He has so many songs that are great.  The one that turned me onto Roy Orbison was “Crying.” When I heard it, I was like, “What is this song!?!” I immediately needed to hear more.

Where did you shoot the video for “Please Be My Third Eye”? It definitely has a cool look and vibe.

We shot it all over Los Angeles in one day. We filmed the whole thing in slow motion, so I was singing along to a version of the song that was played at 33 percent of the regular speed. I had it in my headphones, those little Apple bud headphones. They were going down my back so you couldn’t see them. We were rogue filming everywhere. The background dancers would just move around as quickly as they could, and later, when we sped the video up to normal speed, it looked like they were going insane! And I’m moving like a robot, or like a weird bug or something.

La Sera, "Please Be My Third Eye"