In Conversation with Liam Brown

By Ashvin Gupta

Liam Brown - under the aliases pizzagirl/two blinks i love you (TBILY) - is a master of the craft of making synth-pop songs with a nostalgic and relatable feel. Based in Liverpool, the up-and-coming artist has played venues such as Reading and Leeds Festival, World Museum, and the Neighbourhood Festival, to name a few. His latest song, ‘i love you’, released on the 16th of November. ‘i love you’ is Brown’s first record as TBILY after moving on from the moniker of pizzagirl. Fans of Wallows, Half-Alive, and Gus Dapperton will fall in love with Brown’s music just as I did.

Hearing Aid: You recently changed your stage name from pizzagirl to two blinks i love you. What prompted this change, and why did you settle on TBILY?

Liam Brown: pizzagirl was a project that started 5 years ago when I was about 19; it felt like it went through a lot of phases and iterations with how unsettled my mind was in that time with how I wanted to sound and how I wanted to look. It was about a year ago when the idea to start a new project started to creep into my mind, and the excitement about that idea was really persuasive to me. The name (two blinks i love you) is a reference to something personal in my life that has a lot of meaning, so it felt even more special to start a new project based around that feeling.

HA: What has your experience as a somewhat underground artist been like? Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

LB: I think it has for sure brought out a lot of creativity and efficiency in terms of how I make and record music. I think it brings out a different side to your creativity when you have to use the limitations around you to create something new and exciting for yourself. That would go hand-in-hand with my advice if I were to give any - just to kind of welcome that limitation and the creativity that comes with it, rather than feeling anxious or inferior to conventional methods.

HA: If you could go back in time and undo one thing, what would it be, and why?

LB: Hmmm. I think to do that may well alter the course of what happens now in some time-travel-film way. I’d probably not get as drunk as I did last Wednesday.

HA: In ‘i love you’, you sing, “I love you so much it hurts, I love you too much that’s worse”. Can you explain how that lyric came about?

LB: That line refers to new and confusing feelings surrounding being in love with someone, getting past the point of feeling in control, and how that can be quite scary and foreign - well, to me, anyway.

HA: After the World Museum and Reading, what’s next?

LB: I’d like to play shows as two blinks in as many places as I can; maybe over to America soon or other museums and festivals :). I think my next step is just to release all the songs that are on my computer first.

HA: What is your biggest goal that you hope to achieve? Where can I expect to see you in, say, five years’ time?

LB: I’d like to hope and expect that what happens with two blinks supersedes the success of pizzagirl. I’d like to have the early start of a strong body of work in five years’ time, and hopefully be a band that people think is cool and believe in!

HA: Who have been your inspirations in making music? How did they inspire you?

LB: I think I like a lot of bands from the early 2000s in America, specifically New York City; bands like The Moldy Peaches, LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Shins. I like how exciting and real they sound, not taking themselves too seriously but still having a lot of heart.

HA: Speaking of influences, what are your favourite records (either by yourself or others)? What makes them so special?

LB: I like Alex G’s last record, God Save The Animals. I listened to that quite a bit when it came out. I also saw Big Thief at the start of the year and kind of went into a big Adrianne Lenker Spotify hole. Both of those remind me of really nice times this year, so I’d say those are my favourites right now!