Q&A: Lola Blanc Unveils Haunting New Era with “Everybody”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
LOLA BLANC HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CREATIVE FORCE UNBOUND BY CATEGORY — A singer, songwriter, filmmaker, podcast host and all-around visionary, Blanc’s work dances the line between the theatrical and the deeply personal, often exploring the darker corners of the psyche with a bold, cinematic lens. Now, as she readies the release of her long-awaited debut album, the multidisciplinary artist is kicking off a gripping new chapter with the release of “Everybody”—a chilling, theatrical ballad that dives headfirst into the abyss of artistic identity, performative validation and the existential cost of applause.
“Everybody” is more than just a song; it’s a haunting, theatrical meditation on the twisted pursuit of external validation. Anchored by Blanc’s emotive, aching vocal delivery and an eerie arrangement that swells with restrained drama, the track asks what happens when an artist becomes a product. How much of oneself must be lost—or mutilated—for the sake of being seen?
“The inspiration behind the track was how social media makes me feel and modern life as an artist in general,” Blanc shares. “In order to compete for the views and the ears that you want on the art that you're making, you have to become something that isn't necessarily reflective of who you actually are as an artist. It feels like you have to begin to become more extreme and be thinking more about how to please the audience than what you are actually trying to say as an artist.”
It’s a sentiment that resonates with anyone who’s ever felt the pull between authenticity and performance, between truth and virality. “Everybody” speaks to that internal fracture, that desperation for connection in a world that increasingly demands spectacle over substance.
Accompanying the single is a self-directed horror short film/music video that elevates the song’s themes to striking, blood-spattered visuals. Drawing aesthetic inspiration from Black Swan, Chicago, and the golden age of Hollywood glamour, the video stars Blanc alongside actress Lindsey Normington in a fever-dream descent into madness. Channeling old-school cabaret with a sharp, surreal edge, the piece explores the psyche of a performer spiraling under the weight of her own expectations—and society’s unrelenting appetite for more.
Blanc’s evolution into a fully realized auteur in both sound and vision is no accident. Her career has been defined by fearless reinvention, from her earlier work in pop music to her acclaimed horror podcast Trust Me, which examines cults and the psychology of belief.
As Blanc prepares to unveil more music in the lead-up to her debut album, “Everybody” and its accompanying film are not just a critique of performative culture—they’re a reclamation of the self behind the spectacle.
Photography Credit:Liz Bretz
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
LOLA: When I was a teenager, I discovered jazz standards and Fiona Apple. I never got into musical theater, but I was just obsessed with a couple of musicals. I think those things all combined in my head, after having been into punk music as a younger teenager, and I just developed this affinity for a combination of the theatrical and the dark and touches of timeless vintage elements—all of those things have always spoken to me when combined into one place.
LUNA: You just released your newest single and first single of the year “Everybody.” What is the inspiration behind the track and what do you love most about it?
LOLA: The inspiration behind the track was how social media makes me feel and modern life as an artist in general, where it feels like in order to compete for the views and the ears that you want on the art that you're making, you have to become something that isn't necessarily reflective of who you actually are as an artist. It feels like you have to begin to become more extreme and be thinking more about how to please the audience than what you are actually trying to say as an artist. That's been something that I've really been grappling with, and everybody was an expression of that feeling of I want to be able to make my art and not have to worry about how to make people receive it enough.
LUNA: You directed the accompanying horror short film/music video yourself, which adds a cinematic, eerie layer to the song. Can you walk us through your visual concept and how it connects to the emotional core of the track?
LOLA: I am also a director, and I primarily am in the psychological horror space, and it made sense to me to have the video be reflective of the horror within me that I feel when I think about how to get my art perceived. What that turned into was a story about a woman who is very literally trying to please her audience, and discovers that the more pain she is in and the more she harms herself, the more attention she gets, and ultimately makes the sacrifice the ultimate sacrifice, to win the attention that she wanted.
LUNA: How was your experience filming the music video?
LOLA: I love directing. It's very challenging to direct your own music videos because you cannot watch your performances as you are performing, and when you're short on time, you don't have time to watch playback. It can definitely be challenging, but it is my favorite thing to do ever, and I loved it. It happened to be the day that the fires began in Los Angeles. It happened while we were on set, so it was a particularly fraught, crazy shoot where people had to leave. They didn't know what was going to happen. Fortunately, everyone's okay, but not everyone's home was okay. It was a really crazy shoot day.
LUNA: “Everybody” is such a haunting and theatrical first single—what inspired you to kick off your debut album era with this particular track?
LOLA: I really wanted it to feel like a cinematic experience. The kind of music I love to make feels like I'm watching a movie because I love film so much, and I wanted to capture our world. “Everybody” captured the world that I'm trying to build the best. It just felt so authentic to me, both in terms of the subject matter and in terms of the sound, and it does take a minute to build, but it gets very big, and all of those things felt like it was the right way to present the beginnings of my first album ever.
LUNA: This is your debut album, yet you've been creating art for years—what made now the right time for a full-length project?
LOLA: Honestly, I was stuck in a deal where doing an album wasn't really a possibility for a long time, and when I got free of that, I knew that the time was now. There was no reason to wait. I've been wanting to do this for so many years, and it just wasn't an option.
LUNA: I would love to hear anything you would like to share about the new album. What themes or emotional through-lines tie the album together? Is there a narrative arc you’re telling across the tracklist?
LOLA: This album is extremely personal, and it also communicates a lot of my angst about the state of the world and about the performances that we are all engaging in and how malleable perception is. These are themes that—if anybody follows my work on my podcast or in my films—are recurring themes throughout all of my work and my art, and this really is an extension of some of those ideas, but in a way that just feels more immediately personal and just exciting creatively.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
LOLA: I really want to create a dark, cinematic, but also very personal and very authentic experience. I really am trying to capture a world that is a little bit surreal, a little bit noir, with elements of that horror, dark space that I love so much, but also really genuine emotions and experiences that I've gone through. Hopefully I have successfully combined all of those things into one place.
LUNA: What is something you absolutely need in your space when you’re feeling a creative spark hitting you?
LOLA: I have a journal that's on my bed at all times and that has been the case for basically my entire life. I have so many journals in my house. That would be the main thing. Also just my laptop. I'm just constantly hunched over my laptop working on something.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
LOLA: The rest of the year is going to be a lot of filming video content related to the songs. I also am hoping to develop a show that is more than just music to convey some of the ideas from the album, as well as being a musical performance.
