Interview of Lisa Chiodo by Freya Bennett // photos by Isaias Ayala
Lisa Chiodo is an Australian-born, New York-based vocalist, trumpet player, producer, and audio engineer whose debut EP Slightly Sour is a masterclass in genre-blending. With a voice that is both smooth and controlled yet effortlessly free, Lisa crafts a sonic experience that weaves together soul, R&B, jazz, and pop in a way that feels both organic and innovative.
Slightly Sour is an auditory spectrum of rich harmonies, intricate layering, and unexpected textures—where brass meets voice in perfect synergy. Lisa’s ability to blend these styles so seamlessly makes her music feel like a natural evolution of contemporary sound, sophisticated yet deeply emotive.
I sat down with Lisa to discuss her creative process, inspirations, and what went into making Slightly Sour the beautifully dynamic collection it is.
Hi Lisa, tell us a little bit about yourself:
I am an Australian Vocalist/ Trumpet player, producer and audio engineer. Born in Melbourne, Australia, I moved to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music on scholarship after high school and graduated from Berklee in May 2024 with a B.A. in Music Business/Management and Professional Performance, with a minor in Recording and Production as well as completing Harvard Law School’s Recording Artist Program ‘RAP’.
Shortly after graduating from Berklee, I moved to New York City. Attending conferences such as Audio Engineer Society (AES) in NYC, and the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) in California representing brands and companies including Audio Technica, Eventide, Automated Processes Incorporated (API), Audio Chocolate and Awave. Performing all over New York in Manhattan, regularly at Nublu- Producer Monday’s created and hosted by Ray Angry, Winnies Jazz bar, Scarlet Lounge and The Wallace Lounge to name a few.
I am an Audio Technica artist, and I’m endorsed by Black Lion Audio and Eventide using their FX pedals with my trumpet and vocals, and I am a Sofar Sounds artist, performing my original music for new audiences all over New York.
How would you describe your music style:
I would describe my music style as soul/RnB with both touches of jazz and pop. As I am predominantly a vocalist and trumpet player, my vocals often encompass a horn like feel, and my playing often sounds vocal, almost sung. Both have gone hand in hand with one another to create my sound which I’m incredibly grateful for.
I am big on harmonies, it’s one of my favorite things to incorporate into a song. Making portions of a melodic contour sound bigger, or encompass a particular emotion in using different voices, harmonies and tonalities. It is such a fun way to explore music and the listening experience for me and I really enjoy playing around with harmonic concepts through background vocals and horn layering.
Slightly Sour is your debut EP, tell us a bit about your process in creating this gorgeous collection of songs:
The songs inside of Slightly Sour are all so special to me and encompass core memories and emotions felt during relationships, friendships and life experiences that inspired each track. I have found that each song has continued to further resonate with me as I grow as a person, and as an artist. Reminding me of how I felt about a certain situation, person or experience at different stages of my life, and how I feel about them now.
What is your song-writing process like?
My song-writing process is very much based on experiences, my feelings throughout and toward those experiences and how they’re viewed. I like to get down a solid foundation of a song all at once to then work on later with a fresh mind. I’ll get down at least a melody with a progression to begin with as a base and then be able to move forward from there, however it is more often than not that I create a song/track with lyrics leading.
Both named tracks on Slightly Sour are songs created based solely around their names (Sexy Sofia and KIRA). Songs created sometimes without a story or idea behind it, but simply a name, or a lyrical idea that has stuck with me or jumped out at me at one point or another, which then opens up my mind to a story or point of view that I hadn’t thought to write about.
It makes songwriting exciting, and intellectually stimulating as much as it is creative.
You’ve got such a smooth, controlled voice—has singing always come naturally to you? When did you first discover just how beautiful your voice is?
Thank you! Growing up I sang a lot. With a family supportive of music I would sing often, I started singing in choirs in school and was involved in musical theatre throughout middle/high school. My initial background of singing in choirs plays a big part in my ear for harmonies and blending.
When I was fourteen years old I was part of a production of ‘Macbeth- A Rock Opera’ as one of the three witches. The show toured in Europe for five weeks, performing in five different countries (England, France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland) with multiple shows a day. I fell in love with the touring side of the industry, this experience is one that lit a spark in my wanting for a professional life in music.
I didn’t have any vocal lessons until my last year of high school. It was required for my VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) Music course with the lessons mainly focused on specific repertoire for that performance exam. As I continued through high school, I was gigging around Melbourne, solo with tracks, as a duo set up and or with a full band depending on the venue several evenings a week. I started writing music around this time, experimenting with lyrics and melodies as well as the band leading, getting experience and a taste for teaching musicians my music, mostly by ear.
You also play the trumpet—what’s it like being a multi-instrumentalist? How do you manage to dedicate time to all your musical pursuits?
Being a multi-instrumentalist is definitely something that requires balance. I started as a vocalist and picked up the trumpet when I was 10 years old. I found it was often a give and take relationship, taking turns in which instrument I was focused on most at any given time, especially if I had something coming up focused more on one or the other.
As I grew up, I learned to have more of an even balance between the two, dividing my focus more evenly as to be able to dedicate time to both voice and trumpet competitively, and symbiotically. This became easier as I learned to combine practice with specific elements of each instrument. Breathing became a huge part of the combined practice. Strengthening and working my lungs to be able to hold and sustain more air which helps both my vocal and horn performance/playing.
Slightly Sour gives off such early 2000s RnB vibes, especially with a track like “Wide Awake.” What’s your main musical inspiration?
My main musical inspiration for all of the tracks in Slightly Sour are specific experiences that I felt strongly enough about to use as a muse to create. ‘Wide Awake’ in particular was inspired by two things, a guy I was into at the time, as well as a project for one of my production and writing courses in College. The combined experience with that individual and the project deadline married the song up well. The song then sat in a folder on my laptop until I revisited it many months later where I reworked it. Producing it with new learnt skills after I had completed my Recording and Production minor to make it what it is today.
What’s the most exciting part of sharing this new music with your fans/new listeners?
There are a few things that excite me about sharing Slightly Sour with fans and new listeners. One of the main reasons for the release are the friends, and fans who would come to my shows, hear my original music and ask me where they could listen. For the longest time, the answer was, “you can’t, I don’t have anything released”. It’s so exciting to be able to finally share my music with people who not only come to see me live now, but people who have seen me live in the past, and finally get to remember those shows and performances through my recorded album.
I’m so keen to be able to leave somewhat of a footprint in the music world, and continue to do so through my music and the releasing of it. Releasing music not just to release, not just for the of course desired effect of my music being “successful”, but to continue to create and share my music with people to eventually reach an audience filled with those who resonate with what I create. Feeling incredibly grateful for where I am, where I am going, and what music brings me.
