Singer-songwriter Lisa Brigantino is an award-winning artist and a music business veteran who very successfully manages to execute dual roles as both an accomplished independent musician and businesswoman. Lisa holds a Master of Music degree in music composition and music theory from SUNY Fredonia and composes for film, TV, theatre, dance, advertising, and new media, as well as being a multi-instrumentalist and producer. She also is one-half of “The Vickie & Nickie Show”, a music-comedy act she performs with her sister.
As a former original member of Lez Zeppelin, the world’s first all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, Lisa toured the world for 6 years with them playing bass, keys, mandolin, and performing back-up vocals. She co-wrote two of the original songs on the band’s 2007 self-titled debut CD which was produced and recorded by the legendary Eddie Kramer. During her time with Lez Zeppelin, the band received many rave reviews and played at many top venues and festivals internationally, including headlining The Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2008. Lisa left the band in 2009 to pursue her own original music.
Lisa has spent over 25 years on the business side of the music industry working in music supervision, talent acquisition, branding, and rights clearance. She provides these services through her own company called Hidden Pond Productions, Inc. to many different clients including brands, corporations, filmmakers, broadcasters, and ad agencies. In addition, Lisa consults with composers, songwriters, and musicians.
Her latest album, I’ll Waltz Before I Go, released in October 2018, was co-produced and arranged by Lisa and her husband, Thomas Millioto, who also recorded and mixed it. The 13-track album is comprised of her eclectic original songs that cover a variety of genres including Folk, Americana, Country, Pop, Roots, Old-time, and Rock. Lisa showcases her skills playing the majority of the instruments on the album from guitars, bass, keyboards, accordion, and mandolin among others.
Lisa is currently working on getting her music placed in film, television, as well as continuing to write. She is also touring with her sister Lori to support I’ll Waltz Before I Go. Visit http://lisabrigantino.com/upcoming-shows/ for more information.
I recently interviewed Lisa in-depth about her latest album, her production process, managing being an independent artist and a businesswoman, her experience in Lez Zepplin, the Vickie & Nickie show, Hidden Pond Productions, her musical influences, and so much more.
Congratulations on your third solo album I’ll Waltz Before I Go. What is the theme or concept? What inspired it?
It’s been my trademark to release albums of my original songs in a wide variety of genres and arrangements. The songs on my new album span many years, too. I wrote some of the tunes back when I was in college and others were written more recently. A few years ago, I wrote a song called “I’ll Waltz Before I Go” after I had gone through a period of time where I lost several people close to me. The loss of these people got me to thinking about my own mortality. There aren’t many upbeat, positive songs about death, so I decided I’d write a joyful song with gratitude to life and acceptance about making that final transition. After I finished assembling all the songs I wanted to put on the album, “I’ll Waltz Before I Go” just naturally rose to the surface as the title track and it ended up being the perfect way to tie all the songs of the album together.
What do you want listeners to come away with after hearing it?
I’d like listeners to take a musical journey through the tracks which lyrically and musically reflect on life’s ups and downs – and arrive at the end of the album and title track with a sense of peace and thankfulness for having lived a full life.
The album contains original songs in genres ranging from Folk, Roots, Americana, Old-Time, Country, Pop, and Rock. Why not write songs in one of the genres? How do they complement each other? What draws you to each of them for your songwriting?
I love many genres and styles of music. From a writing perspective, sometimes certain lyrics feel like they’ll get their point across better if they’re in a particular genre. I also play a number of different instruments and some of those may speak to one genre over another. I’m not someone that listens to one genre of music – and I don’t think most people are, either. So, why should I only write songs in one genre? I’m an indie artist – self-produced and distributed – so I don’t have a record company telling me I can only do a Folk album or only do a Rock album. I think the diversity of the genres I work in complement each other and provide variety to my albums. The through-line through my songs is my voice, musicianship and production value. I give my listeners a good deal of credit and believe them to be much more sophisticated than the music industry would tell them they are – and trust that they are able to handle hearing a Folk song followed by a Rock song followed by a Gypsy-Jazz tune.
Explain your production process.
My husband Thomas Millioto is my co-producer and engineer. He’s a wonderful musician and went through the sound recording program at SUNY Fredonia and has a Doctorate in classical guitar performance from SUNY Stonybrook. He’s also a fantastic electric guitar player. Many of my songs start out as acoustic guitar or piano-based songs. They’re initially arranged so I can perform them on my own or with my sister when gigging. When preparing to record these songs, Tom and I do pre-production. We decide what is going to serve each song best beyond how they already exist as more sparse arrangements – what kind instrumentation and orchestration to use, what kinds of sounds we want, what kind of mics and amps to utilize.
Our arranging and production process is very collaborative. We do basic tracks first, usually with a scratch vocal, and build from there. I play most of the instruments on my albums, but we also bring in guest musicians, too. For instance, Tom played electric guitar on the new album, my sister Lori Brigantino did additional vocals and played ukulele and foot tambourine, my friend Susan Haefner did additional vocals, and Gus Morgan, my old Lez Zeppelin bandmate (drums) did hand percussion on the opening track “Watching the Ducks.”
Congratulations on your song, “I’ll Waltz Before I Go” being chosen for the 2019 Singer Songwriter Cape May music conference compilation CD. Can you tell us more about the conference, the CD, and how the songs are chosen for it?
Singer-Songwriter Cape May is a music conference for songwriters with industry workshops during the day and then performance showcases at night throughout the town of Cape May, NJ. I was selected to showcase at the conference and my sister Lori joined me. Lori is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist and often performs with me. As part of being one of the songwriters that were selected to showcase at the conference, all the writers were given the option of submitting a song to appear on the conference compilation CD that would then go to industry people, showcase attendees, radio stations, etc. I decided to submit. Out of 250 entries, “I’ll Waltz Before I Go” was one of 18 songs that ended up on the compilation.
Your song “I Gotta Find Me Somethin’” was used in the opening sequence of the romantic comedy “For the Love of George” which won the Audience Choice Award and Top Female Filmmaker Award at the Chicago Comedy Film Festival. Tell us more about how that opportunity came about.
I don’t remember how I initially connected with Nadia Jordan, the writer, producer, and star of the film, but I’d heard she was looking for music for her film. I reached out and submitted to her and “I Gotta Find Me Somethin’,” a fun, old-timey song with three-part vocal harmonies (with my sister Lori and friend Susan Haefner on additional vocals) was selected for the opening sequence, which is a hallowed spot when you’re trying to get music placements in films. “For the Love of George” is now out on VOD and the soundtrack is available on iTunes. There were a lot of women on the production team for the film, so I was really honored to be a part of the project.
You have over 25 years in the music business along with having a successful music career. How do you manage to be both an independent musician and a businesswoman? Which career came first and how did you get interested in it? What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of having both careers?
First and foremost – I have developed really great time management skills. Plus, I’m a Gemini, so I like to think there are two of me! I’ve been making music since I’m a child and studied music in college. I have a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degree in music composition and music theory from SUNY Fredonia. After I got my Masters, I moved to New York City to pursue writing and performing. I needed a support job and decided I wanted to do something related to the music business and took a position at a rights clearance company where I learned all about rights and permissions for the use of music, talent, film clips, photos – just about anything that’s copyrighted or otherwise protected – in all kinds of productions including film, television, advertising, corporate usage.
Balancing both careers was much harder early on because I was working full time for other people and squeezing in making music at night and on the weekends. Now that I have my own business, I have much more flexibility with my time and can decide when I want to work on my business and when I want to practice, compose or take a few days to go on the road and play shows. I don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to leave town, and it’s the best feeling. The wonderful thing about being involved in both the creative and business side of the industry is that each one informs and benefits the other.
Tell us about the genesis at Hidden Pond Productions. Was there a specific event that prompted its formation, or just a general interest of yours?How did you develop the business acumen to enable its success? How did you manage to onboard your first few clients?
I had been working for a number of years at a rights clearance/music supervision company that I co-founded (this was after my first job in the business). While I was doing this, I was crazy enough to join Lez Zeppelin in 2003. By 2005, we were doing more and more out of town shows and it became clear that I couldn’t continue to work full-time and also be involved with the band. I basically decided to run away and join the circus! Leaving my full- time job was scary, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I went on the road with the band but also started doing music supervision, licensing and rights clearance on my own. As long as I had my computer and cell phone with me, I could do the work from anywhere. I’d be on tour with the band in Europe and still be able to service my clients. I had some clients that followed me when I left my job in 2005 and little by little, I started to gain new clients, too. In 2011, I incorporated my company Hidden Pond Productions, Inc. (Hidden Pond was the name of the pond behind our home where I grew up in Katonah, NY). Not only does Hidden Pond Productions supply music supervision, licensing, rights clearance services to filmmakers, broadcasters, ad agencies and producers of all kinds, as well as music business consulting for songwriters, composers and musicians – we also custom score music for film, television, advertising, etc.
Tell us more about The Vickie & Nickie Show, a theatrical musical/comedy act you have with your sister Lori Brigantino. How did the idea originate? What do you want the audiences to experience?
Some friends of ours were doing live versions of the old TV show “Three’s Company” at a place called Freddie’s Backroom in Brooklyn. They want to have 15 minutes of live music from the 1970s to start the performances off and they asked my sister Lori and me if we’d be interested in doing some music. Lori had the brilliant idea that we should perform the music as characters. She wrote a page of dialogue, told me I was going to wear a wig, a gown and speak with an accent, and Vickie & Nickie were born. We play suburban housewife sisters from Minnesota who are on the road making music. People really responded favorably to our initial little 15-minute musical spot and we realized we had something special. Soon after, we began writing our own shows. The act is self-contained and we play about ten different instruments in our shows.The shows are filled with quirky pop song arrangements, wacky original songs, improv, and audience participation. It’s great fun and a whole different experience being on stage as a character. We’ve written over ten shows to date and have performed them in venues in New York City and regionally. We’ve also made appearances at comedy and variety shows as well as private functions. Vickie & Nickie have a naiveté about them that allows the characters to bring up any number of topical and newsworthy issues, but they are able to get away with it with smiles on their faces and without being preachy. We want our audiences to be entertained as well as informed. Your readers will appreciate that the act is totally indie and DIY – from writing and performing the show to booking the gigs, doing PR, assembling costumes and props, etc. You can find out more about the act by visiting https://
You are a former original member of Lez Zeppelin, the first all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, playing worldwide at A list venues and even headlining at Bonnaroo in 2008. Why did you leave the band after 6 years? What did you take away from the experience?
Being in Lez Zeppelin was an amazing experience and I’m forever grateful for my time in the band. I was the “John Paul Jones” of the band and played bass, bass pedals, keyboards, and mandolin. Learning to play the parts of John Paul Jones really honed my musical chops – at the same time, it was exciting to also make the parts my own. It certainly kept me on my toes switching between instruments night after night. Being in the band allowed me to travel around the world, too, which I loved. It was gratifying for me to be an integral part of the project from day one – from the very first rehearsals and playing small local gigs in New York City to ultimately touring internationally, playing major music festivals like Bonnaroo and doing an album with the legendary engineer and producer, Eddie Kramer, at Electric Lady Studios. I was a songwriter and composer long before I joined Lez Zeppelin, but there wasn’t much time to work on any of my original music during the 6 years I was in the band. In early 2009, it just felt like it was time to leave and prioritize my own music.
You performed with Terre Roche, a founding member of The Roches, at “If These Walls Could Talk” a Tribute to The Bottom Line (Schimmel Center, NYC). Describe the experience of performing some of The Roche’s classic songs with her.
Singing the music of The Roches with Terre Roche is one of the musical highlights of my life. My sister and I have been listening to The Roches since we were in high school. I’ve always been very influenced by their music and credit them with being songwriter “mentors” of mine – particularly Terre’s writing. For my sister, Lori and I to be asked by Terre to join her on stage was a tremendous honor. Getting to know Terre and call her a friend has been even better. She’s one of the kindest and most generous people I know. Since The Bottom Line tribute, we’ve all done some more performances together, and Terre will be making an appearance on my upcoming album release show at The Cutting Room in New York City on Saturday, May 18th. On Friday nights in May and June, you can find us down at Battery Park City participating in the Sunset Singing Circle that Terre leads. It’s a fun, free, sing-a-long that takes place as the sun goes down over New York Harbor. I usually show up with my banjo! Visit: https://bpcparks.org/
Explain your songwriting process.
First of all, it really helps me to have a regular time set aside to work on songwriting and composing. I schedule it in my calendar like any other important appointment. In terms of my creative process, I take several different approaches to songwriting. Sometimes I’ll get a lyric idea first and that will help to generate the rhythm of a melody. Sometimes I’ll start with a musical idea, melody or progression or rhythm and the lyric will come later. Sometimes I write with a harmonic instrument – either a guitar or keyboard – sometimes I’ll just sit down with some manuscript paper and write. I always have manuscript paper with me – even when I’m on the subway. Yes, there are moments when some songs feel like they write themselves and they come very quickly, but to me, writing music is a craft. It’s not about waiting for a lightning bolt of inspiration to hit. It’s about making the time and doing the work. Having to often compose, record and produce music on tight deadlines for my clients, I really don’t believe in writer’s block.
Who are some of your musical influences and in what ways specifically do they inspire your music?
My musical influences are all over the board. I’m influenced by and have learned from the counterpoint of Bach, the harmonic language of Beethoven, Gershwin, Chopin and Bartok, the clever songwriting and vocal harmonies of The Roches and then there’s Louis Armstrong, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Cole Porter, Bix Beiderbecke, Hank Williams, Mountain, Cream, The Dorsey Brothers, Elton John, Patti Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Linda Ronstadt – the list goes on and on. I’m going through a period now where I’m particularly fond of the 1920s and 1930s jazz and that definitely shows up in my original songs like “I Gotta Find Me Somethin’,” “Cookies & Whiskey,” and “Last One to Leave the Party.” Good music is good music – no matter the genre – and I try to absorb and learn as much as I can from the composers, songwriters, vocalists, and instrumentalists that speak to me.
Do you think there are too few women producers in the music industry? Why or why not? If yes, how can that be changed?
Like any field that has been male-dominated since its inception, there are far fewer women than men working as producers and sound engineers. I know that more women are moving into those positions but we still have a long way to go. One thing that can help change this is to get girls and young women interested in these types of career paths early on and educate them – which is why organizations like SoundGirls, which was started to empower women in audio, are so important. When you take a look at the timeline of the history of the world, we’re just at the beginning of women claiming their own space and pursuing the career paths that fulfill them, whatever those paths may be. I’m optimistic that it can only get better.
How do you think women can be better supported for success in the indie music industry?
I think organizations like SoundGirls, Female Entrepreneur Music and Women in Music, Inc. really help. I’m a past board member and currently serve on the advisory board of Women in Music, Inc. which helps to create a support system as well as educational and networking opportunities for women in all aspects of the music industry. Indie artists and business people can learn a great deal by being a part of an organization like WIM. The organization started in the 1980s with a handful of members and it’s now become an international organization with thousands of members in both the creative and business sides of the industry. There are many other online groups and organizations now that support women in music, too.
What advice would you give women who are thinking about or actively pursuing a career in indie music?
If you’re thinking about a career in indie music or the music industry in general, I would suggest you do your research first. If you’re interested in the business side of things, find out about all the different types of career opportunities there are. Maybe you’re more geared towards working in music publishing. Maybe you’d be better off as a manager or a booking agent. Maybe you really like the idea of putting music to picture and you’d like to pursue a career as a music supervisor. Perhaps you want to pursue a career as a sound engineer or producer. The Internet is chock full of information about what these different careers entail. Talk to people that are already doing the career you may be interested in. Get hands-on experience. Intern, be a fly on the wall, learn by being submerged in the environment you want to focus on.
If you want to pursue a creative career as a musician, singer, songwriter, put in the time practicing, writing and honing your craft and skills to be the best you can be. If you want to have your own business – look at the careers of successful entrepreneurs in indie music and learn from them. Join organizations that provide educational and networking experiences within the industry. Whatever you do, know this: the music business is incredibly challenging, time-consuming and changes constantly. You have to have a passion for what you do and be in it because you love it, not because you’re looking for fame or a big paycheck. It’s also important to surround yourself with people who support you and that you respect.
Lastly, don’t be a diva. Be on time for meetings and appointments. Show up to rehearsals with your music learned. Be supportive of the musicians and industry people around you. Be gracious, compassionate and joyful. And it may sound silly, but write hand-written thank you notes!
Ultimately, the music business is a small business and word gets around quickly regarding how easy or difficult you are to work with. If you are impeccable with who you are, how you move through the world and how you treat people, you will continue to have work and long-standing relationships in this industry.
What projects are you working on for the rest of 2019?
We’ll continue to do more shows in support of the new album. I’d also like to release a single or two later in the year. I’ve been focusing on getting my music placed in film, TV, etc., too. Additionally, I’ve been doing more instrumental and choral composing lately. I’m at the point in my life where I’m starting to think about what kind of legacy I want to leave behind. I’m glad that the recordings of my songs will exist for posterity’s sake but I also want to create more music that people can perform when I’m not around any longer.
Thank you, Lisa, for the opportunity to interview you.
Connect with Lisa: Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Hidden Pond Productions, Inc. | Vickie and Nickie
Buy/Download I’ll Waltz Before I Go on Lisa’s website, iTunes, andAmazon.Stream the album on Lisa’s Spotify page here.