Though she’s not quite 25, Troi Irons has lived a lifetime of experience in the music industry already, having arrived in Los Angeles as a preteen and quickly getting caught in its clutches. Once signed to a major label, Irons is now fiercely independent, having released two EPs (Turbulence in 2016, and ANTIHERO last year).
Her next project, Lost Angels, takes a hardened look at sycophants and starfuckers, her jaded lyrics intensified by her hard-rocking sonic influences. Its self-produced title track, premiering exclusively on Audiofemme, offers a first glimpse at the album as a whole; the song bursts with emotion and depth and follows her last single, “Strangers,” released earlier this year.
Here, she opens up about her long-awaited debut album, directing the upcoming “Lost Angles” music video, and expressing her self-discovery journey through her art. Stream her new single and check out her interview below.
AF: Congrats on your new single! Tell me about “Lost Angels.”
TI: Thanks. “Lost Angels” is the title track off my upcoming debut album. It’s a signal flare for every alienated person in the middle of it all, who sees the bullshit and is not at home in this weird world.
AF: What can you tell me about your upcoming album?
TI: It’s a concept album – a modern take on the parable of the prodigal son. It begins at the end, summarizing what’s transpired. The second song starts at an LA party and the album journeys through alienation, arrogance, love, self-harm, religious anxiety… the clicking point is when the main character cuts out all the noise and distraction during a rock concert and realizes what really matters. Then there is a shedding of old ways and rebirth. The last song is called “Home.”
AF: Will fans see a video for “Lost Angels” any time soon?
TI: Yes! The “Lost Angels” video will be my directorial debut and it’s been rad putting it together. It’s crazy because I was producing, styling, mood boarding, writing treatments, doing everything for my previous videos but I would give the director title away to some “experienced” guy. Only I know the story so it makes sense that I should tell it how I see it. I drew inspiration from Rene Magritte and the Galerie d’Apollon as well as Judy Blame.
AF: What most inspired this track? Living in LA?
TI: It’s really about growing up in the industry and in LA. I moved to LA to attend college at 12 so that’s what LA meant to me at first – it was school. Once I turned 15, it really hit me that I was forming the rest of my life and paying thousands of dollars for it and I wasn’t sure I liked the path I was laying. It gave me anxiety. I felt incredibly suicidal. No one knew but I was constantly stoned during my last two years. I would smoke on the rooftop and stare down at all the little ants scurrying from class to class. I thought about jumping. Who do you run to? How do you say, ‘I love learning and I have this incredible opportunity but I’m terrified of debt and I don’t know about my major and it’s moving too fast.’ That sounds so spoiled.
Then there was the industry. I got into the industry because I picked up the guitar while I was waiting for school to start. And the industry is weird because it’s nothing like college or a linear job where you work hard and you move up. It’s like you work hard and you try to make the right choice but people are snakes. Everyone wants to be a star – especially the suits. Everyone wants to be rich, and no one says what they mean. For shits and giggles, while school and the industry are happening, you throw in coming of age and you’re lost. You know who you are but not where you are. Nothing is home. No one is trustworthy.
AF: Anything else you’d like to add?
TI: Learning is good, never stop.
