We had the good fortune of connecting with Lyra Star and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Lyra Star is my artist name, and I started out as being a singer/songwriter with the primary focus on my music. However, upon moving to Los Angeles, I was encouraged to explore the performing arts world because of the amazing things I can do with my body. I gained a lot of flexibility through my yoga practice, but I started to dive into the art of contortion, which evolved into live performances at shows and events throughout LA. Getting anywhere professionally in LA as an artist is not easy, unless you have some sort of connection to the right people. I definitely believe that if you have the ambition and drive as well as a strong passion for what you do/create, you can find success. The journey is always full of ups and downs, but I’ve managed to really enjoy all of the ebbs and flows of the creative process… I celebrate the high points, and learn fro the low points. I went from being a singer/songwriter to what I am now, which is a professional contortionist that performs to my ow original music as much as possible. While I also enjoy performing at events where I’m just doing ambient contortion, moving to the sound of my own music is such a beautiful and unique form of self expression that I feel makes me stand out as an artist. I’m still in the process of developing and growing, but I love how I have blossomed into a movement artist. In fact, I think this is more of the forefront of my brand at this point rather than the music, but I love that I am able to share both and weave them together whenever I can.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Los Angeles is full of fun place to go and things to do… it would probably depend on my friend and their interests. I would definitely plan to go to the beach (I think the ones in Malibu are really lovely), take a hike somewhere in Topanga, eat at delicious vegan restaurants (Love Organic Cafe WeHo, Gracias Madre, Araya’s Thai Vegan, and Crossroads Kitchen are some of my favorites), take a yoga class somewhere (I love doing rocket yoga at Shefa Yoga Venice), and maybe go hear live music or see a burlesque show. I love The Hotel Cafe for singer/songwriter nights, and I would most likely attend one of Lola Boutee’s burlesque shows because she is fabulous, and I perform for her fairly regularly. There are also some pretty cool venues in DTLA like Clifton’s Republic, although I don’t visit downtown very regularly. It would definitely depend on my friend though… if they were super into acro or fitness, we could go to Equinox for gym time and hit up the green in Santa Monica on a Sunday at the original muscle beach. I would also make sure we had a spa day because korean spas are one of the best things about LA… Olympic Spa is my favorite, but Wi Spa is also nice for a co-ed experience. Ultimately, it would be a week of movement, music, self care, and delicious food.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be anywhere without a network of support… I’m very grateful to my good friend Yancy Schwartz for showing up for me constantly. We met years ago when I lived in the bay area, and he has been my rock since I moved to LA almost 5 years ago. I’m also grateful to my music producer, Sam J. Garfield, for helping me find my sound musically and showing up for all of my important shows/releases. Last but not least, I have to thank the amazing Tonya Kay, who has shared so much knowledge with me about the performing arts world and helped me get my first performance at a virtual burlesque show during the pandemic. I wouldn’t be where I am today as a performing artist without her help, and we’ve also managed to create some incredible art together through music videos where I combine my two greatest passions, music and movement.

Website: www.lyra-star.com

Instagram: instagram.com/lyrastarmusic

Twitter: twitter.com/lyrastarmusic

Facebook: facebook.com/lyrastarmusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjrIBdqT5sYEbK5TXH18ZbQ

Other: Tiktok: @lyrastarmusic

Image Credits
Nico Munoz, Shane Karns, Alexander James, Carli Linde, Neil Newman, Curtis Joel Walker, Moezart, Shaun Vadella

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