Liberty_C. has just unveiled their latest Soul-Pop single, Queen Of My Life. The four-piece group is fronted by Katja Cruz, whose dynamic and bold arrangements prove that creativity and passion in music are not bound by age.
Katja’s artistry has already been highlighted in The New York City Jazz Record, and she has collaborated with celebrated saxophonist and composer Oliver Lake. With a message that centers on embracing life and expressing who you are, her work feels especially timely in today’s world.
We recently caught up with Liberty_C. to learn more...
Hi Katja, how have you been?
Hi, thanks, I’m fine!
I’m very happy with the progress of my new single “Queen of My Life”, and further we started preparing for our next concert, which is a real pleasure, especially after these long lockdowns. For example, yesterday we worked out 3 new songs, and this was such joy! I really love my band. Ernesto, Sassi, and Markus are really wonderful musicians.
When did you fall in love with music, and how did you know it was the career for you?
Well, I definitely fell in love with music when I started playing the piano with the age of 5. But to know that this would be my career took a long time. I grew up in rural Austria, music and the arts seemed to be something so far away, that it was impossible to imagine being a part of this. Anyhow, girls were not meant to have a “career”. Fleeing home and landing in the arms of a musician was maybe not the best choice. My first husband was absolutely against me being a singer. HE was the musician and singer, and I definitely should not get in his way. Though I was “allowed” to do the management for his band.
So at this point I chose fine arts and worked – very successful for my young age – as a painter and sculptor while raising my first two kids, because, of course I divorced after a short time. Some of my most important artworks are still in the park of the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria. I created sculptures of steel and glass to the music of Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern, the so-called 2nd Viennese School. I then continued collaborations with contemporary composers, always working on the idea to give their music kind of a material expression (through paintings, light compositions etc.). At some point I had a physical breakdown and for some reasons completely lost the power in my arms. This was the time when I turned to music. I realized that I was always working on music, trying to bring music to life – as band manager, and as a fine artist as well. Thus, I dared to change the position and became the musician and composer myself.
The following few years I worked in the field of avantgarde jazz. Within free improvised music I felt close to contemporary music which was part of my work for several years. I got on a British label and played on international stages. Most times in New York, also cooperating with great musicians like Oliver Lake, Warren Smith, Darius Jones etc.
It needed another breakdown to become a songwriter. Meanwhile I was a mother of 4 kids, divorced again, and thought to limit myself to only teaching singing. But you can’t stop the creative river floating within you. So, this time in my life I started writing songs. First out of a friendship with a German author. We were exchanging extremely long emails, and at some point, I answered through a song. Then through another one. And then I found my love for pop music, found singers I really appreciate like Alicia Keys, P!nk, Emeli Sandé etc. You have to understand that they are all much younger than I am. To say it with other words – there were no role models of my age for me. I only remember Joan Armatrading and Sade, and me as a teenager sitting in my room and transcribing her lyrics and her music. Also, I was dancing through the nights to the music of James Brown. But in a world without internet, the US and the UK were unreachably far away.
In short words: I first had to overcome the conditions of society and education, then had to overcome my husbands who didn’t want me to be a singer, and finally had to overcome my fear of doing something that one usually starts earlier in life.
And what’s kind of funny is, that one usually starts with pop music, and then maybe explores classical or contemporary music. In my case it was just the other way round. I started with classical and contemporary music and slowly found my way to soul and pop music.
But here I am.
Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming single ‘Queen Of My Life’?
Yes, of course. I wrote “Queen of My Life” this January. The months before were kind of sad.
We were in another lockdown, and although I was fighting this crisis the 2 years before with positivity, this was a moment where I seemed to have lost my strength. I felt lonely (though I’m never lonesome), and there was heartache, and it was hard to find hold and an optimistic perspective.
So I sat on my piano, and lyrics and music arose within me, and I remembered all the strength I have, the long way I already went and all my achievements – my lovely kids and my home, but most of all the ability to do what I really love to do. Through all these hard times I have become the musician and songwriter I want to be.
People may shake their heads about me, but I created my own “kingdom”, and indeed I am the “Queen of My Life”. It’s me who decides what to do and where to go, what I want, and what I don’t want, what to accept, and what is not acceptable. I consider this to be a big force, and I wish everybody to be in this position.
There is a beautiful music video for your track. Can you explain the concept behind it?
Well, the video shows you everything I already talked about. Moreover, it gives you an impression of the gentle tenderness I give myself in uncertain situations. Sometimes it needs a lot of selfcare and selflove to continue walking your way. Being an artistic soul causes that most times you find yourself a little bit out of the usual boxes. You may be attacked for who you are, rejected and denied, but what YOU finally say and think about yourself is the most important thing at the end of the day. And I have come to the point to really love this woman I am – with her own head and thoughts and emotions, with a heart full of love for people and this world, and for the friendly warrior I am.
My young video team - Alexander Baumgartner and Nora Einwaller - perfectly understood the song and its message. Alexander and I had a brainstorming about scenes and situations on WhatsApp (true!), and within several hours we did the video shooting.
The themes of empowerment and finding your own voice runs through your track. Can you speak more about this?
Well, finding your own voice leads you to be who you truly are. You can find this theme also in some of my other songs like “I’m Complete” or “I Got It All”, also in “Shout and Scream” (the last two of them are not released yet). It clearly indicates that you are the one who tells you where to go and what to do and not let anybody else (or even a whole society) tell you Otherwise.
But there’s also another meaning concerning your real voice. Every person got his or her own voice. And accepting your voice as it sounds is already an act of selflove.
Who would you say are your biggest inspirations?
Wow, there are so many great people in this world... but, musically spoken, I love the music of P!nk and Alicia Keys, of Emeli Sandé and Björk, but also of Carole King, who is – in my eyes – the “mother” of female songwriting. Their voices and expressions are different, but they all sing about a self-determined life - and also live it. They are not “puppets” on the scene, or dolls made by labels, or lost in drugs or alcohol, no, they are tough, self-determined women,strong in message and in business. So they are really great role models.
What is some advice you would give to people who struggle to feel that they are the Queens of their own lives?
First: Love and accept yourself. With all your thoughts and emotions, highs and downs, wins and losses. And be radically honest with yourself.
Second: Become the best version of yourself. (This part usually includes some work...)
Third: Enjoy being yourself.
What do you have planned for the rest of 2022? Anything your fans can look forward to?
Yes! Getting back to playing concerts again! I also plan a tour in December in the UK. Further I will produce the one or other live video from our next concert. And then we are working towards a new album. Half of it is already recorded. So by the end of the year itshould be available. Its working title is “Sensual Revolutionary”.
ON THE RISE
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Lettie Law is a vessel for God’s message and she spreads it through her music. She gives Him all the credit for the songs she releases, which she says come to her from Him directly. Her latest single, “Forward Ever Backward Never Jesus” is one that celebrates the ever lasting power she believes He has.
When I spoke to Lettie, I could feel how strong and at peace she was just from our conversation. She shared a variety of stories of her life with me and God was the constant throughout all of them. She has a writing process for her songs but as earlier mentioned, she always credits Him with giving them to her.
“I write songs as they come to me from the Divine. Something is whispering to me to tell me what to write, how to sing it and what instruments go with it. Sometimes I’ll get partial parts of a song gradually but for this song, everything came together at the same time. It all comes from Heaven and I give out what I receive from the Almighty.” she said.
Sharing God’s message is a part of every song Lettie releases but this one was specifically crafted to encourage people who are dealing with everything happening in the world today. Lettie sees all the turmoil people are going through in the world and wants people to know that they will make it through any situation they find themselves in.
“No matter what is going on in life at this current time, you can look to God. If yesterday was not good for you, you don’t need to look back. Look to God and there is no way He will not deliver you. Keep moving forward and doing your best and look to God.” she said.
Lettie believes that music and singing can bring people joy, hope, courage and also healing. The latter can come in the emotional sense but also the physical sense too. During our conversation, she shared a story about how one of her other songs, titled “Yaweh” had a large impact on someone’s life.
“My favorite thing about music is how it can be healing. Not all diseases are physical. A woman called me had shared how she had been dealing with insomnia for eight years and had taken all kinds of medication for it. But once she started listening to my song, she would sleep like a baby.” she said.
Lettie Law knows about the power of God and music from firsthand experience. She shared that while she enjoyed singing in front of the congregation at church as a child, this changed as she began to get older. She became more shy and reserved not just in church but in life and in general.
Her shyness and reluctance to sing became the catapult that would push her to sing as God wanted her to after she went through a life altering situation.
“I ended up getting sick and my son suggested I record one of the songs I had written in the books I had from years ago. But once I started recording more, the sickness left my body. But recording and singing in public are very different. So it became a tug of war between me and the Lord because He wanted me to sing publicly but I didn’t want to.” she said.
“A different situation happened and I ended up in a coma and I could hear various voices around me as I faded in and out. I thought I was dying but I woke up on this side and realized I was still alive. The Lord asked me ‘Are you ready to do My work now?’ And I said ‘Of course! I’ll sing in front of the congregation. I will tell my story to the world. Wherever you send me, I am going.’ And when I woke up, all my family members who I had heard while I was fading in and out apologized because I heard them planning for my funeral and things like that. So the Lord spared my life and I’m not shy anymore. The Lord gave me strength and I chose life.” she said.
As Lettie said, she truly did go wherever God sent her. She’s since sung at Boston College, in Connecticut, at churches and even a club.
“University students love Christ. They were singing and dancing and they wanted me to come back. In the club, people were drinking and smoking and couples were dancing and it was nice because everybody belongs to the Almighty. God sees a sinner and knows one day they will become one of His children.” she said.
Lettie Law is West African with her father being from Nigeria and her mother being from Cameroon. The range of the diaspora is felt throughout “Forward Ever Backward Never Jesus” whose production is far from traditional Gospel instrumentation and blends a variety of musical styles. The positive and uplifting atmosphere is felt through both the instruments and the lyrics.
For many Gospel artists, their foundation was laid by someone older than them that raised them in church and likely also had them singing in church as child. For Lettie, this person was her father.
“He played a very big role in introducing me to Gospel and the Almighty. He introduced me to reading the Bible and he and my Mom introduced me to reading hymns.” she said.
Lettie Law has a 10 track album coming soon which will include songs like “Prayer is a Masterkey” and “God is Our All in All.” Her journey with Gospel has encapsulated her whole life and her ongoing faith continues to motivate her to keep making more music.
“I am just a vessel for His word and His message.” she said.
“Forward Ever Backward Never Jesus” is available on streaming services now.
You can experience more of God’s messages through Lettie Law by following her on these platforms.
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