Interview with Tripping Lily!

Their music has been referred to as "acoustic pop," "melodic blue grass," and a "genre unto itself." Read our interview with these talented musicians whose music defies categorization!

CommitmentNow.com:   Tripping Lily is comprised of Demetrius Becrelis (guitar/vocals/ukulele/mandolin), brother Alex Becrelis (mandolin/giutar/ukulele/vocals), Monica Rizzio (fiddle/vocals/ukulele), and Laird Boles (stringed bass).  How and when did you form the band?

Tripping Lily:  It really has been a riveting experience for the four of us to watch this thing develop over the past few years. I could spend all day in hopes that I could define and capture all the details that led us up to this point, however I will do my best to acknowledge key points of the Tripping Lily timeline.

Year 1998 Demetrius moved to Nashvillle TN to pursue a career in country music, his primary instrument being the guitar. Monica Rizzio not knowing Demetrius yet was by fate accepted into Belmont University to obtain a degree in music. Monica's primary instrument violin. Alex, Demetrius's younger sibling was still in middle school and really just processing his talents and what to do with them. He started off on guitar and soon after became obsessed with the mandolin. Laird, a freelance bassist specializing in jazz but could support just about any genre thrown at him. So one evening Demetrius and Monica ran into one another at a Nashville songwriter session and immediately struck up a conversation, not about music, but about how they really missed home. Both being from the Northeast they found comfort in one another's company, it didn't take them long to start creating music together, they would soon perform as a duo.

A few years passed and Demetrius decided that he wanted to move back to the Northeast and perhaps collaborate with his brother Alex. He was out of school and showed obvious signs of wanting to do this music thing forever, and most importantly as a career and not just as a hobby. This was enough reason to ignite Demetrius' curiosity about what they would create together. Monica also at that time relocated to her home in New York and do the obvious thing after graduating music performance school... of course it is to get an office job.. [laughter] That didn't digest well with Demetrius knowing she had such a talent with music and no one would know about it as long as she was hidden behind a desk.

Soon after Demetrius and Alex realized they had something special forming right there in front of them they knew what had to be done next and that was to enticed Monica to leave her well paying job in the city to join them on this inkling they both had. The three musician began work immediately on different song ideas they each had and knew there was without a doubt something so natural and satisfying happening there. As perfect as it seemed they all felt like they were doing the best they could yet something seemed unsupported.... it was like a very nice house built on a very uncertain foundation.

Thankfully after analyzing this we finally reached the conclusion that it was not anything as musicians that we were doing wrong. We just all had a vision of an added texture that was supposed to be there but was not there. So as fate would have it, one Wednesday evening we ran into Laird Boles at a small cafe.  Demetrius had met Laird and actually performed with him about 12 years prior to this evening, Demetrius had not seen him since. He would always ask out loud ,what ever happened to Laird Boles?  He knew they had just lost touch, but never could seem to shake out of his mind what a great bassist Laird was that night. So it was obvious we had to ask him to get together with us for some music. We invited him to a local jam the next night, all knowing that we would have him right where we wanted him.  Lets just say that night arrived and after running down one song, we all looked up each other in the eyes and said aloud, something very promising is forming here and we'd better run with it. So the following week, we set up a show, and Pow! Tripping Lily was born.

CommitmentNow.com:  Tripping Lily’s music has been referred to as “acoustic folk pop,” “melodic blue grass,” and the Boston Globe stated that Tripping Lily is a “genre unto itself.”  How would you describe your music?

Tripping Lily:  Our music in a very ample way is a reflection of our individual personalities.  Anyone who truly knows the four us could tell you that right away.  We are all for the most part pretty nice, somewhat normal and very vernal individuals and consistently choose to speak our minds and let people know what's going on with us on the inside. We never walk on stage and say to each other, ok you say this when I say that, you do this when I do that.

We go out there and completely let ourselves, be ourselves. So when onstage we do not hide our personalities, we all chose to do so in our compositions as well and this is what we do when we write songs. Thankfully we have been able to do exactly what we want to do with no compromise, and still connect with most people that hear our songs.   

CommitmentNow.com:  Your most recent album, The Day Everything Became Nothing, is full of songs with romantic lyrics and stunning melodies and harmonies!  Where do you find the inspiration for your songs?

Tripping Lily:  There is no inspiration like looking around and observing the things around us. People and their relationships, animals and their survival motives, plants and their response to sunlight, flowers and there pivotal influence on the development of insect, architecture  structures which reflect how one was inspired by angles and mathematics. Ah....and trees we cant forget trees.   The way they sway back and fourth on a sunny calm day as opposed to the way they sporatically shiver on a vicious rainy day.

This coincides very similar to the way humans react in those very similar situations. Perhaps the way the wind hits you on a certain day could even spark enough thought to get your creative juices flowing.  It's amazing how many things out there an artist can write about. No need to search its always right there, right next to you. You just need to take notice and run with it.  We almost consider the outdoors our internet, or for a lack of better words our "outernet". Walk out your front door and go get inspired. Everything is right there ready to be seen and explored. If you look at it that way how could you not be inspired?

CommitmentNow.com:  Do all of you participate in the song writing process?

Tripping Lily:  About as much as a sport team participates together to win a world series, or a kitchen full of cooks that inner twine to create a perfect dish or a  husband and wife creating a child together.  In fact, it is very much like that to us. We feel like these songs that we create are our kids.
Usually one of us comes up with a basic idea, a loose format to a song, somewhat of rubber frame if you will.
One that holds the idea brought to the table together but can then stretch and bend and handle all of us throwing our own two cents into it.

Then it slowly takes form and this is when things really start to fall into place and become Tripping Lily music!

CommitmentNow.com:  Who have been your musical influences?

Tripping Lily:  As far as our audible influences, there is quite a wide range of artist that have showered down upon us their musical legacy.  So much that in fact they have not only influenced the way we hear music, but the way we feel music. Not only at the time of adolescence but each of them still sustains within each of us everyday, till this very day. Demetrius Becrelis can remember the first time he heard Michael Jackson and how it almost made him walk a certain way. He soon after realized this was indeed dancing.  Monica Rizzio without a doubt recalls the first Judi Garland song she heard to exit her fathers radio. Laird Boles, The American Songbook would change his life forever and Alex Becrelis, was always drawn to the scores of film for the first time long before he could pedal a bike without assistance.  If you ask the four of us what we think of those artist today, we would all respond with excitement as if asked for the first time.  We all would agree,  that this is one of the bands goals to compose and record new music that will never expire.  It is not too hard to write a good song, but to write a song that will always move a listener throughout their lives is what really means a lot to Tripping Lily.

James Taylor...... Pop his CD and take note of how it will take you out of your current state and transport you almost into an entirely different mood. These artist wrote time machines that take us to other places in our memory that we may have never visited again. This stands true with all of our early influences stated above.

Some of our more recent influences would be: Mindy Smith, Nickel Creek, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Cold Play, Michael Buble and Allison Krauss.

We could mention about 1,000 artists from different genres that we love and listen to everyday at home and while on tour. The thing all of these current artists have in common is they are the new pioneers, and they too will find their way into whatever music player is of choice for many generations to come.
Yes generations also another key component in what intrigues us about all these artist. They all draw a very wide age span demographic. You can go to a James Taylor show and see a family of three generations all sitting together moving to the same song.  I mention James Taylor again because he is truly one of our favorites, and have set sharing a stage with him eventually as one of our goals.  He does not have opening acts very often, but Tripping Lily feels it would add a nice element to one of his shows..... soon enough folks.

CommitmentNow:  You are based on Cape Cod.  What is the music scene like there?

Tripping Lily:  Well, just like lots of other places on the globe it has a different pockets of different scenes.   You either  (A) have to go out and find them, or (B) Go out and create your own scene.

We also believe that a scene is what you make of it, we are like that everywhere we go on any scale.  Like what kind of scene would one expect to find on a bus? or an aircraft?  or maybe even the quaint corner of a restaurant? In most cases probably none....

Well, we beg to differ, we carry our instruments (tools of our trade) everywhere we go.  We evaluate the surroundings and soon after take an instrument out, and when need be we create a scene. Right there and then. We have even opened a music school here on Cape Cod called West Bend Music. When we are not on the road we are here teaching and passing on the gift of music.  It's our passion, we live it , we breath it.

CommitmentNow.com:  Where can we learn more about Tripping Lily and your touring schedule?

Tripping Lily:  Visit  www.Trippinglily.com

To purchase The Day Everything Became Nothing, click here.