White Night is an alternative electro-pop band based in both Berlin and San Francisco. The German-American duo draws inspiration from 1980’s pop, classical music, contemporary-classical music, and jazz. The members, Willi Leinen and Elizabeth Boardman, in addition to being songwriters and producers, are classically trained musicians who perform on guitar and viola/baroque viola respectively.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Willi grew up in Jena, Germany, and I grew up in Seattle, Washington. Although both of us are classical musicians by profession, we both have always had a more creative side that needs to be fulfilled by composing. We both grew up composing music just for fun, from rock to classical to little film scores. I don’t think either of us ever decided to become artists, music has just always been in our bones.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Submit, submit, submit! Go crazy on social media! Our group had a very unusual start in that we had a fair amount of airtime before any live performances. We only began making songs together this February and at this time, Willi and I were living across the ocean from one another. Willi was in Berlin while I was finishing grad school in San Francisco. We received a fair amount of airtime on several German radio stations and a couple interviews within a month of writing our first songs because Willi was so good at sending our music to as many submission hubs and radio stations as possible! Now that we live in the same city we can start thinking about live performances.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Everybody makes mistakes during performances! The key is to ready to make mistakes, be OK with it, and allow yourself the fluidity of mind to keep going (and possibly improvise a detour). If you are bracing yourself for mistakes, you will make far more than you should and your recoveries will not be graceful. Also, practice making mistakes and recovering from them!
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
We currently work with Ableton Live and an Apogee Mic, but we would love to invest in some analog synthesizers for our live shows.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
SoundCloud has been amazing for promoting our music. We also use social media such as Instagram and Facebook.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
The dream would be to open for Daft Punk!
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
We are currently hoping to find a label who could fund recording and mastering our first album! Now that we have had a fair amount of airtime and writeups in Germany, we are working on breaking into the music scene in the US.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Lizzie: I would want to be involved in fashion design or styling, interior design, or be a history professor.
Willi: I would be a journalist…or an elephant.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in the next year or so?
New songs, our first album, and possibly a European tour?
Exposed Vocals: Any Shout-outs?
Check out our website at www.whitenight-music.com ! Thanks for reading!
