11 Feb

The L Project’s single ‘It Does Get Better’ released TODAY! Zhoosh interviews co-creator Sofia Antonia Milone

Posted by melberry

The support The L-Project has gained since it began last year has been phenomenal (even DIVA has got involved), when you started out did you ever think it would become this big?

I think honestly, though we had very big ambitions, and knew the community should and would want to get behind the project because it’s so obviously a worthy one, we have been quite overwhelmed by the backing and support we’ve received from not only the the gay media as you mention, but the online social pages like WHOF (Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook).  The internet has been our friend, and we’ve made a great many of them on it.

The ‘It Does Get Better’ music video

Zhoosh has noticed Lizzy the Lezzy is a big supporter of the project and even auditioned to be part of the line-up.  What was it like working with her?  I can imagine she was a handful…

Lizzy is a unique individual with some very interesting talents.  She is very passionate, but she had some useful ideas that we took on board. We hope she enjoyed her time with us, short as it was, as much as we did.  We are in no doubt that we have not seen the last of her.

What’s been the most fun aspect of The L Project project so far?

Watching the numbers rise in support of the cause.  Recording was fun, sure, emotional even, but my main role over these last few months has been curbing Georgey’s (Payne, co creator) excitement leading up to the release.  We’ve been giving Facebook fans secret airings of the song to bait them, and the comments and feedback has been truly wonderful.

All proceeds of the single are going towards Stonewall and Diversity Role Models.  There are quite a few LGBT charities; why did you decide to support these charities in particular?

Yes, this is very true.  In the future, should we be in a position to, we might well back other charities.  But for this song, and the message we’re hoping to convey, it made sense to choose these two specifically.  Stonewall is one of the oldest and most well known for championing gay rights, it has a lot of experience and history behind it, and is well known by the community as well.  Diversity Role Models on the other hand is very young, and their aim is very specifically aligned to our cause, in that they take role models into schools to educate young people about diversity.  We feel the combination of the two is a good balance.

The single was previously called ‘Breathing Life.’ Why did you change it to ‘It Does Get Better’?

The original title is a line from the song, but it became obvious to us after recording that people were going to naturally start calling it something more aligned to the chorus line ‘It Does Get Better.’   Those lines were inspired by the US ‘It Get’s Better’ campaign and we’re all fighting for the same change in thinking so it makes sense for us to call it that.

Is the single influenced by any of your own personal experiences of being an LGBT person?

I’d usually let Georgey, as the songwriter, answer that but I think it’s fairly clear that the song; one which strives to bolster those who hear it, was written by someone with great empathy.

Who are your LGBT influences/idols?

I honestly don’t think I have any idols, LGBT or otherwise. I admire a great many people, none of who are famous, a lot of whom are helping promote this project, and give up so many hours of their time to good causes it’s hard to keep up. I think there are lots famous people who do good for the LGBT community, not limited to those who identify as LGBT. And of course there are some wonderful role models, people who have risked their careers and come out, and shown the world it’s possible. Ellen Degeneres, Stephen Fry, Ian McKellen, Martina Navratilova, Derren Brown… oh, okay, maybe I do have an idol. Yes. I do idolise Derren Brown. Sorry, what were we talking about?

What are your hopes for the single?

For it to find its way onto commercial radio, to reach a wider audience, and start being heard by the people who we feel will really benefit from the message.  Oh, and of course for them to buy it, share it and for us to raise silly amounts of money for the charities.

Will we be able to see the single performed live anywhere?

Yes, we’re plotting.  We will announce this once we have full confirmation of dates and venues.

We hear there will be a few versions of ‘It Does Get Better.’  What are they and how do we get our hands on them?
There are four versions.  The radio edit, the full edit, the beautiful piano track from the song that Belinda O’Hooley wrote and recorded, and finally wait for it… the karaoke version!  We hope this will inspire a few people to cover the song, with or without humour.  They can all be bought form the same outlets as the single such as iTunes and Amazon.

What are your plans post The L Project?  

The more we work on this project, the more both Georgey and I realise this is just our first project.  There is still plenty of work to be done surrounding this campaign, but there are also other projects we’d like to do to raise money for similar causes.  All I can say is - stay tuned!

Zhoosh would like to thank Sofia for the interview and wish The L Project the VERY best of luck with the single, we’ve bought our copies and highly recommend you buy yours.  Click here to buy it on Amazon and iTunes.

For more information, check out The L Project’s Facebook page, Twitter page and their website.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 11th, 2012 at 10:13 am and is filed under Bisexual, Community, Gay, Lesbian, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.