This feature is a part of Ocean State Sessions.
“Self-promotion is the one single most important things you can do as an artist.” Lila Wilde, A.K.A. Disco’s Hot Younger Sister has been posting viral content on her social media pages for the better part of two years now. It’s a step she thinks more artists should take. “There’s some hesitancy, especially with bands, to get four or five people in a room to sing along to the song lyrics or do something funny. As an individual artist, it’s just hard to do it all by myself – to set up the camera, run around, check out looks, run back around, hit the record button, do several takes. It’s tiring.”
Tiring, but worth the effort. Lila Wilde has seen some of her reels soar beyond 25,000 views. Despite this level of success, Wilde says she’s still learning. “I think part of being an artist that I’m learning is that it’s give-and-take with your audience. Not just like ‘Look at me, stream my music, buy my merch, go to my shows.’ It’s also like, ‘I’d like to offer you something. I’d like to offer you a community, a place to be organically yourself and connect with the vibe.’”
Sometimes part of the vibe is just being yourself, as imperfect as that might be. “There is this kind of idea online that in pop music you’re always camera-ready. And sometimes in life, I’m not camera-ready.” Deeming herself a bit of a perfectionist, Wilde sees the value in showing your true self to the audience. “You need to be a personality. People want to see the real me and know what I’m doing when I’m recording and know what I’m doing when I’m performing live or backstage or behind the scenes content.”
Not all content is created equally. Sometimes part of the process, according to Wilde, is throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. “It’s okay to just put out stuff that’s bad until it gets good.” That struggle is not something new to Lila. “I struggled to find the vibe I wanted to portray online…I wish that there was a handbook, and I wish that it was something that I could just tell an up-and-coming artist like ‘Okay, do this, this is definitely going to work!’ But I ask people all the time…’should I be doing video content, should I be touring or should I be writing music?’ And they’re always like, ‘Yes.’ And it’s a frustrating answer! ‘Yes, you should be doing all of it.’”
Through years of experience, Lila can offer some of her advice to new artists out there. “Give yourself some grace. It doesn’t have to be perfect at the beginning, and you will find your niche over time.” But it’s not all about the social media side of things. “The three major components: playing live, networking and social media. That’s what I would say to start out and then let the rest figure itself out.”
Maybe when all is said and done, Lila Wilde can write that handbook herself.
