Most musicians would do anything for the spotlight, but not Lena Dice. This UA student’s passion for music is a quieter one that began blossoming in recent months.
Dice, a junior majoring in psychology, was born and raised in Tuscaloosa. Finding a love of music at an early age, Dice partnered with lifelong friend Wright Gatewood to form their group “golightly” in May 2012.
“We’ve been writing songs together for about four months,” Dice said. “When it comes to writing and playing my own stuff, I’m very self-conscious, so having [Wright] to bounce ideas off of made it a lot easier.”
Dice said when she’s on stage alone she often feels like she does not know what to do, especially since sharing music is very personal to her.
Both Dice and Gatewood play piano, but one day Gatewood picked up a guitar and started to teach himself to play. After he showed Dice some of the songs he had been writing, the two decided to collaborate and become a duo.
“We just sit down and write what we’re thinking about,” Gatewood, a junior majoring in music management, said. “We don’t have a set formula. We write together, and we write separately.”
In fact, much of golightly is an experiment. Dice said she and Gatewood have been playing different instruments, such as the xylophone, spoons and kazoo, to incorporate into their music.
Although Dice has not played her music live many times, she performed with Tom Evanchuck at the Bama Theatre last year. She said the experience was amazing and a huge leap from the open mic nights where she started.
Dice said she and Gatewood are not necessarily influenced by any one genre, but relate to the “singer-songwriter” genre most. Female artists like Ingrid Michaelson and bands such as Mumford & Sons or the Civil Wars also play an important role in the pair’s writing.
Gatewood said he often finds inspiration for songs whenever he takes a walk or goes on a road trip.
“Whenever I find myself in a new situation, I’m always inspired by that new moment,” Gatewood said.
The duo also finds inspiration from the city of Tuscaloosa.
“I think it helps being in Tuscaloosa because it’s not necessarily a big music town – it’s known for football – but people are very interested in music,” Dice said. “Anytime I’ve seen bands play that I haven’t heard about, it’s always interesting to go see who they are and what kind of music they play. If you’re in Nashville, that’s what everybody’s doing; it’s not really a surprise.”
With an untitled EP set for release in January 2013, Dice and Gatewood are working to build a name for themselves.
“We want to get as much experience playing in front of people as we can,” Dice said. “We’re just having fun, really. We’re not starting this to make it big; we just enjoy playing together.”
Golightly can be found on Facebook and on Twitter at @wearegolightly.
