Interview with Lizzy Hofe (Princess Rizu)

Last week on the Steven Universe Roundtable I brought up a song written by Lizzy Hofe, or as she’s known on Youtube, Princess Rizu. After that I talked to her on Twitter and she agreed to do an interview. So without any further adieu I bring you my interview with Lizzy Hofe.

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Justin: How did you get into singing?

Lizzy: I’ve been singing as long as I can remember, my mom says she would find me singing in the middle of the night in my crib. I started in dance, so I didn’t sing in front of people till middle school when I started my Youtube and I started musical theatre as well, and it’s just gone from there.

J: What led you to do fan music?

L: The funny thing is I use to think there was no hope for me to write songs because I was bad at melodies, but I learned if I took an instrumental I could build a melody from there. Through His eyes was the first I wrote. Maybe once I get bigger I might do fully original songs.

J: Walk me through the creation process for one of your songs.

L: First I decide what I want to write the song about, typically a character. For most of them I use Jukedeck which creates original instrumentals; then I find something on Jukedeck I like that fits the mood. Then I completely goof around until I get a melody. Once I have somewhat of a melody I add the lyrics and that’s basically it.

J: What about Steven Universe keeps bringing you back in for more songs?

L: It’s my favorite show and there’s so much material to be inspired by. Every character has their own story and so much to write about. I might do more Undertale but a lot of things are summed up in just one song. There’s just so much stuff to be inspired by in Steven’s universe.

J: Have there been any song ideas you’ve had to scrap?

L: So far I don’t think so, I’m holding off on things like Jasper because there’s not enough material. If there are any I scrapped I don’t remember so they must not have been that exciting.

J: What’s been the biggest surprise during this?

L: How quickly my audience grew once I started doing fan songs. A lot of people get big by Covers as opposed to original music; the fact that it’s based on something might help.

J: You’ve been growing crazy fast lately, what’s that been like?

L: It’s been insane, I think it’s also been helped by doing voice acting for video games such as Yandere Simulator. I guess just a lot of people are looking for Steven Universe stuff.

J: A lot of people say that your songs should be official, have you had any contact with the Crewniverse that you can share?

L: I wish but no, the closest thing is both Deedee Magno Hall (VA for Pearl) and Shelby Rabara (VA for Peridot)  have liked my tweets about my songs written about their respective characters.

J: What’s it been like being in the community? Coolest story?

L: Having Deedee Magno Hall see my work and my reaction was, “ah she thinks I did good work!” What I love about being part of the community is people seeing my songs as headcannon. And more importantly just how many people have been touched by my music; people keep messaging me saying they were at a rough point in their lives and my music helped them get through it.

J: Who would be your dream duet partner, both within the Steven Universe community and in general.

L: Deedee Magono Hall within the community, and the Youtuber Adrisaurus in general.

J: Any sneak peeks of upcoming projects?

L: Another duet is in the works, but it’s a long way down the pipeline.

J: Finally, OTP?

L: Amidot, all the way.

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You can find out more about Lizzy by following her on twitter: https://twitter.com/PrincessRizu

You can listen to all her songs on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/AnimeFairi

Tags: interview