Life & Work with Lydia von Hof

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lydia von Hof.

Hi Lydia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I’ve been a music fanatic all my life. It began with the help of my grandmother. She lived in Ohio, and I lived in New York. I ADORED being able to visit her because she had two beautiful pianos in her house, and she and I would sit at them for hours coming up with little melodies. Unfortunately, she passed away from breast cancer when I was six. Before she died, she had made arrangements for her pianos to be sent over to my house all the way in New York and pleaded to my mom that I begin piano lessons.

As she wished, I started piano lessons when I was 6 from a teacher in my neighborhood named Robin. Learning piano enabled me to start composing when I was 10. I came up with melodies, much like I did with my grandmother, and Robin would help me put them to paper. I composed classically (for both piano and viola) until I was about 16, and that’s when I started diving into the world of lyrics! I had always had a love for words and poetry but never felt assured enough that I could produce my own in a non-clunky and non-cliche way. But alas! I ventured on to write songs little by little! And that has brought me a whole world and a half of joy.

It was hands down my most favorite thing I had done with music my entire life. Around 16 is when I also started to play out, singing and playing for restaurants, cafes, pubs, and bars every once in a while. It’s also around this time I began to enter music competitions which have provided me with unforgettable performances such as singing at a Knicks halftime show at Madison Square Garden, playing originals at The Hard Rock Cafe in Boston, and playing sets at The Bitter End in NYC.

It’s hardly ever been a question if I would pursue music as a career or not, but I never knew what field within the music I would go into. When it came time to go to college, I went to the Crane School of Music to study music education and classical music performance. While my roots were in the classical. The music genre and while I have an immense appreciation for it, I found that I wasn’t passionate about going into it as a career, and eventually, I felt the same way about music education. I switched my major over to Music Business as a last resort and fell in love with it. It refueled my love for music and provided me with the tools and knowledge to do what I love.

Eventually, I decided to look onward towards other schools, to see if I could further tailor my education to fit my passion, and that’s when I found Belmont University in Nashville. Belmont offers an impressive songwriting major, and I thought it was just the wildest thing that I could turn my most beloved hobby into my area of study, so I went for it. I moved down to Nashville in August of 2021, and it’s been a wee bit overwhelming to be surrounded by such a wonderful flood of musicians, and I had my fair share of imposter syndrome the first couple of weeks.

But, what I’ve come to realize is no musician, nor human, I’ve met down here is the same. Every artist has something so incredibly unique and significant to bring to the table. I’ve been so fortunate to get to hear so many different sounds of Nashville, and I’m SO looking forward to bringing my own sound to life!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has HARDLY been a smooth road, but what is the fun in a smooth road anyhow!

I’ve certainly struggled with confidence which can be attributed to struggling big time with body image and eating disorders for the majority of my life. They’ve done their very best to get in the way of my creativity, compassion, and confidence. I grew up facing harsh bullying for the way I looked, and that can hush a kid for a good amount of time. I felt I wasn’t worthy of taking up space, and never ever dreamed of putting myself out there.

I’m oh so thankful for the music program within my grade school because that’s where I made the vast majority of my friends and my sense of self. Feeling like I belonged somewhere was crucial to bettering myself as a musician because it’s rather hard to perform when you feel like you aren’t worthy of taking up space. But having a sense of community surrounding my very favorite thing in the world was not only magical but a lifesaver.

When I got to college, I developed anorexia and endured a lot of physical and mental difficulties that hindered my music and my sense of self. It spiraled for about two years and got to the point where I needed to recover in order to stay alive. I’m proud to say that I am ten months in recovery from my eating disorder, and slowly relearning an intuitive relationship with food and body image.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a songwriter, a singer, a pianist/guitarist, and a producer!

I’ve been writing songs for four years now, and have rounded up a catalog of 60 original tunes. I’m from Long Island, and when I’m home from school, I play three-hour shows about four times a week at restaurants, pubs, cafes, beaches, and bars!

I’m perhaps most proud of my lyrics. In recent years, I’ve gotten hooked on poetry (Emily Dickenson and Robert McAlmon are personal faves). I have a deeper love for words than ever, and I’d like to believe my music reflects that somewhat.

I’m also pretty proud of my production journey thus far (while it’s still a bit new). Over the 2020 quarantine, I opened up Garageband for the first time and started diving into production. Now, a little over a year later, I use Logic Pro about every day, finding ways to embellish my music.

I finish up tunes, and immediately put them to work in my DAW, producing demos of them, that way when I find people to work with, I have an idea of what I want them to sound like.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
It might sound rather a cliche, but everybody has something different to bring to the table. Even if two songwriters experienced the exact same experience, they still wouldn’t write about it the same. Your lens is just as important as the lens of your favorite songwriter, so do not hesitate to share it!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.lydiavonhof.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lydiavonhof/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LydiavonHofMusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu8F9BOUuUEeQh6JR8uYTjg
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lydia-von-hof
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lydiavonhof

Image Credits
Nicole Christine, Rapp Nick Jackson, and Gary von Hof