“We made a handwritten tab book. I wanted to make some sort of DIY zine, and I had all these guitar solos from the EP that people were asking about”: Musical polymath Luna Li on blending harps with Fender Jaguars – and the art of arrangement

Luna Li – real name Hannah Bussiere Kim – made a name for herself during lockdown with her viral video compilations, in which the guitarist played an impressive range of instruments, from an ethereal harp to her go-to J Mascis Squier Jazzmaster. The resulting Jams EP has amassed over 50 million plays on Spotify.

As the 28-year-old musician reflects, those jams have taken her to places she never dreamed she’d go. Her sophomore release leans on equally ambitious contemporaries like Weyes Blood and Melody’s Echo Chamber. As a result, When A Thought Grows Wings features enchanting scores of tender strings and wistful woodwinds.

The production polymath opens up about collaborating with 19-year-old wunderkind Monsune, crafting transitional performance arcs, and what she believes music is for.

You’re fresh from completing a two-month US tour. Talk us through the gear that you take on the road, including that new Vintera II ‘70s Jaguar.

“We had much more gear than we normally would have. I had the harp and a new stand that allows me to play it standing up. I got a new violin with five strings, so an extra low Viola C.

“It’s nice to have access to that low range. I started learning flute in January of this year. I was excited about trying it out after we had an amazing flute and woodwinds player play on my record.

“We have a few guitars on stage now. I have an acoustic – which I’d never played in a live band setting. It’s by Art and Lutherie, a Canadian company. I was in the Folk Music Center in Claremont, outside of LA, and picked it up. It’s a nice, small parlour guitar.

“I chose an acoustic on the smaller side because I wanted something laying around the house that would be easy to pick up and play. It also had a Fishman pickup so I knew it’d be ready to play live. I’m lucky to have a great front-of-house, Niki, who helped dial in the tone, and the only challenge was remembering to change the battery often enough!

“I received the Vintera Jag from my partnership with Fender. I’ve always loved offset guitars and I thought the Jaguar would be a nice complement to my J Mascis Jazzmaster. I love the Vintera’s black with the tortoise shell pickguard.”

A few years back you spoke about the difficulties in keeping your sound consistent onstage as an opening act. For headline dates, how do you achieve the right tones to perform the new songs live?

“I was lucky on this tour to work with a musical director for the first time. Sarah Hinez played keys in my band before but is an MD as her main gig. I was feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought of putting everything we recorded into a live setting and achieving that with four players.

“She did a great job of figuring out the arrangements with me. We would spend afternoons at her studio, figuring out how we wanted everything to be achieved live, including a great arc with transitions.

“We also had a week of rehearsals before we went, which we’ve never done on that level before. Having Sarah there to rehearse with us and workshop everything was helpful.”

You collaborated with composer and engineer Andrew Lappin on When A Thought Grows Wings, who explained that you came up with some clear-cut goals for this album – specifically, exploring more idiosyncratic chord progressions and expansive sounds. How did that present itself in the studio?

“I wanted to challenge myself to build something that could feel full but not too dense arrangement-wise. In the past I’ve been guilty of layering and adding more and more, even when we already have so much in the mid-range. With Andrew, we were able to dial into the tone, so that even with three elements, it would feel full.

“The Jams EP was very loop-based. I wanted to let the progressions go as far as they could, instead of keeping a two-chord loop. I was like, ‘Okay, how can we modulate this? How can we create an interesting key change going into the bridge, or skating through a few different keys throughout the song?’”

You also worked with Canadian synthpop musician Monsune (SZA & Drake) What did that collaboration look like?

“We first connected through the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, who set up virtual artist sessions while we were all in lockdown. We clicked in terms of our references having both been a part of the Toronto music scene.

Luna Li – That’s Life (Official Music Video) – YouTube

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“I’ve been a fan of Scott’s music for a while. With every idea he had I was blown away. Scott was like the Toronto sessions, and Andrew was the LA sessions – it was nice to have a little bit of both cities as a part of this record.”

When you release the Jams EP you accompanied it with a 22-page booklet containing handwritten tabs, sheet music and illustrations. What was the motivation?

“I wanted to make some sort of DIY zine, and I had all these guitar solos from the EP that people were asking about. I used to be a music teacher so I’ve done a lot of figuring out songs to teach to my students.

“I got my bassist and best friend Sabrina to illustrate it. She’s an amazing visual artist. We wanted it to have a handwritten, personal feel. It took a while, but I did it when I had Covid and I was stuck in my house.”

In one of the Fender PlayerSeries videos you say: “Everyone and anyone should try playing an instrument – it’s never too late.” Given your breadth of skills across multiple instruments, where would you recommend someone start?

“What gets me through the struggles of starting something new is having a sense of community or having a friend help me. If you’re learning a new instrument, if it’s accessible to you, taking some lessons keeps you accountable every week. They can check in with you and give you one-on-one advice.

“If that’s not accessible, even finding a friend who plays music, to jam and learn songs together, is special. There’s something so beautiful about sharing music and playing music with a friend. More people should be doing music for fun. It’s something that should be for everybody.”

• When A Thought Grows Wings is out now.