Liz Nistico leads the solo project Revenge Wife. After a successful solo career and eight years with HOLYCHILD, Nistico continues to push boundaries with Revenge Wife. With her highly personal music releases, such as Wishing You Away, Carmelo, and Bathroom Bitch under the banner of HOLYCHILD; it is clear she advances feminism in pop culture.
Her skill set as an artist was also enriched when she directed all the music videos, signed with Glassnote Records, toured the world, and played multiple festivals (Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, ACL, FujiRock). It’s only a matter of time before her solo project takes off. Nistico also co-wrote the song “Xanax Damage” for Future (yes, she co-wrote it) and helped other artists make their videos. While she has received a number of accolades, she is showing continued growth as a female artist. Always evolving and honing her craft she’s moving into completely uncharted waters as a songwriter, director, performer, and singer.
Revenge Wife has announced the release of her debut album in Fall 2023 and with it, the self-directed music video for their lead single “Fantasy Girl”, which will be released on May 23rd.
www.instagram.com/revengewife
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Read Liz’s interview with KALTBLUT magazine to learn more about the creative process that went into creating her retro-inspired single “Fantasy Girl” and what else she had to say about her life. With nothing more to add, I leave you with the results.
HI LIZ! WELCOME AND THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. THERE IS SOMETHING VERY QUIRKY ABOUT THE NAME “REVENGE WIFE”. WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND IT?
RW: I first heard my friend use the term Revenge Wife and I knew in 2016 that I wanted it to be the name of my solo project. The name actually came before the music. To me, the best form of revenge is self-growth so I really use the project as a way to propel myself forward, especially in the face of any obstacles I had.
TELL US A BIT ABOUT WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE A MUSICAL CAREER. ANY PARTICULAR STORIES FROM YOUR YOUTH?
RW: I feel like art chose me. I definitely had a tumultuous youth, and art was always my escape. I actually grew up dancing and writing, so when I finally started writing music in about 2011 it felt really natural. I just moved to Brooklyn from LA and I have a different relationship with art now, now it’s self-expression and self-growth and it acts as a mirror to my experiences.
AS A HOLYCHILD MEMBER, WHAT MADE YOU FLY SOLO? DID YOU WANT TO EXPERIMENT MORE WITH YOUR SOUND?
RW: I did HOLYCHILD for 8 years and I’m really grateful for my experience with that project but the time just came when we knew we needed to do our own things. Yeah, I was evolving into a new sound and I think I wanted to have something that was only mine. There’s a part of the music industry that is very male-dominated and I wanted to prove to that misogynist world that I could create the world of Revenge Wife. Maybe as a way to prove it to myself, too. I’m still working on it.
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING SINGLE “FANTASY GIRL”. TELL US ABOUT WHAT TOOK PLACE BEHIND THE SCENES IN MAKING THIS SONG.
RW: I wrote Fantasy Girl with Robert PM and Deidre Muro, we wanted to make an ABBA-Italodisco song and they really get my vintage inspiration so I was really grateful to work with them. Fantasy Girl is essentially about this idea that someone might be so erroneously living in a fantasy that he can’t accept when his partner is a real, multi-dimensional, person. It’s rooted in the idea that women have an obligation to be pretty. So the song is coming from the point of view of a relationship and the woman is saying how she’ll have to leave now because they’re getting too close and he won’t be able to handle her if she’s real.
WHILE YOU WERE WITH HOLYCHILD, YOU PROMOTED FEMINISM. DO YOU STILL DO IT THE SAME WAY?
RW: Of course. The concept of Fantasy Girl is super feminist, and I would argue that any woman who is in the music industry is inherently promoting feminism. But, I have definitely evolved in the way I explain things. I used to be very simplistic because I didn’t think people would be able to understand what I was explaining. Now there’s a baseline of feminism and I like to play with my concepts starting from that understood place.
I PERSONALLY LOVE YOUR RETRO-INSPIRED SOUND. ABBA IMMEDIATELY CAME TO MY MIND WHEN LISTENING TO “FANTASY GIRL”. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE SONG? MINE IS “DANCING QUEEN” (YES, I KNOW, I’M KINDA CORNY).
RW: I love ABBA, of course!!!! They are an all-time fave. My dad used to play them on road trips. I’m pretty obsessed with the album Voulez-Vous in its entirety.
I SEE YOU’VE DIRECTED SEVERAL MUSIC VIDEOS. WHAT ABOUT THAT ONE FOR “FANTASY GIRL”? I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR VISUAL SIDE OF THINGS.
RW: Yeah, at this point I’ve directed over 60 music videos, for myself and other artists. Of course, I directed the music video for Fantasy Girl. It’s me on the beach peeling and then eating an orange for 3 minutes haha. All the music videos for Revenge Wife are episodic, so even though it stands alone, it is adding to the story of all the previous videos.
WELL, THAT’S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE FOR TODAY. ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD? MAYBE SOMETHING FOR YOUR FANS OR A SNEAK PEEK AT YOUR NEXT PROJECT? THANKS AGAIN FOR BEING WITH US!
RW: I love musicccc and I’m so grateful to anyone who is supporting me on this journey! It seriously means so much to me. I’m releasing more and more music this year! Can’t wait for you to hear it, thanks for having me!
www.instagram.com/revengewife
found.ee/n7f11v
Feature image by @peggyshootsfilm
@elizabethshevelev
@kylebrown.mua
