Lisa Conway, aka L CON, is so fascinated with the celestial void she decided to write an entire album about it. Based on a collection of science fiction stories, Moon Milk (out October 7) was composed in a derelict music hall in Eastern Canada.

L CON has always walked an unconventional path; we chatted about her career thus far, and what it’s like to capture soundscapes for a living.

SDTC: Can you walk us through a typical day in your life?

My days really tend to vary. I typically try to get up around 8 am and go for a quick run down the gravel road we live on, usually to the river and back. I then have a shower, drink some coffee, and tackle some emails.

I find setting studio “office hours” for myself is very important in order to accomplish everything I need to, especially when working under a deadline. I make a lot of lists, often with an extensive overview/outline of the work required for specific projects, and a rough daily schedule. My partner Andrew and I very recently set up a studio in the woods north of the city, and we are lucky to be able to make sound at any hour. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a separate studio space from my living space, and I really try and spend as much time in there as I can.

Studio breaks to rest your ears are important! Sneaking in a moment to cuddle with our cats, go for a walk, pull things out of the garden, or make something with my hands (a collage, a sandwich, whatever!) greatly improves my creative productivity and efficiency.

To help pay the bills, I serve delicious food to people at a cozy little Mexican restaurant. I eat tacos on a very regular basis.

No matter what my day involves, I really try and make an effort to set aside time to listen to something (usually a vinyl LP bargain garage sale find), learn something, read something, or watch something.

You’ve composed music for an app that was used as the audio companion to a guided tour of Mississauga. What was your process for how that came about?

Sauga 2030 is an iPhone app that was created by an art/design collective called the Department of Unusual Certainties – friends of mine – as part of an exhibit mounted at the Art Gallery of Mississauga in 2011. It is an audio driving tour that imagines Mississauga in 2030, and involves site-specific narrative vignettes and soundscapes, each pinned to a specific GPS point. I was asked to create soundscapes and ambient pieces for the app, as well as do the recording of the actors, editing, and sound design. I did a day of field recording at sites throughout Mississauga to collect the sounds for the soundscapes, and then digitally manipulated and processed them to create a series of ambient compositions.

All of the actors were recorded in the midst of a Toronto heat wave in my third-floor un-airconditioned room at the time, so all in all, I’m pretty happy that it turned out.

What is your favourite aspect of composing music for film and dance?

I love the challenge ! With every collaboration I grow and learn, and I get pushed into realms I would have never explored on my own. When the chemistry is right, it’s pretty extraordinary what magic people from different artistic disciplines working together can create.

This year I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with a children’s choir, made a piece in a silo out of the sounds of grain, and written custom songs for other people to sing. It’s been great.

How would you describe Moon Milk? What was going on in your life that influenced how this album came about?

Moon Milk is a record based on a collection of science fiction stories by Italo Calvino called The Cosmicomics. The songs were written in a haunted derelict music hall in Sackville, New Brunswick, during my stint as the Sappyfest Songwriter-in-Residence in 2013, re-worked and re-visited between my thesis work at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) in Northern Ireland, and recorded in an old renovated tin shop, a church, and farm outbuildings in Southern Ontario.

Calvino’s stories are simultaneously futuristic and nostalgic, otherworldly yet human, which was something I found very intriguing to explore both compositionally and sonically. Though the songs reside in a hypothetical and celestial world, I think there is an audible humanness and sincerity captured in these recordings, which was the overarching intention throughout this process.

What is the best piece of career advice you can give?

Be true to yourself, hone your craft, and be brave. Be humble and kind, and try and channel your frustrations into motivation. Support your community.