Photos by Dylan Schattman
Julia Simms is dead. But with every ending there is a new beginning: From the dirt and dust that was left of Simms rose a new being ready to wreak havoc on rock ‘n’ roll – Lilith Czar. “I felt this longing for something more meaningful, something bigger, and something that could represent change,” says Czar. “After everything I’ve been through in my career, a lightbulb went on and I became a completely different person. I knew I wanted to completely change direction and change everything.”
After wearing her government name for 15 years, performing in bands and as a solo artist, Czar left it all behind. She knew this was a risk, but it was a change that had to happen. Many musicians or bands have changed their names over the years. Hell, Prince even became an unspeakable icon in 1993. Becoming Lilith Czar was more than a simple image change, it was a renunciation of her past and a complete rebirth in aesthetics, sound and spirit.
“Lilith is a symbol of female empowerment,” says Czar. “Across different cultures and time periods, there are all these different representations of Lilith. In Sumerian language, she is this demon that is said to screech like an owl and is a type of cannibal. While in Wiccan culture she is worshiped as this incredible goddess who represents sexual freedom.
“Then in the Bible she was created out of the same dirt and filth as Adam, and because of that she felt like his equal,” she continues. “I think this is such a powerful story and really represents what women continue to go through. The name Lilith is not just mine, it represents all women.”
While Lilith symbolizes her feminine side, she took a very different approach with her last name. She didn’t want to be a queen, empress or tsarina – instead she chose to be king. She would expand on this concept in her single “King” from her 2021 album Created From Filth and Dust. “I started writing this song in 2019 while I was on tour,” says Czar. “I’ve been on mostly male tours and over time the sexism, misogyny and submission you experience can start to weigh on you. It piles up until one day a little straw and a little remark that wouldn’t be said to a man break the pile.
“I was the only woman on that summer festival tour and a man said something to me that he wouldn’t have said if I had a dick,” she continues. “I lost it, but I didn’t cause a scene or anything. I just lost my mind in the sense that I went back to my bus and started writing “King”. The first lyrics I wrote are, “If it’s a man’s world I don’t want to be queen / If it’s a man’s world I want to be king.” And that’s where it started.”
Photo by Dylan Schattman
Czar would make King an album focused on self-liberation and uncompromising self-expression. She used this album to break away from her earlier work, not only bringing a much heavier sound to the record, but also moving away from love songs almost entirely. “Created From Filth and Dust” is about taking back the power.
“The beginning of the album actually starts with a poem, which is essentially the story of women or anyone who has ever felt ignored, down, rejected or oppressed,” says Czar. “It’s about the people in their ivory towers who are a bunch of hypocrites. The album then moves into a song called “Feed My Chaos,” which is about not being defined by one thing and being a walking dichotomy. Defined by ugliness and beauty, heaven and hell, kindness and anger – it’s a song about not letting others box you into what you want.”
Throughout the album, Czar battles various forces. In “King” she fights against patriarchy. “Anarchy” shows their rebellion against social expectations. Her songs “Lola” and “Diamonds to Dust” are about fending off forces trying to gain power over you. Throughout the album, Czar takes a stand against the music industry and the restrictions it places on it.
Czar began her career as the frontwoman for the band Automatic Loveletter and rose to fame performing on the Warped Tour Summer Circuit. Czar then branched out by participating in the second season of The Voice, which allowed her to gain a larger audience as a solo artist. And though her career was on the rise, she’s struggled for creative freedom from her record labels and hasn’t been able to make music her way — until now.
“[This album] That’s how I wanted my sound to be all along,” says Czar. “It’s my own sound as opposed to my music being designed to sound like another artist’s style of music. I would always try to say, “Can’t we create something ourselves instead of making it sound like someone else?” But I would say this record is my best yet.”
“Created From Filth and Dust” embodies who Lilith Czar is, but it wasn’t strictly a solo project. Czar worked closely with producer and songwriter Scott Stevens, who also appears on projects with Halestorm, Shinedown and In This Moment. She also covers the legendary 1982 single “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks, which follows the album’s themes of creation, death and rebirth. Then there’s “Bad Love,” which was written by Juliet Simms before she was metaphorically killed.
“‘Bad Love’ was included on the record because that song was written early in the making of ‘Created From Filth and Dust,'” she continues. “That song and ‘Burn With Me’ are probably the two songs that stand out the most on the album. They don’t quite fit the rest of the record sonically, but I felt like they had to be put there because they were the hit that lit the match.”
Photo by Dylan Schattman
Created From Filth and Dust was released on April 23, 2021 and over the past year she has been promoting it through music videos and supporting Halestorm and The Pretty Reckless on their 2022 summer tour. In that time her fans have been able to appreciate the 12 tracks on the album and now she has new music on the horizon.
“I’m trying to release a deluxe version of the album this year,” says Czar. “A few more will have moved out [down] Songs on the more vulnerable side but they are powerful in tone and lyrics. One of the songs is called “Break My Spirit” and it’s about a person who will remain nameless and with whom I was involved professionally. I tell them to fuck off and they won’t break this girl. It felt good to put this song down on paper.
“There’s another song called ‘Twilight’ that my fans have been asking me to release for years and I’m praying I can get it on the deluxe version,” she continues. “It’s a song about getting older and asking, ‘Will you still love me in the twilight of my days?’ It speaks to the normalization of aging and the way we are all aging at the same time. But it’s also a song about loving each other despite all the mistakes that life throws at you.”
Czar plans to have the deluxe version of Created From Filth and Dust ready by the end of the year. In the meantime, she devotes her time to expanding her tattoo collection. She has been getting tattoos for years and over time her tastes have changed quite a bit. Lately, collecting tattoos has been a means to further morph from Juliet Simms into Lilith Czar. “I got my record ‘Created From Filth and Dust’ tattooed here,” says Czar, pointing to the script on the side of her forearm. “I also have a devil angel with a snake representing a fallen angel. Then there is my Sacred Heart with the rose traditionally associated with Lilith. I also have the name ‘Lilith’ tattooed on the back of my leg and I have plans to eventually get an anime version of what Lilith traditionally looks like.”
Although Czar has been tattooing since her early days, she has increased the frequency with which she has been tattooed in recent years. This can largely be attributed to her overall embrace of her authentic self. “Tattoos are so much more fun when they’re meaningful,” says Czar. “It’s almost like it doesn’t matter if they’re perfectly made, the meaning is what matters most. In the last couple of years I got almost 18 tattoos. I have all these ideas and things that are important to me or that I’ve always wanted. Now I’ll just do it.”
With the birth of new body art comes the inevitable death of tattoos that no longer serve Czar. “I’m in the process of hosing off some tattoos,” says Czar. “I’m getting rid of this one (points to the bird silhouette on the forearm) that I got when I was 19 – it was just a bad decision. I was on tour, totally drunk, and the guy who tattooed me was totally drunk. Then I was in the sun every day and it healed terribly. I want to start half a sleeve above and am in the process of making room.”
It might seem like Lilith Czar has changed everything about herself – from her name to her music to her tattoos. Before Czar had the ability to speak her truth, or even establish the spiritual connection with Adam’s first wife, a fire began to build within her. She knew she was destined for great things, and with her newfound purpose, Lilith Czar’s reign has only just begun.