Lydia Ainsworth

Tell me a little about yourself.

‘I’m a composer for film and multimedia projects, but over the past couple of years I’ve been writing songs and I’m getting ready to release them now. I’ve been working on the production of my work and doing small shows and not telling anyone about them, it’s exciting to see my work come to life like that. I’ve spent so long writing these songs and not sharing them with people, so now I’m exposing them to complete strangers and getting so much positive feedback.’ 

Photo: Chloe Ellingson

What else do you have in the pipeline?

‘I’m getting ready to release my album this summer, and I’m also going to release my first music video, which was directed by my close friend and collaborator, Matthew Lessner. It features dancers who are waacking, a disco street dance from 1970s LA. Ask about Vimeo video with self-devouring burgers. That’s a video by my friend Sarah Cwynar who makes symmetrical collages of many different things, including food. She asked me to make the music for the video and so I ended up recording myself eating loads of carrots and apples, which was a lot of fun.’

That sounds pretty unique.

‘I am really interested in making sure all my sounds come from me. I made the music for this film called The Woods for which I used sounds that related to scenes from the film. There was a scene in which there were modern day amenities in a forest, dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves and TVs. So I recorded all the appliances in my kitchen and made a collage of sounds out of them for that film.’

Where do you go to relax and escape from everything?

‘I love walking over the Williamsburg Bridge during the day, it’s so beautiful to see the city from there. It’s a meditative process to walk from my place to the Lower East Side, see the water and the array of people that walk across the bridge.’

And what about music, does that relax you?

‘Amazing music transports me to higher levels of consciousness and the same can be said for amazing food. My sister made a Valencia orange cake for me once. It’s so out of this world beautiful, very light but rich at the same time. I have many allergies, so all my friends and family love coming up with recipes that I can eat, they think it’s a fun challenge. I guess that can relate to how I approach music too. When you set limitations on yourself you can really progress creatively and inspiration can truly blossom.’

Photo: Carlijn Potma

Valencia Orange Cake

Ingredients:

2 organic Valencia oranges
4 eggs
¾ cup of honey
2 cups blanched almond flour
1tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
a handful of slivered almonds

Method:

• Place the two oranges in a large pot of cold water. Simmer them for about a 1½–2 hours under a lid until they are so soft that you can easily pierce them with a fork. Drain them and set aside to cool.

• Slice the oranges into wedges and deseed them. Put the orange wedges into a food processor and blend them until they turn into a smooth orange paste.

• Preheat your oven to 160C.

• Separate your egg yolks from your whites. In one bowl, whip the egg whites until they turn into stiff white clouds.

• In another bowl, beat the yolks, honey, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the almond flour and stir until smooth. Fold in the orange paste. Finally, very gently fold in the beaten egg whites.

• Pour your cake mix into a buttered pan, sprinkle the slivered almonds on top and bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

• Serve with homemade strawberry and mango sorbet.