All life is performance. We construct social identities and linger idly within that rigid, impenetrable realm of self-construction. But is all performance inauthentic? What is the breaking point at which we allow these concepts of ourselves to dissolve? To LA-based musician Liz Nistico–who performs under the moniker Revenge Wife–these social identities are penetrable, malleable, and often live in the grey area between performance and authenticity. Nistico has just released her album Alien Witch under her solo project, Revenge Wife, her debut project since leaving pop duo HOLYCHILD. With Alien Witch, Nistico makes it clear that performance can be an extension of the self rather than a detachment from it—a pure mode of expression that adapts in alignment with our own fluidity. 

“I am Revenge Wife. But don’t get it twisted, I’m pure love energy. Revenge? What is it? To me.. it’s feminine rage,” says Nistico. To her, anger is the impetus, the surface to corrode in order to find freedom in the murkiness of emotional ambiguity. “I don’t know how to be angry, and I am learning, and I am trying. And sometimes I do feel rage, and it empowers action, and my action is my art and commitment to myself.” The album is not just a surface-level depiction of anger but a call to locate beauty in the ugliness of rage: “I used to want to connect with a different group of people, people who understood the darkness of humanity, but now I want to meet people who understand the beauty.” 

Though Alien Witch marks Revenge Wife’s debut, Nistico is far from a novice. Enduring an almost 8-year-long stretch with her former musical project HOLYCHILD, she has also written songs for music titans like Future and directed music videos for artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Kate Nash. To Nistico, Revenge Wife is the link between her abundant past and her newfound artistic license. “HOLYCHILD went viral with a sex song I had written, and I sang (Bathroom Bitch), and the song belonged to everyone else but me […] I was trying to bridge the gap,” she says. “I followed my dreams, literally, asking my dreams for guidance and doing what they say. So... my intention here, it’s really just to connect with people who get all of this.” 

To celebrate the album, Revenge Wife will host an album release party on October 7th at Nightclub 101 in New York City. We spoke with Nistico in anticipation of the album, and she talked about the project, this formative phase of her career, astrology, and evolving identities.

Alien Witch is the world’s introduction to Revenge Wife. How do you want yourself to be understood under this moniker? Does this intention differ from that of previous projects?

Hey, nice to meet you. I am Revenge Wife. But don’t get it twisted, I’m pure love energy. Revenge? What is it? To me.. It’s feminine rage. I have a complicated relationship with anger. I grew up in a home of DV.. I’m a survivor of domestic violence, and I don’t know how to be angry, and I am learning, and I am trying. And sometimes I do feel rage, and it empowers action, and my action is my art and commitment to myself. And it’s been a long journey for me; I’m 37 now. And I’ve watched my past die. Revenge Wife is my solo project. After years of being HOLYCHILD, I moved on from that project because I wanted to know myself. I don’t really remember the reasoning I had, but I am grateful that I continued trusting my past self enough to push myself along. Then last year HOLYCHILD went viral with a sex song I had written and sang (Bathroom Bitch), and the song belonged to everyone else but me. Was it me anymore anyway? I’m not making sex songs now; I don’t even know if you can call this pop. Then I was trying to bridge the gap, like, hey, people, that’s me! But then what’s the point? and is the need to be recognized ego? I moved to the suburbs; I got into horseback riding again. I let time slow down. I followed my dreams, literally, asking my dreams for guidance and doing what they say. So... my intention here is really just to connect with people who get all of this. I am inspired by Mother Theresa; they said she emanated love energy, and her loving energy could heal people. I am studying Reiki. I went to Italy to write some of this album; I put so much healing energy into the music, because otherwise what are we doing here? I like people who are present and curious, and those are the people I want to connect with. Does this intention differ from previous projects? Honestly, no. I’ve always been an art-first girl; I’ve always been a vessel (like we all are). But now I am open with it and I don’t want to explain my pain in order to make people feel comfortable with my expansion, so I’m looking to connect with people who are also expanding, who are also in love energy.. and then on that hand yeah, I do have a different intention. Because I used to want to connect with a different group of people, people who understood the darkness of humanity, but now I want to meet people who understand the beauty.  

You describe the album as “long-form art,” encouraging everyone to “lock in” for the duration of its runtime. In an age of short attention spans and endless distraction, what emboldened you to challenge your listeners in this way?

I went to dinner with Esther Perel in Paris, along with her husband and 4 other friends. The six of us were in a little booth, and we all got to talking. Sharing the same thoughts, how relationships are so different now because of our phones. I think Esther is a truth-speaker for our culture, and that’s why she resonates so much. We all say,

“yes.. I agree.

I realized I come to the same conclusions as her. Don’t we all? We all watch videos online, come to a thought conclusion, and file that away in our mental resume of original thoughts that we have had. But then I realized that is not action.

So I got back to the States, and I kept my phone away. I became obsessed with disciplined action. Am I actually creating? Or does social media make me think that I am? 

I’m really not trying to connect with the masses, just people who are on my wavelength. Other people who feel fatigued by their phones, fatigued by the onslaught of advertisements. Tired of the fact that Free Will is literally being controlled by which algorithm you happen to tap into. So, yeah, I like challenging art, and I wanted to make something that was so thought out and so layered and so complete. I just wanted to give a gift to the people who want it. 

‍Describe the ideal listening environment for Alien Witch”? What emotional response do you hope to evoke? 

I really just want the most connected experience for people. You can listen on your own, in a car; you can listen in a club so loud; you can listen at my concert, with the drums pushing us together. But I do not want distraction involved, please. Please take time for yourself, because we need it, and put the phone away, and be present with the work, and let it wash over you, and then the next day, let it encourage you. 

It’s before the album release when I’m writing this, Aug 17, so I can’t tell you how few people have heard this.. I’ve been so scared about it haha. I have not shown anyone really, so I don’t know what people will feel, and I don’t have a response in mind! I hope people can just see the commitment I’ve made to this album; that feels very powerful. Commitment to crafting the songs, and then crafting the production and crafting the visual world. 

The album’s twelve tracks each embody a different astrological sign. How did your opinions of these archetypes change in the process of giving them sonic shapes?

I started to understand the concept of opposition when I was diving into the songs and their respective zodiac signs. Something is both what it is and what it is not. In order to have beauty, there has to be ugliness. This informed the zodiac pairings to the songs. It was easy to fit them in; they slipped into their signs so naturally. Inevitable Discomfort could only be Virgo. Bermuda Triangle could only be Pisces. Whether you agree with astrology or not, these are the modern archetypes that we have. My cynical side says our culture is stripped of morality and spirituality, but then I see us trying to understand ourselves and our relationships with the zodiac, with archetypes. 

You’ve mentioned that this album is your most personal project to date. Are there specific moments in the tracklist where your vulnerability is especially evident? 

Yeah, there’s a lot of vulnerability on the album. I mean, I wrote it all and produced it myself; that in and of itself is vulnerable. It’s vulnerable to do something alone. My voice is so vulnerable; physically, I’m singing in new ways all over the record. There are so many vulnerable lyrics here are a bunch:

“When will I be discovered?” 

“I wonder which angels are watching me suffer”

“Why did you leave me to die?”

“The snow came down in winter, when they put him in the ground, and she acted like big sister sometimes life just turns around.”

“I don’t want anybody else”

“What if the fear that I hold for tomorrow is actually planted today?”

“I thought that I could beat it, I could be a survivor. Watch a million people do the thing I think I want.”

“Someday soon you won’t remember how this started. You’ll be removed from you, just like you wanted”

“Giving up is just Surrender undercover, masking as Shame and then harden to Guilt, then their cousin, Comparison, introduces Regret.”

“Why should being here feel so much like a burden? If not for this struggle would I be certain of who I am? Of what I want? Of what I think about you?”

Alien Witch proposes the idea that “it’s not our fault”. Whose fault is it? Are the stars to blame?

I think the fault goes back farther than we realize. Truly, I think it’s in our language, in the way we think, in the structure of our society, in the way we let government betray the people, in the way we let our phones betray ourselves. I do think we can change, but it takes discipline. The last song on the album is an 11 min 11 second short story that I wrote, which encapsulates the themes of the album. Here is some of that:

“This love between us is not rare. It is open…. When we make love, and you wonder if I’m somewhere else. I am not, but you are. The only way to change the course of humanity is to start anew. A new economic structure supported by a new spiritual structure supported by new language, supported by new ideas. This is the way we can truly change, and we can protect our earth.”

It goes back to the same concept of something being what it is and what it is not.. Linguistically, we compare to define. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if we were able to experience wholeness and uniqueness without needing to bring other factors into it? That’s what I wonder. That’s the theme of the album: total compassion for ourselves and trying to get to a place where we can touch love energy and sit in completeness. I think I’ve felt it a few times, after an Ayahuasca trip and once in a dream, and I grasp those memories where I felt love for myself. But then I’m so bombarded by everything all the time! So that’s why I needed to make this thing on my own, to write my songs by myself, to put healing energy into the whole thing, to have my shows be healing experiences. I am not fully healed, but I do think I’m on the path, and I hope to connect with other people who are curious and present.