Female-led band, Lilieae, released their third EP, “Pretend & Dare,” on Oct. 13 with a masquerade-themed release show at The Winchester in Lakewood.   

The audience and band members were hidden by masks and masquerade attire to match the theme. The night featured a costume contest, giving the winner the honor of going home with an official award from Lilieae themselves. Fawx and Toro were the openers, setting the mood with their Midwest punk vibe.   

Lilieae opened with songs from their previous albums, ending the first set with “Siren,” a song fit for Friday the 13th. The next set, after the costume contest, was dedicated to songs from the new EP, including “This Could Be So Sweet,” the song featured on their first ever music video release.  

Lydia Puccini, vocalist and Baldwin Wallace University alumna and bassist Kayleigh Hyland form the foundations of Lilieae. Guitarists Eric Kennedy and Donald Pelc, along with drummer Joe Stefano, officially joined the band after the release of their first EP, “Level,” in 2019.   

Hyland and Puccini went to high school together but reunited later in life through a mutual friend while Puccini was scouting members to form an all-female band. Although member changes have resulted in a loss of the all-female aspect, Hyland and Puccini have remained the frontwomen throughout the ups and downs of creating a band.   

Hyland, originally a guitarist, started writing bass parts while in Lilieae.   

“I didn’t even start bass for real until this band. Bass was not my main thing,” Hyland said. “I just kind of messed around. So the things I wrote when we started, I couldn’t actually play.”   

Collectively, they found their footing in 2020, just to have the rug pulled from under their feet by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after their second EP, “RUN! RUN! RUN!,” in 2021, they began to work on “Pretend & Dare.”   

“Being a band that’s been around for a couple of years, I feel like we’re always kind of working on something, no matter what that is, so it just seemed natural after we finished our last EP to start another one,” Puccini said. “We already had a couple songs we were playing and working on and kind of adding to it and getting it all together.”    

Although the band brings their own individual flair and inspirations into their work, Puccini said she admits they are united by metal. Puccini said they are also not impacted by the boundaries of having to create a certain style of sound or to reach a specific number of songs on their albums.     

“We don’t really write to be like, oh we have to write this many songs, you know? It’s kind of just as inspiration comes,” Hyland said. “But I’m also not gonna force something. We’re quality over quantity.”   

Puccini said that BW has always been an important factor in Puccini’s life. The BW radio station, WBWC-FM, had been a staple for a young Puccini, making her excited to attend the school when she was old enough.   

Puccini’s story has come full circle, from being inspired to attend Baldwin Wallace by listening to WBWC-FM to Lilieae now being a part of the regular rotation on the air.    

“It’s nice to know that even years past graduation, the school that I went to still supports what I’m doing,” Puccini said. “And I love that they support our band and play it. I get so happy when I turn it on and I hear our music.”