Larissa Lam on 'Wonder Woman' and the Inspiration behind her Anthem for DC's Power Couple

I’d love to consider myself to be some great investigative reporter, who scoops big stories and has sources to provide inside information. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. That being said, through the power of social media I am occasionally presented with something so amazing I need to write about it.

Enter singer/songwriter, Larissa Lam.

She had shared her song, ‘Wonder Woman’, with me on twitter and, as a comic book nerd, I had to listen. Needless to say, I loved it so much I had to know more about the woman who used her talents to write and sing a song that references DC’s Power Couple.

"Do you ever want to be, more than what others see. Not just someone who is average and ordinary."

As I did my research I discovered, that as the only daughter of Chinese immigrants, she often struggled with her cultural identity, being born and raised in America. “When I was a kid,” Lam recalls, “the most popular girl was blond, the top models were blond and my favorite actresses were blond. My favorite movie was Grease. I wanted to be ‘Sandy’. I wanted blond hair and blue eyes but I would look in the mirror and just see plain black hair and dull brown eyes. Now as an adult, I’m proud of the unique way God made me. I’m proud of my heritage and skin color.”

It’s easy to see why she became a fan of Wonder Woman; a heroine who would remind her to be proud of who she is and ignore the ‘standards’, set by society, on what ‘beautiful’ is.

Realizing at the age of 13, when she wrote her first song, that she wanted to pursue a career in music, her journey began. Working tirelessly alongside producer, David Longoria, who has collaborated on numerous platinum-selling recordings with artists such as Sting, George Michael and De La Soul. Her fourth solo album, “Love & Discovery”, took four long years to complete; at one point she even considered giving up on it. It turned out the struggle was worth it, as the album is a wonderful compilation of EDM, Jazz and Soul. With songs that are fun and upbeat and songs that warm your heart, its uplifting and inspirational nature is a testament to her hard work and passion.

Her husband, the hip-hop artist known as ‘Only Won’, was an integral part of her most recent success. It was his love and support that helped her along the way. While the song is about the love between her and her husband, the parallel cannot be ignored. In the comic books, Wonder Woman and Superman are often seen supporting and lifting each other up, when the odds seem stacked against them. After reaching out to her, Lam was gracious enough to offer some insight on her influences, inspirations and love for comic book media, including being a Wonder Woman and Superman ‘shipper'.

Who would you say is the biggest influence on your style of music?

This is always a tough question because I’ve had so many influences and that’s reflected in the diversity in my songs. From a songwriting standpoint, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder were big influences on me. Singers that influenced me were Madonna, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys.

"Don't be afraid of the unknown, you don't have to do it all alone."

According to your Bio, you struggled with ‘self-doubt’ during the making of ‘Love and Discovery’, yet you said the experience actually made the songs better. It feels like ‘Love Me Any Way’ speaks to this. What, or who, inspired you to press onward and overcome those obstacles?

My husband has been a huge supporter of me and that song is dedicated to him. There were times when I contemplated quitting and he was always there to encourage me to keep going. A strong belief that God was watching over me also helped me keep my sanity when I felt discouraged.

In the song, ‘Wonder Woman’, you reference a relationship between two people, and all the great things they can accomplish together; using two of comic books most beloved and iconic characters. What was your inspiration behind the song ‘Wonder Woman’?

I’m gonna sound like a broken record mentioning my husband again but he was the inspiration for the “Love’ half of the album. Wonder Woman has always been my favorite superhero and my husband loves Superman. When we got together, we felt like we formed our own super team. My husband is a hip-hop artist, that goes by ‘Only Won’, and was doing music on his own before he met me. I had my career before I met him. We have the same values and goals in wanting to make a difference in the world, so this song speaks to that.

"If I was your Wonder Woman and you were my Superman, we can save this world together walking hand-in-hand."

In spite of a deep history of Lois Lane being his love interest, there is a large group of fans that are happy to see Wonder Woman and Superman in a relationship together. I’m not sure if you realized it at the time, but you may have just created an anthem for us. Can you speak to why people find their relationship so compelling?

I wrote the song about a year before the big storyline of Wonder Woman and Superman getting together, so I was definitely one of those shippers. I think they are a great match because they both have strong powers and they have a nobility to them. They fight for truth and justice. They feel that calling was given to them because of who they are, not because they had some traumatic event happen or got exposed to some alien material. No offense to Lois Lane, but Wonder Woman is more in the same league as Superman. Lois is just a mere mortal. Wonder Woman can go toe-to-toe with Superman, which also causes friction but that’s what makes their pairing so interesting.

So you have a song with superhero references, you enjoy watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and (because I’m a total nerd) even your name Larissa Lam has the L.L. initials that seem to follow Superman books around (Lana Lang, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor etc). So, I have to ask, how big of a nerd are you?

I’ve actually thought about how ‘LL’ is prominent in Superman’s life. I like to say I’m a closet nerd. I’m probably a bigger nerd than I would admit because I do watch and consume a lot of comic book media, compared to your average person. However, I’m don’t know every single fact about every character’s backstory. I would probably be a bigger nerd if I had more time to watch and read everything. I still haven’t had a chance to watch Arrow and Flash. I am looking forward to Batman v Superman and hope it’s good.

You have a few more stops on your current tour. What’s next? Do you have any new projects our readers should know about?

I’m heading to NYC and Boston in October to do some shows. I’ll be announcing some of those soon. I’ll continue touring in Nov/Dec and next year. Besides my album, I’m hosting a new radio show and podcast called UTalk Radio. It’s a call-in advice and pop culture discussion show. We help people with their problems, whether it’s relationship issues or more serious things, like suicidal thoughts. I also directed a documentary short film called, “Finding Cleveland”, that’s about the early Chinese in Mississippi. We’ll be doing screenings and discussions on that film as part of my tour stops.

Thank you so much for your time and I wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors.

Thank you!

'Wonder Woman' and the rest of her album, LOVE & DISCOVERY, is available on itunes, Amazon and all digital platforms. You can learn more about Larissa Lam and stay up-to-date with her latest projects by visiting her website.