Lindsey Stirling creates new worlds with her fiddle and faith

A classical violinist at the top of the pop charts? You might question it if it were another musician. But not Lindsey Stirling. The 37-year-old musician, who spent some of her childhood years living in Gilbert, has talents that span acting, dancing and comic book writing. There's not much she can't do — and do well.

She won the Billboard Music Award award for Top Dance/Electronic album with her second album, “Shattered Me,” and has have been dominating the charts since. She'll be taking the stage in Phoenix at the Footprint Center on Monday to promote her seventh and most recent release, "Duality," as part of an international tour.

But early violin lessons, starting at age 5, didn't start out smoothly

“I remember it being very uncomfortable, and I tried to tell my teacher, ‘my wrist doesn’t bend that way,’” Stirling tells Phoenix New Times.

The artist didn’t let her untrained hand positioning stop her. She persevered, and found inspiration in the ethereal electronica of '80s pop music. She cites Limahl’s “Never Ending Story” as a catalyst for her interest in mixing classical and dance music.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve always loved to entertain people,” she says. “Whether it was telling a funny joke or putting on a talent show with friends. I started writing music not to write hits, or to be famous, but the end goal was always to write music so I could go on tour and do shows."

Stirling wanted to create an immersive world for her audience and take them on a journey away from reality to a magical world she created from beginning to end. "I love the whole process. I love planning the show, thinking of the creative ideas, the costumes, and learning the dances. It is so exciting to then be on stage and, what took months and months to plan, I see their eyes light up as they experience it for the first time," she shares.

While on stage, Stirling says she has to stay grateful. “Most importantly, I try not to become the observer of myself. If I feel like I’m watching or judging my performance, that is a dangerous place to be, and I try to quickly get back in the present and find gratitude,” she shares. That might be because her spirituality and religious beliefs work together to create a symbiotic relationship that allows her, as she says, the grace to change.

“As it relates to faith in self, I think faith in ‘God’ helps us trust ourselves more because we believe we are held, looked after, and loved,” she reflects. “Faith in self helps us trust God because we trust that we have done all we can do, and we can let go of trying to control everything.”

She observes that failure is a part of becoming a successful person, but the triumph is in getting back up after a fall. As for her own success, it hasn’t really changed her. When she gets together with her high school friends, they say she does the same things she did as a teenager, but now it’s just on a larger scale.

“I’ve always been a hard worker, I’ve always tried new things, I always wanted to entertain people, I’ve also very much loved creating community wherever I go. I don’t lean into the party lifestyle because I just don’t enjoy it. I still love a good conversation on the couch with my girlfriends,” she says.

When asked if she would ever retire, she doesn’t see it in the cards. “I will not be performing like I do now forever, but I will always find a way to create art and be creative. It might turn into me mentoring other artists or planning tours for other artists to go out and do. But for now, I going to perform as long as I can.”