My knowledge of Juliette Lewis is limited. I’m fully aware that she has come to be regarded as one of the worlds most established laydees of rock royalty, but as far as l had been aware she was just some finger lickin vixen of kooky films past who dated Brad Pitt, for a bit. I knew she had been in a band too, a while back now….The Licks, but again my knowledge of this was pretty basic. I’d never really taken too much of an interest, then one night when l was working at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen (this was before l got fired) she strolled into the restaurant. I kinda gathered she was a pretty big deal by the amount of attention she commanded, so after watching her throw down an extra-ordinary set l took it upon myself to interview her. She was a very pleasant mild mannered lady, bit weird, but nice. Oh yeah, my boyfriend (at the time) took some pictures as well, they turned out pretty good, hey?
I watched you perform recently and you look like your really loving the new music you’re playing, how have the crowds been receiving the The New Romatiques?
Well I must say after some inner debate over several months I’m just gonna put out the new music as Juliette Lewis. It makes the change less complicated and gives me endless freedom on any musical direction I might want to go in the future.
Why did you put The Licks to rest?
I changed the name and band because I wanted to change my sound and I needed players that were good at different things than my old band was. For instance my lead guitar player now has to be more experimental and mood oriented with pedals. My guitar player in the Licks was really good at riffs and playing really melodic rock leads but the new sound is less traditional rock. It’s more diverse and because the Licks had earned a reputation as a real kick ass old school rock sound I felt a name change was in order. So they wouldn’t be misled by the new record also it’s just very hard to keep 5 individuals all interested and growing in the same direction, it’s kind of impossible.
SXSW went well for you, have you had a positive response from your fans and audiences so far?
Audiences have been great, I mean a great live show is a great live show no matter what songs people like and don’t like and I feel the new band and new songs just add more range and diversity to what I was doing before. We play this blues song called ‘Hardloving Woman’ and I didn’t know how people would receive it but it’s now one of my favourite parts in the set. It’s really, really moving and of course deeply personal. So it’s nice when other people respond to that.
Terra Incognita is a dark and atmospheric album, is that want the New Romantiques are all about or is there a lighter side to your sound too?
I wrote the new record Terra Incognita with a friend and my new guitar player Chris Watson, and Omar Rodreguz- Lopez (producer and from Mars Volta) helped arrangements and instrumentation. I also wrote a few songs on piano, I wanted to really explore melody and space and the contrast of sounds and emotion on certain songs and in other places when it explodes it has more meaning.
What inspires your music and legendary stage performances?
I describe my visual style as, “the little prince in a Mad Max world”. I tend to pick up bits and pieces from designers, and in my travels I also do things very economically ‘cause I’m an independent artist so sometimes I can’t always materialize the visions in my head but I will try.
What’s the process you go through when writing your tunes, is it quite a intimate and independent or a group project?
The writing process is always really fun, sometimes I start with 2 chords on piano and melody, sometimes I tell my guitar player a lyric I’m thinking of and we grow a song from there. Suicide Divebombers was born from touring for 2 years and feeling disillusioned. It’s a song I wanted to write for my audience and its ultimately very hopeful. It came from a concept in my head and a riff Chris came up with. ‘Hardlovin Woman’ came about from a single lyric and the fact I always wanted to write a blues song.
Talk me though your next release?
The new record has different aspects of my emotional life and explores these sides to my musical identity. It has everything: heartbreak, celebration, fantasy, anger, hope and disillusionment. I set about wanting to make a full album that explores the contradictory nature of my emotions and life rather than just a collection of songs.
Where you off to now?
The plan is to just tour, tour, tour this and next year. And keep growing! I’m very excited about all of it. My band is eclectic and visually different so its something always meant to be seen, heard and felt live! We are opening up for Cat Power and the Pretenders in the US Aug and Sept then will tour a bunch in the fall in Europe and UK and everywhere else. Next year we will hopefully hit all my favourite festivals!
Gimme 5….
Festivals:
Askena Rock fest Spain
Leeds/Reading
PukkelPop – Belgium
Rock Am Ring – Germany
Records:
Bowie- Low
Brian Eno- Here come the warm jets
Lou Reed -Transformer
Nina Simone -dont know the name
Ike and Tina Turner -album with proud mary on it.
Films:
Midnight express
Being there
You can count on me
All that jazz
Francis
Cheers for that.
