It has been six years since Jenny Lewis released any music is solely hers. That’s not to say that she hasn’t been busy – she recently contributed to new material by The Postal Service, released an album with Johnathan Rice under the Jenny & Johnny moniker and contributed a collaborative song with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij for the TV series Girls. Her busy schedule hasn’t been all-creative however. Jenny had to deal the break up of her band Rilo Kiley in those six years and the death of her father culminated in the reflective songwriting that is seen in her upcoming release, The Voyager. She spoke to Philippe Perez about those busy and arduous six years.
I’d like to ask about the last couple years in your career. You’ve been quite busy since your last solo album, undertaking a lot of collaborative projects ranging from film scoring to providing backing vocals for other bands. How important is it to be involved in those projects while you’re not doing anything solo-wise?
Well, my main focus is always the record that I am working on, whether it be a band record with Rilo Kiley or a solo record. That is where I put most of my energy. But with this particular album, I just hit a creative wall and needed to stay busy despite all of that, so I decided to take on a couple of other projects in that time span. I just can’t stop working. I’ve been working since I was three years old. I was a child actor and it is very difficult for me to take time off.
When you get time off, what do you do?
It’s funny, because music was always my hobby before it became my job, so I had to find things outside of music. I actually became a huge boxing fan in the last couple of years. That keeps me occupied in between songs and work.
Is there something about two men or women that punch each other that enthralls you? It seems interesting that you’re into boxing.
I actually have always hated all sports. Since I was a kid I’ve been anti-sports. I hated all of hit. A relationship ended every night because each night we would watch the sports rundown on ESPN. I was like: “I gotta get out of this relationship. This sucks man.”
Boxing, however, has something to it. The backstories I think are it. These guys come from rough places. They overcome a lot and it requires a lot of training and mental focus to get to that level of championships and money. I really enjoy following that. It strikes a nerve with me. I think it also came about at a time of my life when I needed something outside of music to focus on.
Have you seen a relation between boxing and music creation then? Musicians more often or not have backstories in their songs. There are struggles that artists and boxers go through too…
Well, I think that you have to have interests outside of what you do. If you exist inside of a bubble in this musical universe it can get a little boring. You need to go out, live life and experience things. You know, Hemingway fought in a war and was an avid hunter. I suppose those life experiences influenced and informed his work, right? I just think you have to get out there in the world and experience in order to create something.
I have only heard a few tracks on The Voyager, but even from the title and what we’ve been chatting about already I’m sensing that you have been on a music and life expedition in a ways and that you’ve possibly wanted the album to reflect those two experiences you’ve had. How did your experiences with life in particular reflect on this album?
Sometimes I think you have to decide from your creative work and your life and be a human being as best you can. Family and relationships – that takes precedence over another record or another tour. I think life catches up with you. I went through a rough spot personally recently, but it ultimately informed the songs that I was writing. But not in the moment, you know? It felt initially a little cheap to exploit my feelings in song. After some moments of reconnecting with my life, it felt appropriate to write about it.
Would you say this album is reflective then? Looking back, rather than looking forward?
I think when you are sitting down to write a song, you’re reflecting all the time. Or you’re creating characters to express to that reflection. I don’t think it is necessarily directly personal. The album is not told from my daily life, but those feelings that resonated. The feelings made it into the songs, basically.
Is it difficult to be personal and honest on any album? Should musicians bare their souls all the time?
There’s some stuff on my previous records. Like stuff. I’ve been writing about various things for a long time and some of those things are personal. When you put yourself out there in a song you have to accept the consequences of that.
Whether it be someone approaching you and saying, “Hey, is that line about me?”, or someone in the press asking about how I felt when my dad passed away. It’s a strange position to be in when you pull away from the actual way that you feel. I think there is a balance between making something and talking about it and living your life as well, and allowing yourself to just be a human. I don’t try to think about all this other garbage that comes with it all to be honest.
Should interviewers like me then try and listen to your songs more closely and find the answers there? Do you feel more comfortable expressing feelings about things that happen in your life through art rather than talking about it?
Well, in my real life, I have been known to be tight lipped when it comes to how I feel about things, so sometimes I figure it out through song. I think so many songwriters are like that. They’re just totally completely incapable of communicating in the real life, yet they write these beautiful, emotional songs. But I think that is part of the reason why we get into it.
It is a funny balance. I haven’t been interested in writing straight up pure pop music that doesn’t relate to me. It’s not the kind of music that I listen to either. I’ve always tried to express something that has a little bit under the surface. My music may sometimes sound poppy, but there is something going on there that is going on there lyrically that is a bit twisted.
How do you try to talk about the meaning behind your songs with other members of your bands or other collaborations that you undertake? Are you coy and try to even hide meaning from them? Or do you try to be upfront?
Well I think there is an unspoken rule where you’re not allowed to question or personalise what they’re writing about. I’ll write a love song for Johnathan (Rice, collaborator with Jenny in her side project Jenny & Johnny) for example, and he can’t say to me, “Who is that about?” He just can’t.
There is a sacred space within songwriting. You have to accept the other person in their songs and let them live. You really shouldn’t impose there. You can also shrug it off and lie and say, “Ooohhhh that song is about no-one! Everything is made up!”, but I think that can be cheating.
Tell me more about the video to the first single of your album “Just One of the Guys”. From what I understand, you produced that video all by yourself, is that right?
Yeah, I directed it.
What is it like being a director of a music video, considering you’ve done so many other roles in within the film industry?
I actually went to film school at a community college in Los Angeles many, many years ago and I wanted to make movies, but was sidetracked by music simultaneously. So I started a band and toured the world. Being able to return to that and apply that knowledge I learnt in film school – cutting shit together and putting short films in the editing room. It was really cool to revisit that. Having grown up on film sets as a kid, I immediately felt comfortable in that position. It was such a natural thing to do for me.
It was so lucky for me to be able to work with people who were just great as well. Working with Anne Hathaway, who won an Oscar! An Oscar! She was a dream to work with. But also Kristen Stewart and Brie Larson, who are amazing actors were so fucking good on screen, that I really didn’t have to do much. I just created the scenario, dressed them and they ran with it. It was so, so easy and an exciting thing to see them roll with.
You all looked you were having heaps of fun.
Oh we laughed so hard. We truly cracked up. I was crying with laughter through the shoot. It’s funny because Annie came up to me and she said, “Okay, so you’re the director and I need to ask you a very important question as the director.” I then said “Sure, what?”. She then said, “Is it okay if I wear a rat tail?” I was like, “Yes! Of course it is!” [Laughs]
So, so funny. I was the director and you gotta ask these and run everything by them on a film set, but I found that really funny.
You have this unique versatility to your voice. I’ve noticed in your previous work that your voice has changed over time and is a little bit suited to each particular style of each album or release. Is there a particular style or way that you prepare your voice for singing on a particular album?
Well, it’s funny because I write sometimes in a character-type voice when I come up with a melody and I really tried on this record to really sing like myself. If you go back and listen to the early Rilo Kiley stuff, there’s a bit of a character element with the vocals. I actually had a moment with producer Rick Rubin where we listened to the Rilo Kiley record More Adventurous and he stopped in the middle of it and said, “Why are you singing like that, Jenny? Why are you singing in this other character?” It hadn’t even occurred to me until he pointed it out.
So I think I use that as a tool when I’m writing, but I really want to communicate on this record that it is coming from me. I just want it to be as honest and as real as possible, so going to into it I tried to make my voice sound like I was talking the lyrics. Like, you are having a conversation and the listener is talking back. I want to make it direct with the listener and communicate with them as best I can.
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The Voyager by Jenny Lewis is out on Friday 25th July.
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