UrbanWireBy Chong Si Min
Happiness, as John Lennon famously crooned, is a warm gun. Australian singer-songwriter Lenka’s notion of happiness, though, is all about making people feel good. Unlike the sexually charged song on Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, Lenka’s music revolves around a much more innocent love, usually of the cavity-inducing variety.
Lenka performing songs from her latest album, Two, in a private showcase at TAB Singapore
1. On her latest album, Two
2. Acting: Lenka the Wicked Witch?
3. Her fashion style
4. More on her music
The daughter of a Czech jazz musician and Australian schoolteacher, Lenka (born Lenka Kripac)acted in her teens before turning to her first love, music. She started off singing with an accompanying percussionist, who was also the member of electronic-rock band, Decoder Ring. Incidentally, the band was looking for a female vocalist for one of their projects then, and they got Lenka to take over the keyboardist/vocalist position. This lasted for two years before she decided to go solo again.
Enlisting the help of several renowned producers and strange collaborations (i.e. AFI’s Hunter Burgan), her eponymous debut was released in 2008 and the first single, “The Show” has been used widely in advertising campaigns including one for clothing chain Old Navy.
On her latest album, Two
It’s been 3 years since your debut album, Lenka and the new one, Two sounds distinctly different (i.e. more electronic beats). So why did you have a change of style and genre in music?
As an artist, you want to explore different styles and genres and challenge yourself a little bit. I mean, it’s not so different – like it sounds like a whole different person. It’s still very much a Lenka album. But, I didn’t really want to repeat myself. I wanted to try doing the same kind of music that I made but in a slightly different way.
So, how was making this record different from your debut?
For a start, I wrote a lot more of the songs by myself compared to the first album.
It’s partly because I was touring. So, I was writing in hotel rooms.
Also, I feel a bit more confident as a songwriter now and I took a different approach for the production as well. I really wanted to use a little more electronic sounds and computer beats this time. A lot of the songs are faster, so there are not many ballads on this album. It’s more of an upbeat, danceable kind of pop songs. So, I picked producers who are really good with engineering computer beats.
Where do you normally record your songs especially when you write while touring?
Well, I record demos at home. At a point in 2009, I lived in Los Angeles and I had a little writer’s studio set up in the launderette. So, “Heart Skips A Beat” was written in a launderette (laughs). As for hotel rooms, I record the demos and put it together as much as possible in Pro Tools on my laptop.
And then, most of this album (Two) was properly produced in London, in the producer’s studio. Most of the time, producers have a professional studio set up in a small room in their own home. Basically, it’s just like me, except that it’s usually not in the launderette. A little bit more sophisticated.
Your latest video, “Heart Skips a Beat”, is slightly different from your previous ones. How was the process behind this change of visual style?
It was good, the visual artist I frequently work with happens to be my husband (laughs) so we can always throw ideas around. But this video’s actually a viral video. A new one’s coming out. Yeah, but this video marks a bit of advancement for our style because, normally we make like…
…stop motion?
Yeah, stop motion. Paper art and really goofy, childlike videos. We just recently learnt about lighting and how to shoot something attractively.
We were really pleased with ourselves when we went to hire lights and studios and shot this basic footage of myself and overlay the colours and the drawings, which is really James’s job. I don’t really do that except to say, “Draw this! Draw that!” (laughs) I did some of the stuff like paper triangles. So that was a bit of an experiment and it turned out quite nicely.
Where do you draw your inspiration for your songs, especially since you just got married three weeks ago?
I definitely draw inspiration from my life, so I try to keep it as true as possible. But I try to make it more universal even when I get inspired by something personal. It’s not always about James (Guilliver Hancock) and me. My songs usually start with a feeling and I try to leave room for interpretation. There are also some songs in Two that are more like memories. There’s one song about a suburban love affair, having a crush on someone on your street. That’s a memory I had when I was 13.
So, most of your songs revolve around love. What are the other themes you like to explore?
Yeah, more than half of my songs are about love. There’s a bunch of songs that are of the same old themes that I love to tackle, which is trying to get through the hard times and have a positive outlook and look forward to the good times in life.
Just like your song, “Roll With The Punches”?
Exactly!
Your songs are frequently happy, uplifting songs. So do you consciously write happy songs?
Yeah, I do. I do actually write sad songs a lot but I don’t put them on my albums. I wrote about 35 songs for this album and there’s only 11 in it. There’s a couple of songs that are a little more complex and heavy and a little more negative or dark. But most of them are the upbeat, fun songs because I wanted the album to be like that – more so than the last album. I wanted it to be fun and danceable. It’s not exactly happier, it’s more like I want to shake it off and have a good time.
But, there’s a whole bunch of depressing songs that I’ve written that I would like to save it for another day. When my fans write to me on their reactions to my songs, it’s always about how they’re really grateful for my music because I make them feel better or that they’re going through a tough time and they say thank you because like your music really helped me. To me, that’s such a nice thing to hear and I want to do that again. I don’t really want to make people depressed. I want to make them happy.
Going back to your first album, you recorded the song, “Anything I’m Not” and in Two, you recorded “Everything At Once”. You referred to them as sister songs, I believe.
So, what’s the story behind that?
Well, I didn’t realise I was doing it until afterwards. But when I wrote “Everything At Once”, it’s like a list of things I want to be and it’s just like I want to be everything. I don’t want to be an artist who copies her own melody but when I look back at the song, “Anything I’m Not”, there’s a similarity in the melody, particularly in the bridge. It’s sort of like a similar phrase but it’s way more positive. It just goes to show where I’m at right now. I was quite like insecure and unsure of myself, so I wrote “Anything I’m Not”. It was so terrible and so negative! So, now I want to be everything at once and it’s like taking a bigger bite out of life.
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Acting: Lenka the Wicked Witch?
As an artist, how do you deal with the “bad stuff in life” like creative criticism?
To be honest, I don’t deal with it that well. It doesn’t happen that often.
But, when it does, it’s definitely pretty hurtful because it’s so personal. (An album) is like your little baby. So, I really have to remind myself that I’m doing it mostly for myself and I should be my biggest critic. If I’m happy with it, then it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks. Also, the second group I want to play for is my fans. If I made an album and my fans are like, “Ew, we hate that!”, I will probably be a little upset.
But critics? I don’t really give a shit about them because they usually like saying bad things because it makes them look cool. I used to be an actress, so I’m used to bad reviews in theatre shows. It’s what sells newspapers. You can’t really take it to heart.
Lenka in 2003 feature film, Lost Things
Does that mean you won’t be returning to acting any sooner?
I don’t think anytime soon. But, I reckon it’s in my future. I do still have a bit of an urge to play characters and we’ll see. It’s kind of easier said than done. It’s not like you just snap your fingers and get an acting role. It’s really a full time job to go for auditions and be mentally prepared to take on any role any time. I’m not prepared in that way at the moment. But, if a friend said to me, “I’m making a film and I’ll really love you to be in it.” Then, I’ll try and find the time for sure.
Do you have a dream role that you want to play?
I would love to play a witch in a fantasy like the Wicked Witch in Snow White, because I draw a lot of references from fairy tales. I don’t want to paint myself as an evil person but I sort of identify myself with the more spicy characters. That’ll be fun.
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Her fashion style
I have a lot of girlfriends who really look up to you for their fashion style and they love your vintage style. So tell us more about your top vintage spot you shop for all these dresses.
Well, a large percentage of my wardrobe and clothing comes from a shop called Shareen Vintage in LA. It’s like this big warehouse and no boys are allowed there. It’s just like a fantasy.
It’s owned by this woman, called Shareen, who I know quite well now. She’s been an actress and she’s got really good taste in vintage clothes and a lot of connections. In Hollywood, there are so many stars who are old and passing away and passing on their amazing dresses and wardrobe. It’s really cheap and really fabulous and she tailors them differently. I just moved to Brooklyn last year and there’s a vintage market there, called the Brooklyn Flea and it’s amazing.
Have you thought of designing your own clothing line then?
I don’t know, I don’t have any of the skills though I would love to do so.
When I really let myself run away with the fantasy of building an empire, I see a lot of visual stuff, like homeware. I love like cute pillows and those kind of things. I make those kind of things in my home all the time.
But you know what? When I was a kid, my favourite pastime was doing fashion design. It was terrible, during the early 90’s with shoulder pads, power suits and big hair. I used to do pages and pages of fashion design.
Since we’re on the topic of visuals, do you have any icon you look up to?
I’m very impressed by Dita von Teese. I think she’s gorgeous and so committed to her style. I wish I had the stamina to put up that much effort every single day.
She’s always impeccably put together and I love that she dresses up as a normal person during Halloween (laughs). it’s realy cool.
I follow her on Twitter and she often posts photos of her collection of gorgeous little lipstick holders and other ridiculous things. She lives in Paris with beautiful things. I envy her.
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More on her music
Back to your music, do you consider yourself a mainstream or indie musician?
I think I’m halfway between the two. I feel like my music is as accessible and likeable as commercial pop music but it’s a little bit different and a little bit weirder. The production’s not as shiny and commercial sounding. I don’t work with the typical producers that turn out hits in LA. I try to choose people who are more interesting to work with.
So given a chance to work with any artist, who will it be?
Usually, when I get asked this question, my go to people will be David Bowie and Prince because they are such legends and they are so interesting. I’m so curious about what it will be like actually to talk to them. I’d love to write a song with Elton John or Burt Bacharach. Actually, I tried to write a song with (Burt Bacharach) and got my publisher to try and hunt him down through several different avenues. The only way that he does do it is he meets with you, talks to you and gives you a few lines and that’s it. But, he gets 50% (laughs). So, I was like, “Huuuuh that’s quite the experience.”
How would you describe your music then?
Maybe, singer-songwriter pop? There’s a sub genre that hasn’t really taken off but there’s someone who said that I play “intelligent pop”. I was quite chuffed to know that (laughs). I would say that my music’s whimsical and poetic but pretty simple and feel good. It’s kind of revolving. I don’t really know exactly what it is.
To end it off, what can we expect from your upcoming performances?
I’ll be playing a lot of new songs and a few old ones, just to be fun. It’s like a taste tester. I’ll be playing my favourites, and not yours. So you’ll have to find out by yourself!
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The interview is courtesy of Sony Music Singapore and was held at Klapsons, the Boutique Hotel.
All photos are courtesy of Kon Xin Hua.