Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts
Jeffrey Lewis, a native New Yorker,
wears two hats. Firstly, he’s a successful and creative comic book illustrator.
Secondly, he’s a popular and well loved musician, who’s supported the like of
the Fall, Turston Moore and the Super Furry Animals amongst others. An intriguing character well known for
intelligent lyrics, his latest album, Back to Manhattan, is full of lovely lopsided, laid back songs. I grabbed a chat with the man himself ahead of his gig at Norwich Arts Centre this month.
How did you first come to become a musician? I took some piano lessons when I was a teenager because i wanted to be able to play music with my friends, doing Rolling Stones songs and Led Zeppelin songs and Grateful Dead songs and stuff like that. I didn’t start playing guitar or writing my own songs until I was in my 20s, and I started very simple, just two or three chords on the guitar, I’m still a very simple guitar player. How did you get signed to an English label, Rough Trade? Rough Trade had signed the Moldy Peaches around late 2000 or early 2001, and the Moldy Peaches were doing really well, so Rough Trade asked the Moldy Peaches if there were other New York City acts whom they might recommend to the label, and lucky for me Adam and Kimya recommended me! So that’s how it happened. You grew up in New York and your new album is called Manhattan. How has the influence of the city played a part in your music, particularly on the latest LP?
I think my environment would play a part in my music where ever I might be, and the past few years I’ve been living back in Manhattan so that has become part of the songs I’ve been making. What’s the music scene like in New York at present? Anyone you’d recommend we check out? Tere are so many music scenes in New
22 / December 2015/
outlineonline.co.uk
York, I’m not very aware of 99% of what goes on, every night of the week there are probably hundreds of shows happening. Te shows that I mostly go to are bands or acts that I’m friends with, a lot of little shows at the Sidewalk Cafe, or at indie venues like Shea Stadium or Palisades or Cakeshop, mostly to see people that I know. Acts like American Anymen, Barry Bliss, Diane Cluck, Prewar Yardsale, Peter Stampfel, these are all people whose shows I’ve been seeing for ten years or more, and for some reason that’s what I still like to go out and see! Or if I go see a bigger concert it’s usually an indie-rock band that I’ve been a fan of for many years, like Sebadoh or Yo La Tengo. You’ve been described as being a part of the ‘anti-folk’ movement. What does that mean to you? It just means anybody who has ever played the open mic at the Sidewalk Café! Who has influenced you most, as a musician and also as a comic book writer/illustrator? As a musician probably Yo La Tengo and Daniel Johnston, as a comic book maker probably Daniel Clowes and Rick Veitch. You have an on going love for the graphic novel Watchmen, writing your university thesis on it, and also lecturing
“Opening for the Fall was a big thrill”
on it. What is it about Watchmen that really floats your boat? Tere’s nothing else remotely like it, it’s still a unique form of literature
that no other author including Alan Moore himself has ever attempted to create again. It was a doorway to a new language, a new way of reading. Do you separate subjects or emotions that you want to express between comics or music? ie, do you only express thoughts about love, or more philosophical issues through songs or vice versa? Songs are much more immediate, it has to be a powerful encapsulation of a thought or a feeling, but a comic book can be a lot more patient. Music is always in danger of becoming background noise, but when you read you are already making the choice to focus, so as a creator it means you have more leeway to build up your stories in a different way, or have a more intimate connection as one person to one person. Tat’s very different than a live musical performance. What comes first for you when you’re writing a song; lyrics or music? A little of both, I can’t write lyrics without knowing where the beats are going to fall, or where the melody creates certain emotional turns. I think what makes a
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