song work can be the way the emotions suggested by the music or melody have an effective match with the words, it’s like the way art and writing are matched in a comic book. Te two tracks, words and pictures or words and music, have to have a chemical combination that creates the art. So it’s very hard to make one part without an awareness of how it will fit with the other part. Humour plays a big part in your music. Who do you find funny? I don’t pay much attention to comedy, I know that stand-up comedy is very popular in the past few years, but I’m nor really aware of that scene, I enjoy it when I hear it but it’s not what I put on to listen to and it’s not what I go out to see, usually. I don’t think humour plays a big part in my music more than other human emotions, sadness, mystery, philosophy, history, stress, confidence, etc. All of these things are part of the palette of colors that you paint with when you’re trying to communicate something about life. You won’t find a great writer who isn’t funny, because that’s one of the human emotions. If you’re ignoring that, you’re not painting with a full array of emotional color- options. All the greatest songwriters are very funny at times - Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Jonathan Richman, Daniel Johnston, Paul Simon, Mark E. Smith, Woody Guthrie, Kimya Dawson, Eminem, John Lennon, Morrissey, there’s quite a lot of humor in all their catalogues. Every one of them can make you laugh or make you cry or make you think. You can say the same about authors in other mediums too, probably. Te only reason people are surprised when they hear humour in my work is because very few songwriters or rock bands nowadays seem to be creating from a full palette, at least from a lot of the stuff that I hear when I’m listening to some popular new band. You’ve played and toured with some huge names over the years..Te Fall, Turston Moore, Super Furry Animals to name a few. What’s been the most memorable tour thus far, and why? Opening for Stephen Malkmus & Te Jicks on their Europe tour in 2008 was definitely a highlight, that was a crazy tour, really a thrill for my brother and myself because we’re big fans of that stuff. Opening for the Fall was a big thrill too, but it was only one show, not a whole tour.
24 / December 2015/
outlineonline.co.uk
“Tere are so many music scenes in New York”
If you were to listen to your first album When Madman Was Good, and then listen to your latest, how would you say you’ve developed your sound over the years? I’ve gotten a lot better at playing and singing and recording and writing, because that’s what happens when you do something for 15, 16, 17 years; I didn’t know anything at all when I started. But I don’t know if I’ve become a better artist - my goals are the same and my percentage of hitting my goal is about the same, maybe. I just have different tools that I can use to try to reach my goal, but it never gets any easier to reach the goal. Every song is just as much of a challenge now as it was then. If I write ten songs maybe only one of them is good. Tat’s probably about the same now as it was in 1998. Working as a comic book artist/illustrator and as a musician can be rather solo activities. How do you like to spend your social time when you’re not working on your own? Te same as anybody else, just wanting to spend time with friends, with my girlfriend, going for a walk, reading or sleeping.I don’t really have any hobbies because my two jobs are making music and making comic books, so those are both hobbies and jobs at the same time. You’ve had some wonderful band names through the years, Jeffrey Lewis & Te Creeping Brains, & Te Junkyard, & Te Jackals. To what extent does the name of the current band. & Los Bolts, reflect your music currently? I wanted to have a band name that
reflected the fact that my middle name is Lightning, so I though Jeffrey Lightning Lewis & Te Bolts would be cool. But then we played one show as the Bolts and i got home and found an email from some Disney-sponsored band called the Bolts, and they said they live in California and they are connected to all this corporate stuff like Pepsi or Disney or whatever and they don’t want anybody else using their brand name. I’m friends with John S. Hall of King Missile, in addition to being a brilliant lyricist he’s also an entertainment lawyer, I asked him what I should do and he told me that you can’t fight Disney, they will defeat you no matter what you do. So I just changed it to “Los” Bolts instead of “Te” Bolts. Your upcoming UK tour is pretty extensive. Is there anywhere in particular you’re excited to visit? I always love the drive from the north up to Scotland, when the terrain become hilly and the population gets sparse, that drive up to Glasgow is usually the nicest driving day of every UK tour! Trough Cumbria, all of that area. Also, it’s nice to be playing a gig in Cornwall, it’s been a few years since I played in that corner of the country.
Lizz Page
INFORMATION Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts play Norwich Arts Centre on 18th December. Tickets available from
ueaticketbookings.co.uk
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