Interview: Molly Lewis - The Others Way Festival 2023

LA-based whistling champion Molly Lewis is returning to Aotearoa for The Others Way Festival, enrapturing us with her own birdsong this Friday at 7.15pm on the Pitt St Church stage. The Australia-born artist launched her enticing new single / video for ‘Lounge Lizard’ last week, in sync with the announcement of her debut album On The Lips — out via Jagjaguwar on 16th February (preorder HERE). We chatted with Lewis about her forthcoming record, what it was like whistling for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film score, thoughts on our nation's world famous Bird Of the Century, the last time she performed here with Neil and Liam Finn and so much more. Read on and scoop up tickets before it's too late...

THE OTHERS WAY FESTIVAL 2023

Friday 1st December
Across Karangahape Road, Auckland, NZ - timetable HERE

Featuring... SOULS OF MISCHIEF (US), MARY LATTIMORE (US), TRINITY ROOTS, THE VEILS, FAZERDAZE, MOLLY LEWIS (US), HERBS (UNPLUGGED), OPENSOULS, TEAM DYNAMITE, PACHYMAN (PR), FRANK BOOKER & NATHAN HAINES, CHAII, MARLIN’S DREAMING, DERYK, VERA ELLEN, MINISNAP, GIRL AND GIRL (AU), MĀ, RINGLETS, JUJULIPPS, BBYFACEKILLA, ATARANGI, PICKLE DARLING, THE CIRCLING SUN, MOTTE, JAZMINE MARY, DEEPSTATE, HAZ & MILOUX, DICTAPHONE BLUES, OFFICE DOG, ELLIOT & VINCENT, DICK MOVE, GRECCO ROMANK, LUCOLA, JESS FU, SALT WATER CRIMINALS

+ THE UNDERGROUND ALL AGES STAGE*
with MELANIE, FESHH, BUZZ, LATE TO CHELSEA, THE CMC

Tickets are on sale HERE via UTR and instore at Flying Out, with laybuy options available via Banished Music
Sign up for further info HERE

*The Underground all ages stage tickets available HERE via UTR

Samantha Cheong: What can you tell us about your upcoming debut album On The Lips? How was the recording process with your "open door policy" (for contributing musicians)?

Molly Lewis: Every song is kind of a different group of musicians. It was spread out over a couple months of recording on and off. Whoever was in the studio at the time, inviting a few people to come by or were already there. Some people I’ve played with before and a lot of them are multi-instrumentalists. The credits were crazy, and even just remembering who played what [laughs]. There’s a lot of different sounds.

I wanted this album to be more like a lounge show, to feel like what it feels like to come to my show in LA. Using whistling as an instrument in different genres and ways.

You’ve got a couple of covers as well?

Yes, we did ‘The Crying Game’ which is one of my favourite songs by Dave Berry and Jeanette’s ‘Porqué Te Vas’, which I also love. It’s hard to cover songs that you love so much, to do it justice in a way. I hope we brought something new to these pieces at least.

Will you be playing the covers at The Others Way, as they are more upbeat too?

Because I’m only in New Zealand for a few days, I’m just coming by myself, I’ll be doing it solo. So I think I’ll do quite a few of the new songs from the album. I’ll definitely do at least one if not both of those covers.

I heard you kitted out the studio with a vintage tiki bar you found at a flea market.

Tom, the producer, had been looking for a bar for the studio. He was going to get one built which would cost a lot. So, I was at the flea market one day and I found this amazing '70s tiki bar, which I knew would fit perfectly—it fit the room.

If you could have a Café Molly space in NZ or Australia — where you were born — what furniture and items would line it?

Sunken lounge for sure, carpeted, velvet curtains, definitely a grand piano. Maybe a piano bar, like a bar built around the piano. There’s one of those in a bar in LA. Good lighting is important as well.

Any spots in Aotearoa that you’re looking to check out, food and adventure wise this time?

I’ve been to New Zealand once before. I came for a tour with the Finn family when they did a tour of twenty small towns across New Zealand. We played in towns like Paekākāriki, Waipu and Waipaoa. All of these tiny towns, it was amazing I really got to see a lot. It’s such a beautiful country.

I went to Weta Workshop and held Gandalf’s sword. Next time, I want to go to some places I didn’t get to go and revisit places like a glow worm cave. One of my best friends, Sam Kristofski, who’s a filmmaker, goes gold panning. I’d love to do some hikes and see more of the landscape because it looks epic.

What was the process of creating your latest music video for ‘Lounge Lizard’?

I’ve always been inspired by an old film called The Girl Can’t Help It with Julie London. There's a scene where she's singing ‘Cry Me A River’ to this hapless man. He puts her record on and she appears in his house. I’ve always loved that concept, when you're listening to music and the imagery that comes with it and the thought of the performer appearing before you. So I always want to copy that idea and take it to the next level, popping up in not just a living room but a coffee cup.

And a bathtub!

Yeah! And I got to work with this amazing director, Ambar Navarro. I was in New York at the time. It was very last minute, even up to the day of shooting we didn’t have a leading man. I was asking everyone there, “Do you know a guy who would be good for this?” The problem was he has to act, pretend to play saxophone, there was all this criteria. Not just a sexy video vixen. We wanted him to have a certain look. I was on this New York casting website and I found Richard Cerqueira. He looked like this classic Italian, New York man. This old school look. He arrived on set and overheard me talking about the last guy we hired, who I described as a “romance novel hunk”. He overheard me and he said, “I used to be the second most famous romance novel cover man after Fabio (Lanzoni).” That was just so funny. It was a great team of people. With my last videos it was just me co directing with a friend, running around. I always edited the videos as well. This is the first time that there’s an editor, producer, all this stuff. It came out so well.

How was whistling for the Barbie movie score ‘Meeting Ruth’ and working with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt?

I was a session musician, they hired me to come whistle the melody. It was one of the best sessions I’ve ever done. They were like, “Can you be in New York tomorrow?” and I was in LA. They put me on a first class flight. “Oh my god, all sessions should be like this!” [laughs]. I went to New York for a few days, the session only took an hour. I didn’t have the full melody, they had given me a demo of it. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do. I was a little nervous, because I was trying to learn the full melody and do it on the spot. It was so fun to perform this over a track, with a full orchestra. It reminds me of an old '40s Disney score, so nostalgic, beautiful and evocative. I’ve always wanted to do soundtrack work, so that was an epic one to be a part of.

How does The Masters of Musical Whistling competition work (Lewis won first place in the Live Band Accompaniment Division (female) at 2015's Masters of Musical Whistling competition)?

If you’re going for the overall trophy, you need to compete in a classical category and a popular category. You audition with an online song, send in one you’ve done. Then you get placed to compete in a category. There’s judges. I honestly have no idea how they judge. It’s mainly cool because I get to meet other whistlers. It’s a fun gathering of this subculture, even just having conversations I’d never have with anyone else. What I like about whistling is not the extreme technicality in doing something like ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’. It’s in the beauty and soul that you bring to the music.

We just crowned our Bird of The Century. What bird (the OG whistlers) would be your choice?

I know you guys have some incredible birds in New Zealand. I do love interacting with ravens actually, because they're so smart. I can tell they know I’m communicating with them. I know they are aware of what I’m trying to do but they don’t really give a shit. And parrots, I once met this incredibly smart, eighteen year old parrot. We had a love affair. I love smart birds you can have a back-and-forth with. That always gets me excited.

I also whistle at birds, and they’re probably thinking “Oh, she’s so tone deaf” or “She’s swearing at me in my own language!”

Yeah! [laughs].

Any other acts playing The Others Way Fest you’re hoping to see or meet?

I’m playing before Mary Lattimore, I love her work. She lives in LA, we have friends in common but we’ve never hung out or met but we’ve talked. I wanted her to play on an album I did last year, but she wasn’t in town. I love her music so I’m excited to see her show, and hang out with her too outside of the show moment.

Besides that, I love being exposed to music without a preconceived (notion). Just go to things and see what happens.