It's Show Time! An Interview with Lenka

Australia, you are a country of contradictions. On one hand, your primitive culture of expat thieves and cattle molesters gave us Crocodile Dundee, Fosters, and AC/DC. On the other hand, you guys eat Vegemite. But pop sensation Lenka has made us come around to your barbecued shrimp and Mad Max Thunderdomes. If you’ve heard her self-titled debut album, you probably think this ingenue is terribly sweet and off floating on her own little love cloud somewhere with her friend Sia. Well, that’s partially true, but this former member of the indie band Decoder Ring also has a dark side. She co-wrote the track “Wrote Me Out” with AFI’s Hunter (to be released at some yet unforeseen date). See she's...mildly dangerous!

The first time we saw you perform you had just joined a new band. How’s that going now?
Before, I just played with whomever I could. I hadn’t been in the same place for long enough to harness musicians. Now, I’ve got a band and we all really like each other and we’re going to be spending a lot of time together, so I’m excited.

In that case, they better be awesome.
[Laughs] Yeah. They better have good personalities, they better be hot, and they better be able to play well.

The hot part is definitely important, though we doubt it helps with stage fright. Do you still get scared?
I still get nervous onstage, because there are always people standing there looking at you. But maybe it was losing the façade of pretending to be someone else. I wasn’t acting. Sometimes, I still get really nervous, but there’s nothing you can do. You have to turn it into excitement and focus.

Has it gotten easier as you’ve performed more?
It’s less scary now because that was a band that I joined, so I had the weight of the whole band on me. I had to be the frontperson for the band even though it was their project and they hired me as a singer. Now, whatever I decide to do, it’s up to me.

What inspired you to make the solo record?
I always wanted to have my own album ever since I was little. My dad always had his own CDs lying around the house that he had made. But more, I was just idolizing pop stars like Cindy Lauper.

Vocally, this one is quite sweet. Have you thought about the mood of your next?
I’ve started to write a little bit. I kept joking that my next album is going to be really dark and mature because that seems to be the way life goes, but I’m still quite happy and still writing quite upbeat music. But, we’ll see where I’m at in a year’s time when I sit down to do the bulk of writing. I feel like I still want to write fairly jolly music. It’ easier and more fun to perform.

Does your first single, “The Show,” fall into that category?
It’s such an uplifting fun song. I’m so glad my first release isn’t a bitter breakup song or a sad, woe is me my life sucks song because that would be really hard to repeat those emotions every day.

Are your songs autobiographical?
They always are a little bit, but sometimes they’re about another person, Often, when I’m writing I’ll just pick a lyric because of the shape of the word and how it fits in the melody and the phrasing, so it’s not purely autobiographical, but some of it is my life and how it’s nostalgic for me.

Which songs are you referring to?
In particular, “We Will Not Grow Old,” is about me and my best friend in high school and how we felt about the future. Everyone thinks it’s a love story. But teenage girl friendships are like love. You think you’re going to be together forever.

Are you two still friends?
We’re email friends but we have separate lives. But she knows the song is about her because I sent it to her. She thinks it’s really sweet and it makes her sad and nostalgic.

Are there any romantic songs on your record?
They are, but there’s usually a bit convoluted. I want to write more songs about being in love. I wrote recently that goes, “You’re in love, I’m in love.”

Your boyfriend is James Gulliver Hancock, the artist who did the stop motion animation for your videos and the album design. Do you two collaborate well?
We do. We make the videos together. He’ll do the illustrations then we split time doing the stop motion. The embroidery one I made myself, actually. I made it in Vienna. I had some time on my hands. I find those stop motion videos really relaxing because it is so tedious and time consuming. You can get away from your head a little bit.

You went to art school. What did you study?
I did a lot of textiles. I majored in sculpture but did a lot of textile-based sculptures. We recently made the lenka signs for my last show and it’s totally like craft camp. I got my mom involved too.

What else about the experience of releasing your first record has been exciting for you?
It was amazing to be backstage at Jay Leno. I have little moments when I pinch myself and go this is my life? There are a lot of aspirations I still have and the journey is at the very beginning right now. Even though it’s extraordinary that a girl from the Australian bush has come this far, I feel like I have so much more to achieve. I can’t rest on my laurels just yet.

The bush? Wait a minute. We heard you were from Sydney.
I moved to Sydney when I was a kid. I lived in suburbia for most of my life. But, when I was a little kid, I was in the bush. And when I was an adult and an actor, I was in Bombay beach which is much more urban. So I’m not a total bushie, but I have the bushie spirit inside me for sure.

Has living in Los Angeles been an adjustment for you?
I sometimes miss nature and I have to get away and go camping. That’s going to happen at Christmas. I’m going to go to Mexico and lie on the beach in the jungle for a couple of weeks.

You mean a spa retreat in the jungle, right?
We’re totally roughing it. I’ll pack a little methane stove and one cup and one fork and one backpack of clothes. I just want to shed all the human extensions we put in our life. Which is going to be hard. No laptop, no blackberry…

No shower.
No shower. But Papaw ointment.

Paw what what?
This thing Aussie girls always carry around with them. It’s papaya. We call it papaw. It’s lip balm but you can use it for dry skin and for insect bites. I put it under my eyes when I go to bed. It’s Australian bush medicine. That’s my beauty tip for the day [laughs].

Oh, you can’t be done yet. We loved the dress you wear in the video for “The Show.” Who designed it?
That dress is by Phillia and her label is called pH by Phillia. I met her on that shoot. I have a red one and green one now. It’s such a great dress. It’s a little sculptural creation.

Who are some of your other favorite designers?
Miu Miu and Betsy Johnson. I’ve got quite a few Betsey Johnson dresses which are great for stage. I also have this amazing Ted Baker cape for winter. It’s so cute. It’s like Little Black Riding Hood. I’ve been pretty much living in that. I pretty much wear vintage though.

You’ve been touring a lot this year and you’re starting up again in the New Year. What’s backstage like for you?
I’m pretty new to it so I’m making sure I stay healthy, but it seems everyone does that. I don’t know if I’m in the wrong genre of music but it’s not like it’s party central. Everyone’s just in pajamas and eating cereal and trying to take care of themselves. And for me and a lot of other girls, we don’t scream through the mike. We have to keep our voices pretty relaxed and healthy so we can sing our sweet little melodies instead of screaming death metal down the microphone.

Yeah, we don’t expect you’ll be doing that anytime soon.
That’s not really my…unless I do write a really dark album next. Then I can start drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes and turn into Tom Waits.

Lenka is on tour! Check her out here:
1/10 Spokane, WA (The Blvd)
1/11 Vancouver, BC (Media Club)
1/12 Seattle, WA (The Triple Door)
1/13 Portland, OR (Doug Fir Lounge)
1/15 Berkeley, CA (The Independent)
1/16 Bakersfield, CA (Modesto Virtual)
1/17 Santa Barbara, CA (SoHo)
1/22 Salt Lake City, UT (Kilby Court)
1/24 Denver, CO (Soiled Dove)
1/27 Lawrence, KS (The Record Bar)
1/29 Minneapolis, MN (Varsity Theater)
1/30 Madison, WI (Memorial Union - der Rathskeller)
1/31 Chicago, IL (Schubas Tavern)
2/4 Cambridge, MA (Great Scott)
2/5 College Park, MD (University of Maryland)