"I wanted to communicate to more people than just the converted": Q&A with Aussie pop star Lenka

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"I wanted to communicate to more people than just the converted": Q&A with Aussie pop star Lenka

POSTED: Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 5:34 PM

Filed Under: Interview | Music

Tonight, the Australian-raised, Los Angeles-based, and whole-wide-world-traveling popstress Lenka makes her Philadelphia debut at the M Room. I caught up with her by phone in the Las Vegas airport (she swears she didn't do any gambling), as she waited for a flight back to L.A. before beginning this tour.

City Paper: How long have you been living in LA?
Lenka: Only three years, but it's gone by very fast. I'm not there very often. I never intended to live there for very long, it's just sort of a practical base for me. There is actually some really good community where I live, but I'm just not an L.A. kid; not a Hollywood kid.

CP: Where you would you rather be living?
Lenka: Berlin.

CP: Really? Why is that?
Lenka: I love the art world there, the social culture. It's a really cool scene, all the artists and musicians and anti-establishment types, all these warehouse galleries. I also love the sense of history; you can just feel all this stuff that went down there. And I really quite like Germany ' also, I'm doing quite well there at the moment, so it might be a sort of practical move. If I leave the States that is. If I don't leave the States I'd like to live in Woodstock, but that's kind of a fantasy'

CP: So do you see yourself being part of an anti-establishment art scene?
Lenka: Well [laughs], not at the moment, I guess, but I was a part of that whole thing for a long time, in Sydney; that's my background. I went to art college and I was in an indie band ' Eventually I got a little bit tired of it, and wanted to communicate to more people than just the converted. And that's why I moved into pop music.

CP: So that was a conscious decision, then, to shift into pop?
Lenka: Well, there was definitely a conscious decision based on wanting to spread music to every person out there, not just people who seek it out. When I was an adolescent, I really relied on music, as kind of a crutch. I might seek it out a bit, but mostly I needed to be delivered to me ' it had to be in my direct vision for me to find it. It would come through friends, mixtapes people made for me.

Now, luckily, you've got the whole TV placement thing, which has been great for me. There's a captive audience there that doesn't necessarily get a lot of new music in other ways. And those people are really true fans.

CP: What are your audiences like?

Lenka: It's different everywhere. If you get a packed out audience with a real party vibe, it can be quite rowdy. In Asia, the fans are completely obsessed and so passionate. They go to the airport when I'm coming in, they give me gifts. It's insane! Not that I want that all the time, but it's really sweet. I think it's part of their cultural character ' they're so isolated from pop culture in the West that if someone comes to play there it's really exciting for them, and they respond with a lot of affection. It goes pretty deep. It's more than just music ' it's about being connected to the rest of the world

In Europe it's more similar to American audiences, but even in America it's different everywhere I play. I've played in New York to crowds that are just standing there with their arms folded; Salt Lake City was really rowdy ' The world is a diverse place and I'm happy about that.

If it's really all-ages I'll get toddlers, lots of little kids, four-year-olds. I love that. A lot of teenagers. And, you know, women 18-30, or whatever that demographic is. I'm trying to reach everybody, I guess. Everybody should have the opportunity to hear good music.

Lenka - The Show (Official Music Video) - Watch a funny movie here

CP: Except for the several songs you wrote by yourself, you worked with different songwriting partners for almost every cut on your album. What is that process like for you? How do you meet these people?
Lenka: I did a lot of co-writing when I came over to L.A., which was a great way to get to know the community. L.A.'s such an energetic, ambitious city ' all these people I'd meet were just like 'Oh my god, let's totally write a song tomorrow!' My publishers were putting me in touch with people, or I'd just meet somebody somewhere. We'd be complete strangers, and sit down to write a song together.

This year I've been traveling so I haven't had contact with anybody except my band and my boyfriend ' I've been writing by myself all year. When I'm writing it's mostly in hotel rooms or when I get a couple of days at home, processing everything I've been going through.

The early solo stuff, that I wrote when I was with my band Decoder Ring, wasn't as accessible. Well'I guess it wasn't too weird, but it was more dreamy and electronic, more meandering, atmospheric music. I seem to be writing stuff like that again, but I'm also writing faster, bigger, dancier stuff too. I might be going in two different directions.

CP: There's so much glorious instrumental excess on your record. How do you translate that in your live show? I've gotta tell you, the M room stage is gonna be a little too cramped for an orchestra.
Lenka: I like playing around with it. Sometimes I go bigger with a horn section. Sometimes it's really amazing and more powerful to strip something down; on this tour I'm using bass tracks and I'm just doing a trio, with keys and guitar. I made this instrument for myself, I customized a MIDI controller and I wear it like a keytar. So for instance I can trigger the string samples for songs that require it.

But I always try to get the spirit of the album emotionally, the vibe of the songs ' I try to get that right. I try to give people a smile. I'm smile delivery service!

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