Juliette and the Licks

Tue 15th Apr, 2008 in Features

A cheerful Juliette Lewis calls from her home in Los Angeles, California. Her voice is slightly scratchy, and she occasionally disappears from the phone to cough. She’s tired, worn out, and it’s no surprise, but she certainly isn’t short of a word. “This is the first time in two years that I’ve had two months off, we were on tour for a year and a half,” Lewis says, spluttering again. “The tour for our album has been longer and longer, but so very worth it.”

Naturally, her name rings a bell. She is, after all, an Oscar nominee. She apparently once shacked up with Brad Pitt, and has had pivotal roles in films such as Natural Born Killers and Cape Fear. But channelling her creativity into acting, a career that Lewis loves, still couldn’t feed the fire inside. “I always had this undying aching hunger to write songs and express myself through music. Through acting I would use music to prepare for a character or a scene, like in Natural Born Killers I’d listen to Jimi Hendrix. Music instantly makes you feel. That connection was always there, and it was something I knew it was supposed to do.”

Four on the Floor, the full-length album by Juliette and the Licks, was released first in Europe and the US in 2007. It’s an album that Lewis speaks of very fondly. “It’s the best sounding album, it’s very guitar driven. It has catchy riffs, and it’s full-flavoured and also full of surprises,” she says.

While the transition from silver-screen to the sweaty stage of rock and roll seemed a natural thing for Lewis, it took some prodding from the right people to get the wheels in motion. “I didn’t know how to go about it so I took my time, and I realised I wanted to do a live show experience with a full band,” she explains. “Then I met Linda Perry (hit singer/songwriter – think Gwen Stefani, Pink, Christina Aguilera ), who was really essential for me. She asked me the right questions and we wrote a few songs out. It got my rock and roll spirit out.”

It was perhaps surprising to learn that Lewis’ Hollywood hook-ups have not landed her a major-label record deal. Juliette and the Licks have had to learn the ways of an indie band, and to this day remain independent. “When it came to music, I went the rough and ready route.” Contemplating this, she adds, “I can get interviews with people that an unknown band wouldn’t be able to, but I’m judged 20 times harder. I go crazy with pressure sometimes. I never expected an easy ride.”

That said, making friends with rock heavyweight Dave Grohl has proven invaluable for Lewis, with Grohl sliding into the drummer’s seat for the recording of Four on the Floor. “He’s a friend of mine and he’s been endless help for business, but he’s also insanely passionate about music, like me. We light each other’s fire in that way,” she says. “It was a sweet timing thing because my drummer didn’t want to tour anymore, so Dave stepped in. We did some demos, he loved the way it sounded, so I talked him into the whole record.”

A timid chanteuse she is not: Lewis growls her often sexual, often feisty lyrics through manic rock beats in tracks like Hot Kiss, yet, can sweetly course her way through a ballad like Are You Happy, with an imperfect innocence that is almost childlike. Her lyrics aren’t always autobiographical either, but again, sometimes they are. “I write a lot in metaphor,” she explains. “The song Purgatory Blues is a number about feeling stuck, asking whether you’ll be punished or redeemed, you know. But then I can write a song like Death of a Whore – which was literally about the death of a truck stop prostitute. My melody became like a heartbeat, and it almost felt like it was ghostly or something like that. I like playing with images.”

Lewis and The Licks will be heading to Australia in late April to appear on the MTV Australia Awards. The band will perform live, sharing the stage with Dizzee Rascal, Eve and 50 Cent, as well as being nominated for an award. “I think somebody must have liked what we were doing,” she laughs. “We’re up for Best Live Performance, as well as a live song or two, so we’re incredibly excited about that.”

Still, with all the confidence Lewis exudes, she is still self-deprecating and modest about her current achievements. “I don’t know if we’ve found our – œLicks lovers in Australia just yet,” she chuckles. “But we are coming there with the intent to show you guys a good live show.” Having been here a couple of years ago for the loud, proud Soundwave Festival, Juliette and the Licks have tacked three sideshows onto their MTV appearance date for Australian audiences.

Lewis’ costumes are thematic, in that they are bizarre and gimmicky. She often appears on stage in a lycra bodysuit, accompanied by an American-Indian style headpiece or viking helmet. “I move around a lot, which is why my clothes are like a second skin,” she says. “I’ve always loved the headpieces I wear, it makes me feel like a lone warrior spirit. I have some awesome ideas for costumes which I’ll have to figure out one day.”

For a woman who seems to be able to tackle it all, she insists she’s still learning lessons every day about earning one’s keep as a live performer. “Let me take you back to our first show. It was at a lesbian club in Silver Lake, California. It was the middle of summer, there was no air-conditioning, and after giving it my all after three songs, I was about to pass out,” she laughs. “We were only on for 30 minutes that day but I was about to die, so I learned a lot about stamina.”

Her enthusiasm for the live performance is infectious, however, and she leaves with these encouraging words. “Everyone who comes to a Licks show always gets more than they ever expected. The band as a whole is a force, everyone gets fuckin’ silly, and you’ll all hopefully break out in a big sweat and a big beaming grin,” she says passionately.

“I like to get out there, explore the unfamiliar and just pummel people.” She laughs, before clarifying, “Well – I guess not literally pummel.”

Catch Juliette and the Licks setting the stage alight at the following dates:

WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL – BRISBANE, THE ZOO – 18+
Oztix www.oztix.com.au, Music Mania, Moshpit Music & Kill The Music

FRIDAY 25 APRIL – SYDNEY, THE FORUM – Licensed All Ages
Moshtix www.moshtix.com.au

SUNDAY 27 APRIL – MELBOURNE, PRINCE OF WALES – 18+
Ticketek www.ticketek.com.au 132 849, Polyester & Missing Link.