Juliette Lewis @ Isle of Wight Festival 2010

Absolute Radio DJ Geoff Lloyd speaks to singer

Geoff Lloyd: It’s Absolute Radio, we’re live from the Isle of Wight Festival, and playing here tonight is Juliette Lewis, hello.
Juliette Lewis: “Hello!”

GL: How are you madam?
JL: “I am really excited to be here, is everybody saying that? Because I mean it.”?

GL: Yeah, yeah, yeah, well you’re our first guest actually; we’ve only been on er for twenty minutes. We said get Lewis on first, that’s who we want.
JL: “That’s me.”?

GL: And you’re blue-haired; you weren’t blue-haired the last time I saw you.
JL: ”Yeah I’m a little bit of a blue...it’s half-purple, I whipped it up last night, erm it was teal and kind of this peacock green. I didn’t like that, but anyway yeah this is my...”

GL: So did you spend your whole night with your head over a sink, experimenting?
JL: ”A little bit, a little bit. I’m not going to lie, as sad as that sounds that was me.”

GL: On a bus?
JL: “No, we were in a hotel last night, so that was a small miracle. You know how those things go.”

GL: I think it looks good, you know. You say blue-hair, people might think Marge Simpson but there’s a lovely sort of funky, punky thing to it.
JL: “Thanks. I’m calling this look kind of like a futuristic punk hippie, hence the... people can’t see at home, but these are my... I’m wearing bell bottoms.

GL: Yeah you’re like a space travelling... somebody from the sixties who’s travelled through space and time.
JL: “Yeah, from 3000. I don’t know what the hell we’re saying, but it sounds good.”

GL: Me neither. As long as there’s not dead air that’s all that matters.
JL: “Yeah! Keep talking.”

GL: Did you have them especially made for the Isle of Wight Festival?
JL: “I did.”?

GL: Because you do have the Union Flag on your jeans.
JL: “I did. I said give it. Is that too erm what’s the word you say out here? Daft? Cheeky??

GL: No it’s not daft. Do you not have the word daft in America?
JL: “What?”

GL: Do you not have daft in America?
JL: “We don’t say daft.”

GL: It’s a good word.
JL: “But yeah, I’m wearing you know the nice UK flag on my pants in honour of the...?"

GL: And then you’ve got the CND thing going on there as well.
JL: “CMD, what?”
?
GL: CND, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
JL: “Oh yeah, of course! AKA peace.”
?
GL: Peace, yeah peace yeah, yeah.
JL: “Thank you. Wow are you educated?”

?GL: God no, do I look educated?
JL: “Er...”
?
GL: “It’s just the glasses that give that impression.”
JL: “Yeah.”?

GL: So here you are on the Isle of White, how was your crossing, was it smooth?
JL: "It was smooth; I slept through it so that’s always a good sign. Erm we went on the old ferryboat.”?

GL: Are you good on water generally?
JL: “Erm yeah I’m alright.”?

GL: You’re not a landlubber?
JL: “What?”
?
GL: A landlubber.
JL: “Lubber!?”?

GL: Yeah, it’s what a pirate would call somebody who doesn’t have sea legs. A pirate would refer to them as a landlubber. Maybe I am educated.
JL: “Don’t you say a land lover?”?

GL: No you say landlubber.
JL: “Lubber, that’s just weird. I’m not buying it, but yes I do like land very much. (Laughs) The crossing went well. We’ve been on tour, we my band, the awesome band that they are, we’ve been on a European tour and now we are stopping.”?

GL: You’re always on tour, you’re like Bob Dylan, you never go home.
JL: ”Hey, that’s cool.”
?
GL: That’s rock and roll, isn’t it?
JL: “No, no, we actually had five months off, and I have a new band, because it’s sort of a proper solo record in a way, because I made it. I wrote songs on piano, I wrote songs with my good friend Chris Watson, and then we put a band together after the fact, so it’s like, it’s a much more diverse sound than what I was doing with The Licks. And erm so with this new band we’ve been touring for the last year, and yeah.”?

GL: Are these New Romantics, are these the ones...
JL: ”No, you know what? I flirted with that name for a millisecond, it seemed a bit disingenuous, people got the wrong idea because it’s not a new romantic sound.”

GL: But Juliette as soon as it’s on Wikipedia it’s out of the bag, you can’t stop it once it’s on Wikipedia.
JL: “I know! You can’t kill anything that’s on the frickin’ Internet once it’s out! Can I say Internet on air? (Everyone laughs) I’m killing ‘em today.”?

GL: I tell you what is really weird on Wikipedia is when somebody dies, just seconds afterwards somebody’s gone on there and changed it. Who is waiting for somebody to die?
JL: “I don’t know.”

GL: Weirdos, that’s who.
JL: “There are people that don’t leave their home, and their fingers are glued to the keyboard.”?

GL: Your sister does all your Internet for you?
JL: “No, my brother, close.”
?
GL: It was, just the gender thing.
JL: “He’s a filmmaker and he’s very crafty and creative, because I don’t have a mind for the Internet in a way. I mean I just ramble.”
?
GL: I imagine your mind is a lot like the Internet just on the inside.
JL: “And it might be a little like this Winnebago, purple and feathered too. But erm no, he runs my Internet stuff, but I very much love the idea that you can connect directly to audience, the people who care about what you’re doing, so that’s groovy."

?GL: Now you’ll notice that there are not Union Flags which you have on your jeans, but England flags around the camper van today because of course the World Cup has started. Is that on your radar at all, the World Cup?
JL: “It is on my radar in the sense that I can sit next to people who love football and I can enjoy a Guinness on their behalf and erm cheer with them.”
?
GL: Yeah, cheer along.
JL: “No, that was a long-winded answer. (Everyone laughs) I’m trying to be in with the kids, I’m not really...it’s not on my radar.
?
GL: You were fine, you said cheer, you said Guinness, you fooled me.
JL: “Yeah.”
?
GL: It’s only that you brought it up again afterwards, you got away with it.
JL: “Okay shoot. Thanks.”?

GL: Learn to bail out when you’re winning. Now tonight you’re playing in the big top. You must have played a lot of festivals over the years.
JL: ”So many festivals, and it’s been one of the things where you’re like hey, where you feel like you’ve made it in a sense, but erm because when I first started like five years ago I was playing little teeny clubs. I know everyone thought maybe something different, but I kind of did everything a young band would, try to prove myself live, and then you get invited on festivals, it’s amazing.”?

GL: It’s great, and you’re right up the bill as well. You’ve got Suzi Quatro on after you. Are you aware of Suzi Quatro? She’s someone who you enjoyed back in the day?
JL: “Oh yeah, I know of her.”

GL: ‘Devil Gate Drive’ and all that.
JL: ”I didn’t know ‘Devil Gate Drive’ but I know she’s a bit of a legend, and also Marina and The Diamonds. Our bill in the big tent or whatever is all female-fronted acts that are completely different. Then also then I get to go a hop skip and a jump and go see Jay-Z.”?

GL: Which will be amazing.
JL: “Yeah.”?

GL: So are you praying for rain while you’re on so you get all the people flock into the tent?
JL: “Interesting, interesting... because you would never be praying for rain.”?

GL:  Except for your own selfish means... (Everyone laughs) To get people into your tent, although I’m sure it’s going to be rammed anyway.
JL: “You know what, I’m always shocked when there’s more than forty people out front. I put my expectations really low, that way it’s a pleasant surprise.”?

GL: That’s a lovely way to look at it. Are you aware of the history of this festival?
JL: “Yes I am.”?

GL: Jimi Hendrix and all that. Have you ever played guitar with your teeth?
JL: “No I have not.”?

GL: Could tonight be the night?
JL: “Probably not.”?

GL: Let me look at those teeth... they’re lovely!
JL: ”An ex said I have teeth like a Chihuahua.”
?
GL: No?
JL: “We’re not together." (Everyone laughs)?

GL: But he did get together with a Chihuahua shortly afterwards. (Everyone laughs)?
JL: “No, we’re good friends. No, but you know what I am doing, our set, I’m so happy, this is one of the things when you tour, you finally... to me you know creating the perfect setlist is like algebra, it’s very challenging in other words. But I feel like we have a really strong set. I start the show out playing drums.”

GL: Cool.
JL: ”Yes, little secret. I guess the people that are gonna be at the show tonight won’t know this secret because they won’t be listening to this.”
?
GL: No, they’re rolling around drunk at the moment.
JL: “Yeah, or looking for a bathroom. But it’s pretty exciting, there’s always these different surprises. I like to play new songs that we just wrote like last week and test them out, I want to live dangerously.”?

GL: What’s the newest one called?
JL: “’Rock Away.’”?

GL: That’s the newest finished one?
JL: “Yes.”?

GL: What’s the newest unfinished one? What’s running round in your head at the moment?
JL: ”Well the song on drums, all I can come up with, I call it ‘Kick Song’ because it has a lot of kick drum, that’s about it.”

GL: Are you going to reintroduce the drum solo into the Isle of Wight Festival?
JL: “Are you kidding? I love solos!?"

GL: No, I think you should. I think it’s probably been missing since the seventies.
JL: “The musicians they frown upon it, I say milk it, do it, own it, love it! What’s even better than a drum solo? A bass solo!”?

GL: A bass solo, yes. Well, I should let you go off and collaborate with your bass player.
JL: “She’s an incredible bass player named Shirley Towe, we actually do when I introduce them they actually do solo, and they’re amazing.”?

GL: Cool. Well thank you so much for talking to us again, and have a great set tonight and enjoy Jay-Z.
JL: “I will, and Florence and the Machine. Woo!”

GL: Brilliant, Juliette Lewis.
JL: “Bye.”?

GL: Bye. Lovely, thank you.
JL: “You’re all going to be downhill after this.”

Juliette Lewis speaking to Absolute Radio DJ Geoff Lloyd. Go to www.absoluteradio.co.uk for the latest news, videos and performances from the Isle of Wight Festival.

Comments

Related Artists

Related Events

Related Articles