UNIQUE: “I … like something that’s always a little amiss,” Juliette Lewis says. (Stuart Pettican)

LA Times bring us with an amazing interview with Juliette, done on backstage at the Greek Theatre. Read some excerpts:

Backstage at the Greek Theatre, Juliette Lewis is one hot mess. After opening for the Pretenders and Cat Power, the singer-actress’ dark, choppy hair clings damply to her neck; smeared glitter eye shadow sparkles on her cheeks; and the toe of one boot (black with vaguely Victorian gold buttons up the sides) is held together with tape. The centerpiece of her ensemble — a red, single-sleeved romper made of metallic Lycra and sequins with a regal plume of feathers at one shoulder — looks like the result of a collision between Mötley Crüe and the Moulin Rouge.

It’s hard to say who, exactly, she most resembles: the pout and smudged eyeliner are pure Mick Jagger, the feathers are a bit Brian Eno and Lewis herself name-checks Mad Max. One thing for sure: She looks like a rock star should.

“I finally got a real stylist!”

You can read the full interview here at LA Times

Juliette was interviewed by Craig Ferguson last night, adorable as always, and performed “Fantasy Bar”. Did you missed it? Well, blessed be youtube:

Captures are on the way, as too pictures of last Juliette’s appearances.

Captures added:

Television » Talk Shows: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson – September 07, 2009 – Screencaptures

On a sweltering summer evening at New York’s Central Park SummerStage, actress turned musician Juliette Lewis bounces onto the stage dripping in multicolored sequins and issues a strict order: “I’m going to give you energy, you’re going to give some back, and then we’re going to double it, triple it!”

The star of Natural Born Killers and Cape Fear (which earned her an Oscar nomination) seems to approach music with the same fearlessness she brings to the screen, unleashing stage performances that are raw, kinetic, frenzied, possessed. She currently shares a touring bill with Cat Power and The Pretenders, and opens each show by riling up the audience, even if it takes jumping into the crowd or taunting the quiet ones in the bleachers. In contrast to the long line of famous Hollywood actors who have tackled music careers only to end up limping away in humiliated defeat, Ms. Lewis has been going strong for six years—touring relentlessly during that time—and she fully intends to stay. Continue Reading

Juliette Lewis, best known for her performances in films like Natural Born Killers and From Dusk Till Dawn, took a few minutes off during layover en route to Austin to chat with us about her new band, Juliette and the New Romantiques. The group is the second musical project for Lewis, who toured and released the 2007 album Four on the Floor with Juliette and the Licks. Lewis was fresh off of shooting for Betty Anne Waters, directed by Tony Goldwyn and starring Hilary Swank.

Is it hard to switch gears straight from doing a movie to doing music?

It used to be, but now I find that songwriting and acting, drama, they feed each other. I’m a better actress because I’m a songwriter, and I’m a better songwriter because I work with drama and emotion. Yesterday I played an alcoholic, downtrodden, forty year old – they aged me with makeup. That was intense, but I love it. When you make movies, it seems pretty darn relaxed after you’ve toured on a bus or a van for two years. I’ve toured in a van, so I know that a bus is a luxury. Continue Reading

An actress of startling range, Juliette Lewis has released an EP and two albums since 2003 with her band the Licks.

Citing a desire to strike out in new directions, Lewis disbanded the group in 2009, forming the New Romantiques soon after. The resulting album, “Terra Incognita,” produced by The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, is exhilarating and exhausting — spacey, Latin-tinged, tribal, grungy, droney, occasionally bluesy and even, just for a second, a little country. The sonic variance, though, is anchored by Lewis’ gravelly, brazen yowl, which sounds like Patti Smith one minute and Kim Deal the next. Billboard caught up with Lewis by phone when she was in central Italy in the middle of a European tour.

Billboard: Where are you right now?

Juliette Lewis: Napoli. I’ve never been here. It’s a time-table Rubik’s Cube lining up press, but touring’s great … It’s an endurance test on the senses. Yesterday was a 12-hour airport extravaganza. It was like serving prison time, but my band and I are so goofy, and we joke around and it’s fine. We did it all on four hours’ sleep — but it’s so great: You get onstage, you push yourself to the limit.

Billboard: The first noticeable thing about “Terra Incognita” is that it covers an incredible amount of sonic ground.

Lewis: It’s a smorgasbord. It’s filled with sonic contrast, and the sonic contrast represents human and my contradictions. I always call myself an emotionalist. I feel. When I wrote this album I felt disillusioned and optimistic. I felt innocent and vulnerable as much as I felt cynical and strong.

That’s my emotional context, so the sonic contrast of (the record) fit. The heavy bottom — the drum sounds are so f—ing meaty — anchors it, and the guitar textures accentuate the story. Omar was the perfect producer for that.

Billboard: Rodriguez-Lopez has said he’s meticulous and hard to work with. What was your experience like?

Lewis: He’s not that way with me. With his own stuff he cracks the whip in a very particular way. He’s a conductor, he’s a mad conductor. He literally conducts with his hands and his mouth — he beatboxes it. But in this case I was the artist, so I was hard to deal with. Not really!

Our union, though, was a match made in heaven. He’s much more versed in music and he’s a bit of a genius, but we speak similarly because he hears riffs and to him it’s connected to everything else — to the stars and people and cinema.

Billboard: So how did the recording process work then?

Lewis: I would talk my wacky language to him and he’d interpret it to the drummer. I’d say, “I want it to sound like Zeus woke up from a nap and he’s pissed and there’s an opening in the clouds and he starts handing out lightning bolts,” which is crazy, but that’s how I hear the rhythm. And Omar, he whispers some things to the drummer, and that’s exactly what it sounds like. It really encouraged the songwriter within me.

Billboard: Do your acting and songwriting come from the same place?

Lewis: They’re interrelated. It’s like a painter who’s painting with oil, then you decide, “I’m only going to make junk art.” You’re still an artist, your medium is different. Now I work with sounds but I still connect with that center. It’s all a sense of surrender and an attempt to connect.

Acting is me, but music is even more me. It’s everything. It’s the bitch’s brew. It’s my past self, present and future, and then my imagination. Being an actor is like being a bass player, one of the component parts to the collective hole.

Billboard: And so fronting the New Romantiques is like being the writer-director?

Lewis: Yeah, it’s the writer-director and … (laughs) I don’t know if the metaphor fully translates, but yeah, the writer and director — and the emotionalist.

news.yahoo.com

What does the idea of rebellion mean to you?
Rebellion, to me, is about finding out where you feel safe, and then stepping outside of that space. I never got into acting to be safe. I get the most out of myself right before I start a project, when I’m scared to death. That’s the revolt, that’s the rebellion.

What sort of fears do you face?
Starting a rock ’n’ roll band at the age of 30 and pursuing my love of musical expression, not knowing how the fuck I was going to do it, where I would begin, what kind of music I would even do. It’s like
renegade filmmakers who never went to art school. It’s really about finding your voice.

Did you have any sort of formal acting training?
I took three little classes when I was 11 with this lady in her backyard. The third time I went to her door, a person told me she died. So I never went back to class after that.

From whom did you learn the most?
I learned from Oliver Stone that I am my own worst enemy. One time, I was putting myself down on set, saying stuff like, Why should we do the take again? I suck. And then he said, “Juliette, nobody wants to hear that shit.” He basically told me to knock it off, and from that day forth, I’ve never again voiced that kind of negativity.

The Interview is long so click here to read more

Hollywood film star and rock chick JULIETTE LEWIS paid a stunning visit to Morecambe last week to play a gig at Morecambe Library, of all places. Our reporter LAUREN HOLDEN met the star of ‘Natural Born Killers’ and ‘From Dusk ‘Til Dawn’ in this unusual setting
THE rain is beating down and it’s over an hour until doors open but already swarms of eager fans are huddled outside Morecambe Library.

And they’re not waiting to check out the latest Harry Potter book.

Tonight in Morecambe, one of Hollywood’s finest will be performing live and it’s without a doubt the hottest ticket in town.

Announced only a fortnight ago, the ‘Get it Loud in Libraries’ gig will see A-Lister Juliette Lewis (known for her roles in Natural Born Killers and Cape Fear) perform on the humble library stage.
Arriving at the venue, Juliette shows few signs of her celebrity status, happily posing for photographs before being whisked off for a sound check.

Such is the rock ‘n’ roll life. Juliette has barely touched down on Morecambe soil after a gruelling journey from America, when she’s thrust into the media spotlight.

“I’ve been thinking about this show for weeks actually,” she enthuses.
“Just the idea of having a rock ‘n’ show in a library is very funny. I love it. And this library’s really beautiful.”

Having ‘prepared herself’ by watching online clips of Lancaster Library’s ‘Get it Loud’ gigs, Juliette is eager to take to the stage later.

“I saw a film of one of these gigs and it sounded incredible, “she explained.

“That’s what you want to know as a musician – that it’s gonna sound good.

“The sound is pretty massive. It’s bigger and more rocking than some little rock clubs.”

But, believe it or not, it’s not the only ‘unusual’ location that Juliette has played in.

“You wouldn’t believe where I’ve played – I’ve played a casino, on a boat in Amsterdam, even a lunch cafeteria in a school.
“I love doing anything new and untried because that’s what I’ve been doing on this little rock and roll journey.

“I really love all these peculiar places – it’s one of my favourite aspects of touring.”

That said, she’s quick to admit she hasn’t set foot inside a library for “a very long time”, let alone performed in one.
“I can’t even remember when I checked a book out of a library,” she says.
“Recently, I picked my mum up from a library – but I was only in the parking lot. That doesn’t count.

“I hope libraries are not a dying medium, because it’s kind of nice.”
With new album, ‘Terra Incognita’ out in September this year, Juliette is keen to give fans in Morecambe a taster of her material and makes it clear her musical career is no hobby.

“I think after five years, three records and touring the globe three or four times, you could say I’m very serious about this.

“The music is a very personal endeavour in that I oversee everything, from the cover art of the albums, leading my band and the lyrics. It’s very fulfilling.

“Now, when I do movies I’m like: ‘phew’ – and it gets kind of boring very quickly.

“For the first couple of weeks I’m like: ‘wow, this is easy breezy’ and I can sort of relax, as I’m not the boss, or making business decisions.

“But I love the whole process (of making music) and I love writing the songs. ‘Terra Incognita’ is a proper record. The sounds are a bit different – the guitar’s more atmospheric and strange and it’s less straight up rock and roll. I’m kind of happy with the set.”
It’s certainly clear Juliette’s raring to go.

“I’m expecting to turn everybody into 10-year-olds (tonight), where they wanna rip the books off the shelves – but we’re not going to.”

Playing to a relatively small crowd in a tiny seaside resort is undoubtedly a far cry from Juliette’s star studded life, but it’s clear from the off that she’s very much looking forward to the show.

“(I love) that connection with people. It’s really special and deep and I think music is spiritual – I love it.”

Such is Juliette’s commitment to the band, she’s even had to turn down the odd film role.

“At the very beginning I did (turn down roles) a lot, as I wanted to tour like any young band would tour.

“I only had Christmas and a couple of weekends off, but I was happy to do that.

“I made movies for 15 years, you know. I have done some movies recently, but I really wanted to take care of the music and the band and find my audience.”

For now, though, Juliette’s audience is right here in Morecambe and by the look of things, she couldn’t have hoped for a better one.

When she arrives on stage just before 9pm (following a fantastic support set by Brighton’s Telegraphs), Juliette’s all smiles as she’s greeted by her adoring fans.

Sporting skin-tight trousers, silver top and black fingerless gloves, she swaggers about the stage, leaping into the throng, high-fiving the audience and planting kisses on unsuspecting fans.

“Has anyone played here before?” she asks.

“Only me? That’s what I like to hear!”

Joking that we’re ‘in detention’, Juliette shouts: “I think we all got a bit misty-eyed up here, but we put some energy back into these books” before thanking Morecambe for their hospitality.

“Thanks for having me! I love the name, Morecambe. It sounds Medieval, right?”

Later, Juliette and her band stick around to sign autographs and pose for photos.

Nineteen-year-old Lizzy Nicholson and 23-year-old Jenny Woodhouse have been manning Juliette’s merchandise stall.

“It was a really good gig,” says Lizzy, “It’s a shame some people missed it because it was amazing!”

Jenny adds: “It was really energetic and everyone was enjoying themselves. It was so fun.”

David Crossley from Ulverston was one of the lucky few to be kissed by Juliette. “Did you see that?,” he asks.

“It was amazing, fully exhilarating. I’m going to marry the bass player and stalk the band to Italy.”

Stewart Parsons, organiser of Get it Loud in Libraries is thrilled with the night.

“Juliette Lewis delivered glamour, class and great rock ‘n’ roll that showcased what Get it Loud is all about”, he beams.

“It’s all about giving people in a library a great time and making libraries irresistible.”

Source: www.thevisitor.co.uk