SRB │ENG
The band Lucy Kruger and The Lost Boys won the hearts of all of us who listened to them at this year’s Ment showcase festival in Ljubljana. The news that they are coming to Belgrade, on April 6th, has delighted a large number of people, as evidenced by the number of tickets sold, and the fact that the concert, originally planned to be held at Kvaka 22, has been moved to a larger venue – the Karmakomu club.
Lucy Kruger was born in South Africa, but currently lives in Berlin where she started making music with the band. They have four releases, Sleeping Tapes, Teen Tapes and Transit Tapes, which make up the Tapes trilogy and their last album Heaving published last year. Throughout their existence, the band has toured Germany and Europe, performing at many festivals such as MENT, Grauzone, Fusion Festival, Maifeld Derby, Wave-Gotik-Treffen, and others, and Lucy recently guested as a vocalist on the latest releases from Swans, The Underground Youth, and The Frank Popp Ensemble.
Ahead of the performance on April 6th, which will undoubtedly be an authentic musical and theatrical experience, we spoke with this talented musician.
How did you start pursuing music?
Lucy Kruger: I have always loved singing and performing and was hungry to be on stage from a young age. I used to be in all the school choirs and theatre productions. When I was sixteen, my brother’s girlfriend picked up the guitar. Watching her perform her own songs was affecting. It showed me something of her I hadn’t seen before. It made me realize the possibility of self-expression that lies in performing your own material. I immediately started guitar lessons and have been writing, playing, and performing since.
In one interview you mentioned that in music, it’s all about the atmosphere, and that’s why you formed a band for a stronger impact. How have things changed since you formed the band?
One of the very lovely and very frustrating things about music (and perhaps everything) is that it’s much better together. It’s difficult to explain the impact of a community of sound—a wall that is not a wall but a pathway, a wave, an arrow, thunder, space, symbol, sweet, vital, loving, violent. It feels far more expansive.
How would you describe your music in three words to people who haven’t discovered it yet?
Melancholic, restless, tender.
You write your own lyrics, what does that process look like?
It’s changed a bit throughout the years, but mostly, the words appear hidden in melody.
I improvise singing with a guitar or a simple loop and repeat until something sticks, then shape words around whatever is there. Often, if I try to find words first, with pen and paper, my head gets in the way. Sound has a way of slipping past the overly cerebral.
You studied drama, and your performances are quite theatrical. How does the knowledge you gained during your studies influence your public performance now?
Quite a lot by now, I think. For a while, I thought those worlds – theatre and music – were quite separate and that I had chosen music, but I’m not so sure anymore. I think I’m finding a way to bring them closer together for myself. There was a strong focus on presence and embodiment at the drama school I attended. To be in one’s body sounds like it should be quite simple, but I’m not sure it is. My time at University gave me a lot of room to think about, and to feel out, what that means.
How has Berlin influenced your creative process and artistic expression?
It’s difficult to know in what ways Berling has influenced my work, but I’m very sure it has. It would be so interesting to have five parallel lives that land you in different cities and then to see how your process and expression would turn out differently.
Berlin has given me a lot of time, space, and perspective. Some of that has to do with Berlin specifically – it is a city that is very supportive of the arts – and some of it has to do with the experience of moving to a new continent. There is such an eclectic community of people – many of whom are artists – living in the city, and witnessing the freedom and experimentation within everyday life as well as within artistic spaces is very fascinating. I’m sure I should be exploring the city much more than I have, but much of my time is spent in a room, and I’m not sure how much of Berlin gets into that room, but probably quite a lot.
Who are your current biggest musical influences and idols?
Adrianne Lenker’s writing seems to come straight from the source. It’s perfect. Fever Ray for their intensity, sensuality, and specificity. Cate Le Bon for her constant curiosity and general genius.
You released the Tapes trilogy. Why a trilogy? Was such a concept planned from the start?
Not initially, no. Sleeping Tapes was made as a sort of gift for anyone who was in the position that I was in at the time of writing. One of not sleeping and in need of companionship. It was supposed to be a playful and abstract take on a self-help tapes. Transit Tapes was written in a year and a half after moving to Berlin, and Teen Tapes after falling in love. The songs seemed to fit perfectly into these clear moments in a person’s life. They followed a trajectory for me. ‘Advice for young women on how to leave the prison of the mind, enter the body, and be in the world’. Or something ridiculous like that. I liked the idea of music to accompany an experience. Music for travel. Music for love. Music for courage. Framing it in that way helped me make sense of the song’s sounds and purpose.
What are your favourite songs to perform live?
This has changed over time, but I love to perform new material. It can be quite scary when you still don’t know exactly what the song is. It forces you to be present. It feels like you’re less capable of lying. It’s been lovely to find some space to play in performance over the last couple of years. The songs from Heaving have definitely given us that chance.
How important is visual identity to you – album covers, costumes, etc?
Mostly it’s just been a very joyful place of collaboration and play. You sort of create this world musically, and then you get to experiment, mostly with very clever friends, with what that sound might look like. A translation of the translation.
You’re coming to Serbia for the first time. Do you have any expectations? Are you familiar with the music scene here?
I’m sad to say that I’m not at all familiar with the music scene in Serbia but I’m so excited to be visiting and hope to know more after visiting the city. I can’t wait.
Photos: Francis Broek
You can purchase the tickets here.
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