"Paris Is Kind Of Sexy Right Now": Lewis OfMan
How are you? How's Paris?
Paris is kind of sexy right now to be honest. I’ve been away with the tour for two months. Coming back at the beginning of summer, I felt a different vibe. Everyone is happy... Many are doing new things... Someone just opened this record store called A-1 Record. It's quite nice. It's all things I like.
So many New Yorkers were there for Paris Fashion Week.
Yeah. I feel like a lot of people from New York are also attracted to the Paris vibe.
Did you go to any shows?
No, I honestly haven’t even looked at any of the collections yet. I was really there for the people, connecting with friends and stuff, like my friend who had a gallery opening. I prefer all the side events most of the time. I loved it.
Did you get into anything fun then?
Yes… wait, what did I do? One sec, I need to find my phone to see the pictures. Oh yes, I went to that festival, Manifesto. That was really nice. I listened to Crystallmess’ talk with my friend Ben Broome.
What did they talk about?
The talk focused on Crystall’s art as opposed to her music and DJing. They also spoke about how she navigates both the art and music industry, how it’s changed and the steps she took to get to do what she wanted to. She said it was really important to say no a lot.
I always see interviews about your music, but never really about your style, which is a shame. Where do you usually shop?
I'm super happy to talk about this because I never really do. I love to go thrifting, it’s like a little meditation. I go in, listen to music, browse, and wait for that moment. You know when you see a piece and you’re like, ‘I never thought about putting this on but I might as well try it'? Then you try it in the dressing room, feel more confident in it and it’s like you’ve unlocked a new vibe. And then when you buy it, it's like you've unlocked a brand new life and it becomes part of you. You have a new way of looking. Often people say that style is not important but as a musician something like style shows your taste and some form of your decisions in life. It’s really important for me to show with my clothes: my sensibility – my sensitivity in a way.
Does the outfit matter when you're performing?
Yes definitely. It's funny because before the tour, I would perform in a white suit, pants and a little tie, and when I removed the suit jacket, there was a funny drawing on the back of my shirt. It was sweet and funny, but it didn’t have a lot of attitude. Then I met the designer of Momma’s Blues, who makes a lot of sixties and seventies-inspired leather outfits. For the tour, she made me one that fits me snugly with perfectly flared hems and a vest with stars sewn into it. It’s called ‘Stardust’. The moment I put the suit on, I feel a different vibe like, "Bam ok"... It’s a sexy feeling for sure.
So the tour marked a shift in your style then?
Kind of. Another example is how I stopped shaving my beard. I never felt confident with it before, but I kept it for the East Coast and feel good about it ever since.
You mix almost like a rockstar aesthetic with this synth-pop electronic sound, which feels like two completely different worlds. To see them together feels very new and original.
Thank you for thinking this; I grew up loving bands from the sixties and seventies, the hippie lifestyle, and all kinds of psychedelic things — performers like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Mick Jagger, the way they behaved on stage, and what they wore. I watched the Woodstock documentary a lot. For them it seemed like it was about more than just the music, which I’d say is the same for me. It’s funny that I even got into electronic music, but that's what I found myself doing so it was about finding a way to mix this rockstar behavior not typical of electronic performers who are often hidden behind a machine. The white suit I had before was also a bit too serious, which was more inspired by performers like David Byrne from Talking Heads. I like to be a bit funnier than this.
Could you tell me about the project you’re working on now?
The project I’m working on now is not very electronic. I’ve been talking about how I was dressing as a seventies performer doing electronic music for a while, but now I’ve set my synthesizer to the side and I’m back to playing guitar with a lot of psychedelic melodies.
Oh like with your latest single?
Yes, yes.
What inspired the video?
Well, I wrote the song in the middle of winter. Last summer I had a breakup and knew that I wanted some fresh energy and to check up on myself...
I don't know but I love breaking up, it's like a two year therapy kind of thing, having to come back to yourself and getting over the situation. It's also a super state to do music in, and kind of how I found my way back to my roots. I was playing guitar when I was thirteen and super into this Woodstock kind of vibe and I somehow started playing guitar again, which was how I made the demo for "Highway". I was also listening to all these rock and soul songs that had this ultra fuzzy guitar over it for inspiration. At the time I was touring and preparing for festivals for Sonic Poems, which was super electronic in comparison; the shows had violent baselines and a strong dance feel. Yet, on the side, I was doing this chill, acoustic-driven thing. I was kind of scared, which is good I think — to be scared of what you do in music sometimes.
At the end of my time in Greece, I received a dm from Empress Of saying that we should collaborate, which was crazy because I was listening to her back in 2014 when I was still on Soundcloud. Then we planned to meet up in the studio in LA and on my way there I listened to my demos and when this one came on, I knew it was the perfect song to do with her. She really liked it too so we wrote and recorded the track right then. The vibes were so easy, it was a cool process from beginning to end and the video was also fun to do; it was perfectly chaotic how I think videos should be.
I get that, yeah. Your mindset changes.
Yeah but it's like with my beard. I shaved for six years because I never felt confident with it. Suddenly I feel okay with it. I don’t really know why or what happening but sometimes the less you understand, the better.
Also, how was your Coachella debut?
Coachella was honestly insane. I played Sonic Poems as with the last couple of tours and it was truly surreal. I'd say that the first weekend was easy; I played at 1:45pm on Friday, and I was ready for a smaller audience but after I started playing, the crowd just grew and grew in size. It remains one of the best shows I ever played.
Although I'd say that the second weekend was the best because I was more prepared and all my friends were there. The night before the first show, my creative director and I were freaked out about how many people were there. I normally don’t stress about shows, but that night we chain smoked cigarettes in the parking lot.
That's such a milestone. Is performing on stage an astral experience?
It's totally out of body. If you’re performing and find yourself thinking about real life, then it’s probably not a good show. My second performance at Coachella felt completely mystical. As soon as I started playing the speaker glitched as I had thought it might. There was a sand storm the night before and it seemed like some had gotten into the speakers during sound check. I spent the entire performance waiting for it to happen again, but it never did. I was just like, ‘OK, I’m just going to surrender to life right now.’ I was prepared for it the show end at any moment so that made every second matter. It felt like the best moment of my life.
Are you already thinking about your next tour?
Yes, because it's going to be really different. We are organizing them more like actual performances than regular gigs or parties. Just myself and the band, no backtracking or anything like that, just instruments. I’m super excited about it actually.
What are you wearing?
Something with sparkles. Maybe a sparkled long sleeve top that makes me look like some kind of shooting star.
