Music / Proust Questionnaire excerpt: What is your favorite sound? Pose this question to those familiar with indie rock band Rilo Kiley or snippets of certain Postal Service songs, and the answer may be, “Jenny Lewis’ voice.” That voice is like a hypnotic bell with the clarity of a choir boy’s pipes, fed to you with the sweetness of butterscotch (or something more poetic than that). Lewis’ secret, aside from having one hell of a lucky genetic draw? “I drink one half glass of whiskey before I play,” she shared in a phone interview with the Weekly.

Despite having crossed over from indie to major record label a few years ago with Rilo Kiley, the cringe-worthy references (to Lewis, but not to children of the ’80s) that cement Lewis’ place in pop culture are her starring roles in Troop Beverly Hills and The Wizard. Ah, now you remember who she is. But don’t expect anything like those flicks ever again. “It’s been about 10 years since I’ve done any acting. It’s not really on my mind,” answered Lewis, who’s likely sick of childhood acting questions.

Well, what about fashion? Lewis has become an icon for her do-it-yourself style. But to keep up with her savvy sensibilities might be tiring. Lewis guided the Weekly through her recent phases and explained, “I went through a very short and sparkly phase on my first solo record. So with this one I’ve toned it down a little bit and I’ve been wearing a lot of overalls. They make me feel like an 8-year-old…like a very strange child.” Bizarre as it sounds, Lewis will probably make it look good. She scours fashion magazines and then hits thrift stores to re-create and modify looks, re-donating clothes she no longer wants. As for designer collaborations, “I’ve recently become friends with Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who design Rodarte…They design couture dresses and actually made one for me…which is the first time that’s happened to me.”

So back to the music. Rilo Kiley, which includes another Hollywood child actor Blake Sennett (Boy Meets World) and Oahu local Jason Boesel, brought a slight country sound to indie rock, though later transitioned to a stronger pop emphasis and Lewis’ vocals. Now with Lewis’ solo material, on her latest release Acid Tongue (with guest Zooey Deschanel of She & Him) and a preceding album Rabbit Fur Coat (with The Watson Twins), she once again hints at the roots of country and gospel. “I’m from Las Vegas,” Lewis explained, “the records that my mother first played for me were female country artists.”

Her music now isn’t exactly straight country either.

“I started listening to hip-hop as a teenager,” she said. “So I think the songs that I write reflect both styles in a really weird way. Like it’s really wordy country music…just playing music, you can’t help but return to the roots of American music. That’s what inspired rock and roll.”

But Lewis’ musical preferences draw her to a specific sound, which she said she hopes to find more of in her own music. “I’m really drawn to that sound of two or three or four women singing together…so I hope to be able to [have] new girls to sing with. Both in a live context and on record.” One female singer she says is one to watch is a close friend. “My best friend Morgan. She’s in a band called Whispertown 2000…Morgan’s a really cool songwriter and the band has a really unique sound.”

An artist through and through, Lewis was hard-pressed to answer what she does outside of music. People-watching and attempts to exercise were all she could come up with after some time. On the other hand, there was no hesitation to answer what new musical interests she has. “I’ve recently acquired an autoharp, which is what June Carter played. You hold it in your hand and then you press different buttons to make chords and you strum it…omnichord is the modern version of the autoharp. That’s a really fun instrument to play.”

As successful as Lewis has become, like any act performing on the Islands for the first time, this musician, who has filled venues to capacity over the past several years, worrisomely asked, “How are the crowds in Hawaii for live music?…Do you think people will come?” That’s up to long-time fans, curious new ones and an open and hungry audience that Hawaii likes to boast having. But “as long as I get a malasada,” Lewis affirmed, her time in Hawaii will have been well-spent.

So if you happen to run into a people-watching, fashionable, ginger-headed musician this weekend, be sure to point her to the tastiest malasadas you know. It just might change her answer to the Proust question, “What are your favorite food and drink?”

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