message board

[ELLIOT]

I attended the premiere of Roll Bus Roll with the last minute addition of Jeffrey Lewis tonight with Paul from the forum. The showing was upgraded to the largest screen at the Hackney Picturehouse cinema due to high demand.

The film is non-chronological with the focus on Jeff has a person rather than detailing the songs and albums. Jeff really opened up about his mental health and it was a moving portrait. Anyone reading this forum should check it out.

Below I have tried to summarise the post film Q&A in which Jeff and Ilya Popenko (the director) were asked questions by an interviewer from a label who have just reissued the Manhattan LP in the UK and the audience.

Ilya was inspired to make the documentary by the lack of films about anti-folk (there is only an Adam Green tour film which doesn’t focus on the scene) and how even the Wiki entry is very short. IIya thought the interviews he had watched with Jeff were interesting and since he was articulate that he would be a good subject for his anti-folk project (he was also already a fan).

Jeff noted that there have more than ten attempts to make a documentary about him over the last twenty years but none of these other films had been completed; however, they did provide older material for this movie.

IIlya noted that the film was internationally not chronological and was intended to be a portrait of the artist.

Jeff was surprised there was interest in making a film about him since there is no sex and drugs and no career arc with a rise and fall - it’s just him still doing this thing year after year. Jeff joked that filmmakers had clearly run out of subjects if they had got down to making a documentary about him.

Ilya responded that Jeff can be relied upon to put a negative spin on any situation. He also noted that the filming took place in 2022.

Jeff confirmed he had only booked his flight to attend the premiere in London 48 hours ago to avoid the anxiety of watching the US election results come in and because he could not miss the surreal experience of watching a documentary about himself with an audience.

Jeff noted that it is unusual for him to play a solo tour and duo gigs; therefore, the film (which focuses on a rare solo tour of Germany) is unrepresentative of his normal tour experience which is mostly band gigs in reality. These shows with the band are more interesting than just a guy with an acoustic guitar. The decision to film the solo tour was done since you can’t fit the four members of the band plus the director in one car.

Ilya said the film was named after ‘Roll Bus Roll’ since this song kept coming up in interviews with fans so felt it had to be in the title.

Jeff said he still has so much stuff that he wants to get done and wants to get better with his songwriting and comics.

Ilya liked the contrast between Jeffrey’s self depreciation in the film about his art and music with the footage of how much his work means to his fans.

Jeff said he owes everything to Daniel Johnston and for him his life is divided into before and after he heard Daniel’s music. He finds Daniel’s music very powerful and upsetting to listen to. Everytime he “uncorks the bottle” and listens to Daniel’s records it still impacts him.

Jeff opened for Daniel in 1999 at the Side Walk Cafe which, at the time, had no doors in its bathrooms due to drug issues so he had an intimate encounter with his hero. He always found Daniel very shy and guarded so hard to connect with when he played with him over the years.

Jeff confirmed that he had never played for Jonathan Richman but has met him as a fan and given him some of his music and comics.

Ilya said he was a big fan of Tom Waits due to his “Russianness” due to his coarse voice and how he is grumpy.

Jeff noted that he had a lot of songs he does not consider official recordings. He has many albums or collections of songs which are not official albums. He doesn’t think everything he makes needs to be highlighted or distributed. He still regularly goes to open mic nights to test new songs in front of a live audience to see if they connect with people (if they do they can go on journey to being played with the band and then recorded for an album). His official ‘debut’ album on Roughtrade was complied from five cassettes albums so the best 10 songs out of c50.

Jeff’s favourite song of his is ‘Scowling Crackhead Ian’ since it has the most internal rhymes and lots of things going on with good content but he also rates some of his more recent songs too. He also likes early tracks like ‘Heavy Heart’, ‘Life’ and ‘The Chelsea Hotel…’ which were all written without the concept of having to play them live in front of an audience so are quite different to what he writes now. Jeff stressed his focus is on the lyrics not chord changes.

Ilya said Jeff’s music is like a novel with narratives so he couldn’t pick a favourite track.

Prompted by the interviewer Jeff said he was proud of his Low Budget Video about the Great Gatsby and his other videos on historical subjects.

Jeff said he can get invitations to play at schools because people mistake his music or comics for kid friendly material. He thinks you would have to be a very liberally minded parent to expose your kids to it. Jeff is surprised when people bring their kids to his shows.

Jeff acknowledged that John Peel gave him a big leg up. John Peel was introduced to Jeff’s music by the guitarist from Cornershop who saw his very first, tiny London shows in 2001 and Herman Dune who had played a number of Peel sessions which included a Jeff Lewis cover. He said he was unsure how much John Peel liked his music.

Jeff noted that Roughtrade had their NY office in the Chelsea Hotel in 2007 so he got to spend time in that building.

In terms of touring logistics Jeff said it was rare that the band doesn’t have a place to stay arranged in advance since they can reply on previous people who have hosted them or find new hosts by asking on his website. Hotel stays can be disappointing and by staying with fans the band have visited some bizarre and beautiful places including castles but even the worse places can generate stories for years to come.

Ilya said his next projects will be more narrative based in response to the final question which was asked by Jeff.

The evening ended with Jeff playing two tracks with a borrowed guitar (potentially from The Wave Pictures who were in attendance).

Tylenol PM (Jeff explained this is similar to Night Nurse medication in the UK in that it puts you to sleep)

20 Dollar Wine

[misshelenc]

Thanks so much for this. I’d have loved to have been there too. Sounds like a great night for all.
_________________
Never trust a heart so bent it won’t break.