Interview Lushus. Ladyfest Rotterdam. Saturday, 28th of October, 2006.

Backstage, the second night of the festival. OvaryAction was looking forward to seeing Lushus live, after months of obsessive listening of their new album Red Blushus. They had opened the first day of the festival, also presenting their brand new 7" Big Fat Man / Some Reason. The tracks were new versions, powered up and matured, previously appearing on the album Infection (another amazing piece of art signed Lushus, then recorded with a slightly different line-up). After a band cancelled they were asked if they wanted to open the second night as well... we could hardly believe our ears nor eyes as they entered the stage in different outfit. The second concert was even better than the first one, pure post jazzpunkbliss. We met Merel backstage to talk about ... bass, bass, more bass .... the Lushus magic.

OvaryAction You have not been playing with Lushus since the band started, did you?
Lushus : No, I joined Lushus two and a half years ago..

OvaryAction: OK, that means you are on the recording of the latest album (Red Blushes)
Lushus: Yes, and on the new single we presented yesterday.

OA: Were you involved in the writing of the songs for the album as well?
Lushus: Yes, I was. Sasha, the other bass player comes up with an idea, or lyrics, most of the time it s just a poem and we just jam along, and then all in a sudden there is a song.

OA: You make it sound so easy!
Lushus: Yeah, it really is! It s so easy with the two other band members, it s like this kind of chemistry that helps us make songs really quickly. of course most of them are not that good, ot we just forget them, and some of them do make it. But it s real chemistry, I never experienced this in any other band before.

OA: Have you played in several bands?
Lushus: I don't know ... something like 25 (laughs..... and no, she’s not kidding)

OA: How long have you been playing bass?
Lushus: Since I was 11.

OA: Did you start on jazz bass?
Lushus: Yes, stand up bass. I played in some jazz bands but then I wanted to be in a rock n roll band so I started bass guitar, and now I play more bass guitar than stand up bass.

OA: Do you play in any other band besides Lushus now?
Lushus: No, I quitted my other band this Summer, and right now I am just doing projects and Lushus is my only band.

OA: You played on a fender tonight, is it your favourite bass?
Lushus: Yeah, I have many bass guitars, and I have like 4 fenders but this one is my all times favourite. It’s my very special one.

OA: Why? Is it comfortable to play? The sound?
Lushus: Well, it’s a jazz bass, but it’s a delux, so it s got active electronics, so you can make it sound like any bass you want it to sound, but it still feels like a jazz bass. I fell in love with that bass guitar the moment I saw it. It was my first expensive bass. Then I started working in a guitar shop so buying guitars became incredibly easy...to buy more and more guitars. I still like that one best, though. 

OA: What kind of pedals do you use?
Lushus: I’ve got a scandinavian pedal, Emma. It rocks the world, that s the best bass distortion I have ever heard. I am selling one a week in the shop, I am like "oh, you gotta try this one, it's from Scandinavia." I really like that one, and then I have the boss heavy metal for feedback. i just put it on and it starts feed backing, it s a really bad pedal. Then I’ve got this chorus thing that comes from some kind of toy shop, which sounds completely like shit, but it sounds great. We use it because it s so digital kind of sound and not being a chorus at the same time. Sasha is using a boss flenger and a loop station, a bunch of distortion of all kinds, and an overdrive. We also use a lot of guitar effects to make different sounds. We start with bass distortion, doubled up with guitar distortion. So we’re often using guitar effects and bass effects at the same time. 

OA: Do you find the effects and jam/write the songs simultaneously?
Lushus: Yeah, we all have this bunch of effects, because we’ve all been playing for quite along time. We plug them all in when we are making a new song and press one, and then sometimes it really sucks and we try another one until it works, really. As I said, my favourite one is the MA distortion, and Sasha has her very favourite one too. We have much more effect but we seldom use them. 

OA: Can you tell us how Lushus ended up with two basses?
Lushus: Well, at first Lushus was just a pretty standard band, with 2 guitars, more traditional vocals, solos and stuff like that. Then the two guitarists left the band, leaving Sasha and Jorg (the drummer) alone. They didn't want to look for a guitar player, so they started with another bass player. That’s pretty much how they ended up with this kind of line up. 

OA: Another particularity of the band is that you use both German and English. How do you decide what language to use?
Lushus: Sasha is half Austrian, it s her second language and she is very good at expressing herself in German, better than she was in English. Then some songs are half in german and half in english, and it s like a different point of view. A language per point of view. So it also has some kind of a systematic thing to it. We actually found out this week that we did that. 

OA: Is it the first time you play at a Ladyfest?
Lushus: It s my first time, yes, but Lushus played in Ladyfest Berlin and Hamburg- 

OA: Is this kind of event important for you?
Lushus: Of course it is.... because we, and I, really like the way girls play music. It s much more -well most of the time- original, it s got much more creativity in it than male bands, Most male bands just wanna rock and that it, whereas girls are often using music more as a tool to express some kind of feelings. Lushus is pretty much the kind of band that uses music as a tool, to emphasize, “complexify” the lyrics of the song, the theme of the piece, stuff like that.

 OA: The album comes in a hand sewn bright pink cloth cover. Who came up with this brilliant idea?
Lushus: The whole band, I think. It was Sasha who came up with the pink colour, and then we wanted to do something special because music doesn’t come in a hard jewel case, it comes as a present, and we wanted to give our music as gift. 

OA: And now the album is out, what are Lushus' plans? A tour? More recordings?
Lushus: Yes, we have a couple of gigs booked, and then we’re gonna start writing the new album, with guest musicians 

OA: Tell us more!!!!
Lushus: Well, a couple of jazz musicians will be joining us, incredible guitar players, and another drummer, alternating with Jorg. We are inviting people who play different styles and different influences to see what hey do with our music. I think it’s gonna be a very inspiring experience. The door then opens, and the backstage becomes crowded with the fun hyper punk grrrlz of fetawuit. Time to switch off the md and start the party. Everything that happened in that room will remain between us... Now we got you thinking ;-)

Thanks so much for the interview, time, gigs, tips... Lushus are our all-times OvarHeroes in Boyland!!!!