Lenka Kripac might not be a household name just yet, but chances are, most living rooms are familiar with her music. The singer-songwriter’s new self-titled debut has become the soundtrack for Old Navy commercials, episodes of “90210,” “Ugly Betty” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Lenka caught VH1’s attention in October and became their most recent “You Oughtta Know” artist. But it’s her hit single “The Show,” a bouncy blend of Regina Spektor’s offbeat vocals and Sara Bareilles’ flirty sound, that seems to have fans swooning over the Australian-born actress-turned-singer.
Recently, Lenka took the time out of her touring schedule to talk about songwriting, her love for “Twilight,” her favorite singer Bjork and her childhood drama teacher, Cate Blanchett.
How did you come to write a song like “The Show”?
Well I worked with a guy called Jason Reeves who is a singer-songwriter and who actually co-wrote the song “Bubbly” with Colbie Calliat. We have the same publisher, so we went and met up in the writer’s room and we sat down and were like ‘OK, what do you want to write about? Well what do you want to write about?’ We were sort of a bit overwhelmed by our crazy lives and we went with that metaphor for ‘the show’– that life is a show– a little bit Truman Show-esque. We wrote the song in an hour and a half actually. It was really really quick. Once that metaphor came about, it just all spilled out of us. And then we came up with the line ‘I want my money back’ and it was done and it has not changed at all. I guess the song is all about being out of control and feeling out of control in your life.
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Did you ever think it would have the success that it’s having right now?
Not really. At the point that we wrote it, we loved it and we thought it was gorgeous but we didn’t think it was going to be a single or anything. We just thought it was a really cute little song. I’m not surprised, because sometimes it’s that kind of spirit that people are attracted to, rather than something that was intended to be like ‘the song.’ This song decided for itself.
You’ve been compared to to Regina Spektor and placed in that genre she seems to have created. What do you think about that?
I don’t hear Regina Spektor at all in my music. I’m a fan of hers. I like her but I don’t think my album is similar to her at all. I think she’s far more quirky… I think my music is much more straight down the, middle melodically and lyrically. But I think if you’ve got to be bundled in with anyone, she’s a great person to be bundled in with.
How does it feel hearing your music on Old Navy commercials and television shows like “Greys Anatomy”?
I love it. I think it’s really cool — particularly the shows with actors and characters in them, because I used to be an actor so I kind of get off on seeing my song being used as a soundtrack for someone’s state of mind or two characters’ tensions or discussions. I really quite like it.
Is there a song on the album you would like used in a certain show or movie?
Yes lots! I want “We will not grow old” to be used in a vampire theme because there’s so many vampire themes around and they’re immortal. I don’t know if the mood of the song works but the lyrics definitely work. It’s actually about my best friend in high school. I love singing it.
Speaking of vampires, I recently read you were a big Twilight fan. Were you excited for the movie?
Yes, I just saw the movie last night. I think the movie was pretty flawed but I totally loved it. It doesn’t really matter. It’s just that you want to see all those characters onscreen, especially Robert. I’ve read all the books. I read one a week. I was completely obsessed.
What’s your favorite song on the album?
Mine is actually “Skip Along.” I think it’s track three. It’s sort of the most soulful of them all and it turned out really beautifully. It was actually one of the first ones that was recorded, too.
How does the song writing process work for you? How do you get inspired?
Sometimes there’s some urgent emotional state you want to write about. There’s a few songs on the album like that. But I also have this strange process where I sit down at the keyboard and just play music and just mumble melodies and the words that seem to fit with the flow of the melody, or the phrasing, just sort of come out of my mouth. Then, I figure what the song is about. It’s a little bit subconscious sometimes.
I read in an interview that you’re a huge Bjork fan? What other artists influence you? Bjork was a big influence around the time that I started singing. I was listening to her a lot. And even though her style has evolved a lot and my style didn’t become like hers, I feel like she’s taught me how to sing a little bit. Listening to her and how she has her own style helped me develop my own style. Musically she’s not a huge influence except for the fact that she uses unusual instruments as much as possible and is trying to get a symphonic element into pop music. I think the biggest musical influence would be the Beatles. You probably hear a lot of musicians say the same thing because they’re kind of the forefathers of melodic pop. But I did really want to get a bit of the energy that they have in their music into my album — the festiveness and the almost circusyness with lots of horns and almost marching band type qualities. The simplicity of having those accessible hooks and those things people can understand, I think, comes from The Beatles a lot. But my range of influences is very wide. I’m quite into Goldfrapp, Belle and Sebastian, The Shins and Elliot Smith. There’s so many people that I think everything just mixes together and it comes out of the machine.
What are you currently listening to right now? What’s on your iPod?
I just bought two new albums that I’ve been listening to a lot. One is Rachel Yamagata and Ray Lamontagne. But my favorite of this year is She and Him. I love that so I’ve been listening to that a lot.
I understand you started off as an actress. And you even hosted a children’s morning show? What was that like?
It was such a different world to what I’m doing now. Although, the training of being in front of the camera has come in quite handy because I do have to be in front of the camera a lot. It’s good to not have to worry about getting nervous. There was this show in Australia called Cheez TV. There were these two boys and I used to go on once a week and do some comic skits with them and interview people. It was very fun. It was like one of those jobs that actors do to make ends meet. Although, I did think about going into comedy for a while. I just enjoy entertaining people so there’s a lot of different facets to that. But once I started making music, I realized I loved that way more. So that kind of took over.
Is it true that you studied acting with Cate Blanchett?
She was my teacher when I was 13. She was in her final year at drama school and she was teaching at the Australian Theater for Young People. I was lucky enough to have her as my first acting teacher. She was very inspiring. She actually helped me get my first professional job. She’s a sweetie.
When did you make the transition to music?
My dad is actually a musician so I had learned music when I was a kid. And then I forgot about it for a while. I was actually singing in a play and I sort of realized I loved it again. I always thought it would be something I’d keep for later in life or it was a hobby. But once I realized it gave me so much more joy than acting did, I just sort of flopped. I just started doing it more and it took over my life. It’s great to have something you can just do by yourself. I can sit at home and play piano and write songs. But when you’re an actor, you have to get hired. It’s an ensemble job. You can’t just walk around the house acting. So I found it was more self-sufficient. Like I’m the creator of the entire thing rather than being in someone else’s project and I like that.
Do you think you will ever return to acting?
I think I will at some point. Not yet because I’m very busy. And I love music and I want to give that a chance for a while. But I have gotten the itch again to play characters. So we’ll see if I’ve got time. I’m definitely open to it.
Lenka is scheduled to play the 106.3 Hot Kiss Listener Lounge series in Harlingen at Medusa Lounge on Dec. 2.
