Caped Crusaders

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe have turned up for soundcheck in identical rig-outs that are even sharper than the ones they’re wearing six hours later when they make their grand Dublin Academy entrance.

“Do we ever wear sweat-pants and t-shirts? God no!” says a horrified Jess, the taller of the two, when I ask if the frocks get ditched when they’re at home. No part-timers, Jess and her Lucius bandmate are the real 24/7 pop star deal who’ve been bigged up recently by everyone from Ellen DeGeneres, Gary Lightbody and Entertainment Weekly to Roger Waters, Mavis Staples and Cosmopolitan.

“We were on Ellen the same night as the Russian tennis player, Novak Djokovic, and Harrison Ford who was in the dressing-room next to ours,” Holly says. “It’s weird knowing that Hans Solo is on the other side of the partition.”

“Actually, he’s been following us around,” Jess chuckles. “We went to see a show a friend of ours was playing in LA and all of a sudden my husband’s elbowing me and whispering: ‘Look, it’s Harrison Ford over there in the corner!’ His son Malcolm, who has a lot of tattoos, was in the grunge band, The Dough Rollers, who were supporting them.

“Ellen watched our soundcheck and said ‘hi’ to us. It goes by really quickly because it’s just one song and you’re done. We were also on with Stephen Colbert who’s a complete blast. I love being able to float between worlds. Last year we toured with Sara Bareilles who’s a really big pop star in the US and then did stuff with Jeff Tweedy and Roger Waters.”

Holly admits to nearly passing out with excitement when they joined Waters, his regular band and My Morning Jacket for his Newport Folk Festival set, which included killer versions of Pink Floyd’s ‘Mother’ and ‘Brain Damage’/‘Eclipse’.

“It’s overwhelming and hard to process,” she continues. “Originally we were only going to do two songs, but at rehearsal he looked over, gave us an approving nod and said, ‘Guys, you’re singing on all of ‘em!’ During the gig he blew us kisses. Afterwards he sent everybody an email saying: ‘Thank you so much. That was such a beautiful experience. We’re all brothers and sisters now, so don’t be a stranger. I want to see you all, keep in touch, Roger.’ It was the wildest thing ever. He’s asked us to do some other stuff with us, which is great because you learn so much just by being around these people.”

Those of you who caught the Mavis! documentary last week on Sky Arts will have seen Holly and Jess shimmying their shammy with a clearly impressed Ms. Staples.

“Yes, we’re with her in our sparkly dresses right at the start,” Jess beams. “She’s such a badass; full of joy and truly wonderful.”

The admiration society is mutual with Staples stating: “Those are two such glamour girls. They have beautiful voices, and are so sweet. I said to them, ‘The closest I’m getting to you guys is the hair. I almost have the hair like you.’”

Asked who there other heroes are, Jess immediately shoots back, “David Bowie” while Holly goes for “Roy Orbison and Sam Cooke. Those were the first musicians I fell in love with. Songwriters who had brilliant, unforgettable voices.”

Lest their versatility still be in doubt, Lucius also contribute a gorgeous version of ‘Uncle John’s Band’ to the 59-track Grateful Dead tribute album that’s been assembled by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner.

“We were on each other’s radar because we have mutual friends and, at the time, were living in the same Brooklyn neighborhood,” Jess explains. “It was shortly after that that we moved to LA where I grew up. It’s a different world, though, from when I was a kid. There’s so much more art and culture and it feels like a real community. You’ve got the beach and the hills as well as the hardcore city life, which you don’t have in New York.

“We’re also doing the Day Of The Dead live performance with The National, Justin Vernon, Jenny Lewis, Richard Reed Perry and Jenny Lewis at the Eau Claire Festival in Wisconsin in August.”
The aforementioned Miss Lewis was side of stage for one of Lucius’ nine – yep, nine! – SXSW performances last month.

“In previous years it’s been 15 or 16, so we were slacking a bit!” Holly chuckles. “Jenny was at this mini-festival called Luck which takes place during SXSW on Willie Nelson’s ranch. This huge thunder and lightning storm stopped us playing on the main stage, so Jenny and her band and us went into this little fake church, which fits 50 people max. Willie had the sets from a western he was in moved to his ranch, which makes it feel really surreal. The only place he could put us while we were waiting for this crazy storm to pass was his bus, which had marijuana paraphernalia everywhere. It was the most Willie Nelson experience that one could ask for!”

Now that Lemmy and Merle Haggard are gone, I can’t think of anyone who’s growing old as disgracefully as Willie is. Lucius were accompanied on their recent Stateside tour by the folk from HeadCountOrg who were down the back registering first-time voters.
“You can’t just say, ‘I love Bernie’ or ‘I love Hilary’ and sit at home on polling day,” Jess proffers. “If you really don’t want Donald Trump to be president of our country, you have to go out and vote. It feels like a bad movie, with all these maniacal insults being thrown around. It can’t possibly get any worse… and then it does! You’ve all these shitstorms blowing up on social media, which are about character assassination rather policy. The levels of nastiness are scary.”

Did the average American know who Bernie Saunders was before the primaries started?
“No, he was the ultimate surprise guest,” Jess continues. “I like the sound of Andrew WK’s Party Party. He’s actually a very smart guy.”

Currently residing at number six on the American Independent Album chart, Lucius’ sophomore record, Good Grief, is a melodramatic, synth drenched, close harmony pop delight with lyrics that are often at odds with the sweetness of the tunes.

“We’ve been gone such a long time that I’m almost afraid to go home/ Everyone’s around right now and I’m still alone,” they darkly intone on ‘Dusty Trails’, while ‘Madness’ contains the heartbreak line: “Maybe I’ll drive myself to madness, spinning in circles, don’t have it figured out just yet.”

“It’s pretty dark in places,” Holly agrees. “We love playing live, but only getting to spend 20 days at home in 2014 left us exhausted and really needing our own space. There were moments when we felt completely overwhelmed. It was such an emotional rollercoaster ride. A large part of it was not being able to say ‘no’. We were like, ‘These opportunities are presenting themselves; we have to take them!’ Things became quite difficult and fragile, but I think we’ve learned now to honour everybody’s process.”

Little problems like somebody’s smelly socks can become major ones when you’re driving from San Francisco to Chicago on a bus.

“Who’s been talking?” Jess concludes with a smile. “I’m not naming names but it’s definitely an issue. They’ll probably come up with a cure for cancer before they come up with a cure for smelly feet. If you’ve any tips, let us know!”

Lucius play Longitude, which returns to Marlay Park, Dublin from July 15-17